Monday, November 21, 2005
By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer
NAPA VALLEY REGISTER
Replacing your water heater? Converting your garage into a bedroom? Remodeling your kitchen?
Got your building permit?
The law requires a permit for nearly all new construction and a vast number of home repairs, yet many homeowners, either out of ignorance, a desire to save a buck or a fear of red tape, try to sneak by.
"It's a big, big problem," said Erna Stevenson, executive vice president of the Napa-Solano Builders Exchange, whose 425 members, all licensed contractors, have to compete with those who don't play by the rules.
Unlicensed contractors have a financial advantage, Stevenson said. By not having insurance and not obtaining building permits, they can underbid for jobs.
For homeowners, "it sounds good until something goes wrong. The liability the homeowner takes on is huge," Stevenson said.
Steve Jensen, Napa's chief building official, said the amount of construction without benefit of permit in this city is high. It could be close to half of the small home remodeling projects, he said.
Unlicensed handymen are part of the problem, but so are licensed contractors who find it expedient to skirt the law, Jensen said.
Napa probably issues one red tag a week to homeowners caught reroofing, replacing windows or converting a garage without a permit, said Dan Kavarian, the city's senior building inspector.
A reporter interviewed three customers, including two former contractors, outside Orchard Supply Hardware earlier this month, all were familiar with the problem.
The permitting process is so "laborious" that even licensed contractors are tempted to break the law, one said. Often the homeowner, more concerned about costs and scheduling, doesn't have a clue, he said.
"I know it happens a lot," said another experienced builder. "My neighborhood is full of people doing things (without permit)."
A fence more than six feet tall requires a permit, but most neighbors agree to look the other way, especially if they are cooperating on the design and cost, he said.
"I've had clients who adamantly did not want a permit," said another former contractor. "You get more of those folks out in the county where there are few neighbors who can call the building department on them."
Some become scofflaws to avoid having to create architectural plans. When an architect tells them it will cost $120 an hour and take two months, they decide to take their chances of being caught, a builder said.
A project may start legal, but then the contractor runs into an electrical or plumbing problem. Rather than pause for an additional permit, the contractor keeps going, he said.
Bill Martindale, American Canyon's interim building official, has worked in a dozen cities. He estimates that half of the people who buy newly constructed houses will not get a permit for the most common improvements such as trellises and patio covers. Most just don't know the requirements, he said.
City and county building officials acknowledge the temptations to skirt the law, but offer a carpenter's beltful of reasons not to.
The odds of being caught are higher than you think they are, Jensen said. Roving inspectors catch illegal projects, while neighbors upset with loss of view or incessant pounding will blow the whistle, he said.
When a house is sold, the seller must now disclose all repairs and additions and whether they were done with a permit, Jensen said. This reporting requirement prompts many people to follow the law, he said.
Increasingly, buyers are hiring inspectors to make sure their purchase meets code. "If you're spending a half million or a million dollars on a house, you want to make sure it's safe," Jensen said.
When you pay your permit fee, the city promises that the work meets health and safety codes that enhance the value of your property, Jensen said. "When you're building to code, you're building to the minimum standard," he noted. "It's not a superior house."
Insurance companies may not pay claims on work that was built without a permit, Jensen said.
"It's easier to come in and ask for permission than to ask for forgiveness afterward," said Hillary Gitelman, the county's planning director.
The county has sped up the permit process, with many routine projects permitted within 10 calendar days, she said. Some small, urgent permits, like replacement water heaters, can be done over the counter, she said.
The county recently toughened the penalty for violators. A 30-day grace period was eliminated. Owners will be charged three times the regular building fee.
The penalties for egregious violations can be much higher. A contractor who built a house without permit in a stream setback had to do half a million dollars' worth of stream improvements, Gitelman said.
Napa is considering stiffer penalties as well. Instead of paying double if caught without a permit, there could be a sliding scale of up to 10 times, Jensen said.
Napa offers one-day turn-around on permits for many small projects such as bathroom remodels. The fee for some of the most common home remodeling projects is often $100 to $200, he said.
Thomas Ault of Ault's Builders said he tells customers that it's in their interest to get a permit. "The building department is looking out for the client," he said. "The bigger the job, the more you need oversight to ensure structural integrity and safety."
Homeowners who want to fast-track a project often fear the permit process, with its requirement for detailed plans, will slow them down, Ault said. It can be just the opposite.
"A good plan before you start is so valuable. A lot of people who want to rush head-on into it end up paying more money for lack of foresight," Ault said.
Jimmie Tyner is expanding his north Napa home, adding a room and bathroom. Although his son-in-law is doing the work, he didn't consider proceeding without a city permit, he said.
"I want it built to the new codes," Tyner said. "This guarantees it gets built that way."
Originally, the addition was slightly over 500 square feet, triggering a school impact fee, and only 12 inches off the ground, which would have required treated lumber.
When the inspector explained these requirements, Tyner said he was happy to cut off a few square feet to get below 500 and increase the crawl space to 18 inches. At 12 inches, the crawl space would have been too tight for him to make repairs, he said.
A former contractor, who asked for anonymity, told of a friend who bought a house that had an illegal addition. The quality of construction was so poor it had to be torn down, he said.
Even a garage conversion isn't as straightforward as some would think, Kavarian said. "We have ventilation issues, light issues, the hot water heater, maybe. Then there's a combustion issue."
"We're not the bad guy," Kavarian said. "We're not here to make people's lives miserable."
Most code requirements were written in response to tragic real-life consequences when builders built to a lesser standard, Jensen said. If you care about your family's safety, get a permit, he said.
General guidance on when to get a permit is available on city and county Web sites. A phone call to local building departments provides more personalized information.