Code enforcement requests a letter... (installed, plumbing, cost, electrical)
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Code enforcement requested a letter stating I wasn't going to sell a house or move out of it for five years in exchange for doing my own electrical (rewired whole house, new panel, new service, everything).
I received this request after the inspection, which he said was spectacularly done, however, while getting permits and asking questions I never heard of this five year rule (I had heard of 1 year with the new boiler I'm putting in and plumbing, which is fine).
Issue is... I'm looking to get rid of this house before then. I'm still far too young to promise five years for anything, and anything past 12 months I cannot make any promises what so ever. Chances I'll even be in the same state in five years are pretty close to zero. Did it myself because the quotes were outrageous. 1200 sq foot house down to the studs, quotes came back at $8,000 - $10,000 dollars.
Anyone dealt with these before (guessing an urban thing, as it's unheard of in my previously rural settings)? I'm already looking into just paying a master electrician to sign off on the work, but I was quite flabbergasted. An overreach of local government to the extreme, five years is a long time. Guess it's back to not pulling permits (work still up to code of course)...
** Also researching it further to see if it's actually factual. I've had a code enforcement officer tell me I needed to do $5,000 worth of work which I disputed. Had to have a master electrician conference call him with me and argue the fact till he conceded he wanted me to do the work, but it would pass inspection without doing so.
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?!
I get their "reasoning", but it just doesn't wash. The "building" inspector should be a licensed electrician. If he doesn't like what he sees, don't pass it. If it passes his criteria it's passed/done.
If this is his/AHJ's way of CYA then I suggest they don't allow this type of work.
The best course of action is to have a licensed electrician "sign-off" on the work you performed. Obviously this cost will be less than any litigation.
And just to bring home the ignorance of this request- every; and I mean EVERY AHJ that I have ever dealt with has their own "fine print" of dismissal of fault.
I'd also be quite curious as to how they would stop a sale- because if their idea of stopping a sale is holding an open permit- then I believe that would be illegal. Is it signed-off, or not?
What would be the penalty? How would the 5 yrs be enforced? The requirements might not be enforceable, or else one could say that at the time you signed off on it you had no intention of moving for 5 yrs, while at the time you sold, circumstances had changed.
I see this as pretty simple- did you get a green tag or did you get a red tag? If you have a green tag, the issue is over as he has signed off on it. If you got a red tag you'll need to get an electrician to sign off on it. The letter he's asking for is pure BS for the 6 year no sale. No building dept is going to keep a permit open for 5 years. Any sale or any closing is not subject to the code compliance office anyway- they don't see what sells and what doesn't.
I'm already looking into just paying a master electrician to sign off on the work, but I was quite flabbergasted.
If a licenced master electrician signs off on it, its as if the licenced electrician did the work himself. No need to sign any weird paper the code enforcement officer wants.
You dont want that paper on file when you go to sell the house.
Code enforcement requested a letter stating I wasn't going to sell a house or move out of it for five years in exchange for doing my own electrical (rewired whole house, new panel, new service, everything).
I received this request after the inspection, which he said was spectacularly done, however, while getting permits and asking questions I never heard of this five year rule (I had heard of 1 year with the new boiler I'm putting in and plumbing, which is fine).
Issue is... I'm looking to get rid of this house before then. I'm still far too young to promise five years for anything, and anything past 12 months I cannot make any promises what so ever. Chances I'll even be in the same state in five years are pretty close to zero. Did it myself because the quotes were outrageous. 1200 sq foot house down to the studs, quotes came back at $8,000 - $10,000 dollars.
Anyone dealt with these before (guessing an urban thing, as it's unheard of in my previously rural settings)? I'm already looking into just paying a master electrician to sign off on the work, but I was quite flabbergasted. An overreach of local government to the extreme, five years is a long time. Guess it's back to not pulling permits (work still up to code of course)...
** Also researching it further to see if it's actually factual. I've had a code enforcement officer tell me I needed to do $5,000 worth of work which I disputed. Had to have a master electrician conference call him with me and argue the fact till he conceded he wanted me to do the work, but it would pass inspection without doing so.
Bs. I would tell them to pound sand. You don't need a licensed anything. If the work was completed to code and the inspector passed it. I've done more than a few builder/owner remodels and I have never heard or come across such condition. As long as you pull the required permits and passes inspection
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 just added a new branch circuit to my garage and wired in six new outlets. All the city wanted was a brief description and 80 bucks for the permit. There was a final inspection and nothing else. No mention of how long I would live there or if I ate beans with my rice or anything completely unrelated to my project. I am on the west coast.
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.
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.
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