Spring is just around the corner and this is the time when most people start to contemplate adding on to their house, building that cabin in the mountains, or pursuing their dream home. A few things to keep in mind; most city municipalities will be getting busier so the time it takes to get your permit will be lengthened.

Also take the time to explore the contractors and sub-contractors that you will be using on your project. We of course have a number of excellent contractors that we can provide for any project, BUT if you are using your own, make sure he (or) she is credible. Take the time to go and look at some of their work. Ask past clients what they think of the person you are contemplating using. And don’t be afraid to get multiple bids on your project. Even if you are set on using a particular contractor it never hurts to see how they stand up to another bid.

Be careful when you do get your bids…..cheaper does not always mean better. I have a good contractor friend who recently was out-bid by nearly $15,000 on a project. When researching the reasons as to why my friend was so much higher it turns out that he had done a cost plus bid and his competitor had turned in a flat fee bid. This is like comparing apples to oranges (you just can’t compare). My friend turned in a cost plus bid (meaning he factored in his price, which the owners pay for up front….but everything beyond that is subject to what the owners want and what the project may surprises them with) any money left over in the end goes back to the homeowner.  He had tried to put enough into his bid to handle any and all surprises on the 1920’s remodel job. His competitors bid was a flat fee bid (which means you pay a flat fee weather the contractor spends that much or not there is no ‘money back’ at the end). Also with flat fee bids, if you make any changes the contractor will charge you for it…and if he finds any surprises in construction…he will charge you for it.

Both bid styles have their good and bad points, but remember you need to compare apples to apples. If you are getting cost plus bids, they all need to be cost plus…and vise-a-versa with flat fee bids.

I know we have talked about permits before; but I had another good example come up this week. I have a client who already built his covered deck on the front of his house. It looks great BUT he did it without a permit…..Someone in the neighborhood called the city on him and now he has to get the permit (and pay a penalty) as well as pass all of the inspections related to the permit. That means he has to dismantle part of the deck so that the inspector can see everything.

Moral to the story….if you are doing any structural work to your home, save yourself the head ache and just call your local municipality to find out what the requirements might be….. Or in this clients case….bribe all your neighbors before you begin (I’m joking). You might not even have to do anything but its always a good idea to find out before you start.

I am often asked the question; Do I need to get a permit if I’m just finishing my basement? The answer is almost always YES….there are a number of reasons why you should get a permit for a finished basement the first being, most cities require it.

The first thing to do when considering finishing your basement is to contact your local building department and find out what they require. Some cities don’t require a permit if you are finishing a space under a certain square footage. Others require it no matter what you are doing. SOOOOO to play it safe I always tell clients to ask the city before we begin.

I am also asked…Do I really need drawings for my basement? The answer to that is also YES. Most contractors and subcontractors will not give you a bid without a complete set of plans. With a complete set of plans they can figure square footage costs, number of fixtures, framing configurations, etc. A complete set of plans also helps you commit to the design. Without plans its to easy to get discouraged and feel lost during the renovation.

Although it can be very frustrating working with local municipalities the one thing you have to keep in mind is that getting mad and yelling at a building official will only make things worse!

You must deal with the city in a diplomatic and cautious way… Case in point, the remodel that we have been struggling to get through Salt Lake County has made us jump through a number of hoops that seem to be rather atypical, but in order to get the permit we complied. After doing all that was asked (and spanning about two weeks to do it in) the city has told us today that we didn’t need to do about half of what we did.

Resisting the urge to lash out at the official one must smile and walk away!!!!

We have been working with a client who is doing some remodel work. They are converting their garage into living space, so there are no structural changes. The plans are going through Salt Lake County, and we found out (the hard way) Salt Lake County has changed their requirements on both setbacks and height restrictions.

Even if you aren’t adding on to an existing home you now have to meet the new requirements for any permit. This will make things more challenging for some of our clients who want to remodel!

Getting your building permit can be a tricky thing! Different cities can have very different sets of requirements. For example getting a plan through Salt Lake County can take two to three weeks while getting a permit for Tooele County can take a month. This is one advantage you have by using a contractor who knows what he/she is doing. A good contractor will know how to work with the city (or) county and insure that your plan will go through as quickly as possible.

Plan rejections are a VERY common thing. We do our best to tell our clients that getting a plan rejection is not the end of the world. A plan rejection only means that the city wants addition information. It does not mean that your plans were drawn or engineered incorrectly. We had a client last year who built in Cottonwood Heights…. The city rejected the plans for further clarification. We took the plans and made the corrections in about two days. The plans were re-submitted and the client had their permit by the end of the week. They were a little panic struck at first, but after we appeased the city and were able to keep the ball rolling the client was happy once again.

From Woods Cross, to Toole, and from Pocatello to Las Vegas, we have helped clients get their building permits in a timely and professional fashion.