Permit needed for interior walls? (San Antonio, Austin: real estate, lease, tenants)

[Runinyuh]

Guys,

I really got confused and don't know what to do now...
Currently my friend rented a shop in some shopping corner, and like to add some walls in that space for his new business.
No change to any MEP or HVAC, not even the ceiling. New walls will be lower that the ceiling with 9'x3' openings for access.

Not sure if that needs a permit so we brought the plan to the city. They told us it will require a drinking fountain!!!
I checked other tenants and no one has the drinking fountain in their space, and now we are really worry what to do.

The shop is less than 1500 SF and the drinking fountain could cost him thousands plus plumbing...
Any suggestions??

[scm53]

Presuming your friend is in the City of Austin, it is required by code (p. 11-12).

If all the other f/o permits were pulled before the code required it, that could be why your friend has to have one when others don't. Doesn't matter - he wants a permit today, with today's code.

Welcome to the city full of people that think every good idea needs to be a law.

[10scoachrick]

Sounds like temporary/moveable walls might be an answer. Not cheap, I'm sure; but could avoid the plumbing and electrical snafus. Drinking fountain???

This won't be a cheap one, I'm sure; but will give an overview:
http://www.mallforms.com/temporary-walls/

[Trainwreck20]

From the linked document, the relevant wording appears to be:

Mercantile and Business occupancies consisting of 5000 square feet or less shall have one drinking fountain, or an accessible break room sink for public and employee use. Each floor occupied shall have one accessible drinking fountain and/or a break room sink.

Do you have a bathroom? It might be able to be designated as the 'break room sink', as well, if you make it open to the public. I don't see any definition of 'break room' in that link, but it is possible a more definitive set of criteria for 'break room' is located somewhere else that may prevent that.

If you truly to need to put in a fountain, it may be possible to split the cost somehow with the landlord, I suppose.

[ITO]

"Welcome to the city full of people that think every good idea needs to be a law."..... LOL....Laughed way to loud in my office over this.

For a just a few interior wall moves, yeah you should get a permit. My plate is full of things I should do, and still don't do.

If it were me and I could put the walls up very fast, I would probably run the risk of just doing the work and hopping I don't get caught. The worst that can happen is you get caught, play dumb pay a small fine and pull a permit.

As for adding a fountain, that sounds like a plan review action item. What kind of permit are you trying to pull?

Also keep in mind this bad advice is for Austin only, San Antonio, Cedar Park, Round Rock, George Town, and Pflugerville are much more simple and reasonable, if you are out of the city limits just go pull a simple permit and get it done.

[centralaustinite]

Who negotiated the lease? I would touch base with the commercial real estate agent used. If the property wasn't in ready to use condition, how was interior remodeling defined/described in the lease. If a water fountain is necessary for lawful use of the space, then I'd push back on the landlord.

[rangergrit]

Don't those stands with a big bottle of water qualify as a "drinking fountain"? Only an electrical outlet for cooling needed, no plumbing.

[Runinyuh]

Thank you all for the good information and replying.

First of all, it will be a quick turnaround and the QT reviewer told me the drinking fountain could be needed by the plumbing code. We are going to meet the plan reviewer tomorrow and figure it out.

Then we contact the landlord for the issue, guess what... They played dumb on us!
I will truly hope the drinking water disposal will be the answer and we haven't designated the break room yet. We do have one existing public restroom with a sink, tho. Will that help?

And once again, I have realized how difficult the process can be in this city now...

[handycowboy]

Welcome to big brother. Good thing government is there to make you put in a fountain you don't need under threat of legal action.

[NorthAustinMom]

I had to deal with all of this crap to open my business. I think City of Austin's codes and delays significantly contributed to my business failing.

So on that happy note, we, too, had to put in a water fountain. I ended up negotiating to put in a sink. EVEN THOUGH I offered a water cooler at the front of my store. He may be able to ask about that but they turned me down. I had to put a sink in a conference room for 'public access to water' so any Joe or Jane off the street could (I guess?) come in and drink tap water that wasn't in a restroom. Wanna guess how many times that actually happened? But I spent about $1000 putting a sink in. It sucked. Remember, your friend has to deal with very narrow-minded rules-followers, it's not a fun prospect. Good luck!