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It's interesting seeing how things like this are so different in every state. My son-in-law installed a transfer panel on my last house so I could switch the whole house over to generator power. He's not licensed at this time, but was once in another state, so qualifications were not an issue to me. No permit needed, no inspection needed and no problems when I went to sell the house. It's so simple here, I can buy a piece of property, hire a contractor and build a house without any involvement from the borough. And I'm talking legally. There is no permit required to build a house or make any improvements. And that's just fine by me. And this does not cause problems because no contractor will build a house that isn't totally up to code because no bank will finance it. Life is much easier when government stays out of the way.
I hear what you are saying, but building and remodeling can be two different things. I already have a house financed, but the (licensed/bonded) electrician I hired to replace the existing electrical panel, apparently didn't want to ground it to the metal hose bib that was on the other side of the house. Of course i found out about this only after the city inspector came by and failed the inspection.
The main question is, what are the laws in your state governing homeowner doing work? Then, does your municipality have anything that might make that more stringent?
In NC, you can do electrical or plumbing work on your own house and as log as it passes inspection, you're OK. You can do some HVAC also, but federal law states to do the refrigerant work you have to be licensed. You can perform as the general contractor and build your own house, but you do have to live in it for one year. If you do not and get caught, you will be considered as an unlicensed contractor and can be fined according to those laws.
Now, with the living there for one year thing, this is clearly stated up front by all the various municipal building departments as part of their permit process.
So, basically, you need to do some checking of what the laws are. I would start by checking with the board or agency that licenses electricians in your state.
I would start by asking the Code Enforcement office for a copy of the appropriate regulation that they are requesting the letter under. If they cannot produce a legitimate requirement for the letter then I would ask why they need it.
Probably at least a brief consult with a local lawyer who works in this area is in order. Might help to say where you are now, if you want someone to post up specific ideas.
The requirement you continue to own the house for 5 years - is this so if you did something wrong they didn't catch, it will still belong to you when it burns down?!
How about so no one can take action against the inspector if there is something wrong?
Most likely a rogue person in code enforcement playing Paul Blart. I'd ignore it if it passed inspection.
Spoke to a master electrician next town over. He said they're known for ridiculous requests like that when people pull their own permits and to just brush it off. Even if I signed it, it's not enforcible.
Also contacted head of code enforcement and asked him. He wasn't sure and was going to check into it and never heard back. Nor has Google shown any other instances of this.
On a side note; anyone familiar with how state laws and local codes go together? As in state law trumps local, or vice versa.
I.E. Town says a homeowner can't pull a permit for x (Electrical plumbing etc) but state law says a homeowner can do the work himself.
What happens is you get shoddy work from people that are supposed to be professionals or homeowners that should not be doing the work themselves. To prevent this you have inspectors, this drives up the costs for knowledgeable homeowners whether they are doing the work themselves or having someone else do it.
Where I live there is huge conflict of interest because the inspectors are getting a percentage, it's within their interests to make it expensive.
That's why you hire someone who is licensed, bonded and insured, if you're having something done by a professional.
Spoke to a master electrician next town over. He said they're known for ridiculous requests like that when people pull their own permits and to just brush it off. Even if I signed it, it's not enforcible.
Also contacted head of code enforcement and asked him. He wasn't sure and was going to check into it and never heard back. Nor has Google shown any other instances of this.
On a side note; anyone familiar with how state laws and local codes go together? As in state law trumps local, or vice versa.
I.E. Town says a homeowner can't pull a permit for x (Electrical plumbing etc) but state law says a homeowner can do the work himself.
It all depends on state law. Some states say towns can't preempt state law, other states allow towns to have tougher regulations. You just have to figure out how your state does it.
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