[jacksonpt]

Many of you know I'm in the latter stages of building a house. Recently, the code enforcer/town inspector stopped by to inspect the builder's work. He saw some of our stuff there and assumed we were living in the house long before we had a CO (which was true). He informed us that we were not allowed to do so, implying that there were significant penalties if we did.

I know some of you are involved in one way or another with commercial/residential building - do these people have any real power? What if I told him to f*ck off - could he do anything? There is no bank involved here - no mortgage or loans or anything, so the property and the house are mine. Can he really force us out of the house?

I'm not looking to make things harder on us, but we are currently living with the in-laws (far from ideal), and paying $15 a day to have a dogs boarded at the vet. This is getting old in a hurry.

 

[dan-o]

Yes, the building inspector can raise hell and make your life even more miserable. Address his main concern to get him off your back, then hammer out the work ASAP before he finds another one. A retaliatory "FU" will likely get all your completed/planned work inspected and result in your needing permits and contractors to complete the job (if you're doing the work yourself, otherwise your contractor is responsible for permits/meeting codes etc)

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip> - do these people have any real power? What if I told him to f*ck off - could he do anything? <snip>

I'm not looking to make things harder on us

If you genuinely don't want to make things harder on yourself, suck up to the inspection-man until you're done & he's given you the final. *Then* you can tell him he's a $hit...... as long as you don't plan on *EVER* doing any more work that might require a permit.

I actually think these guys might have more power than God.

-S.S.-

 

[Booker]

I work as a contractor/designer on commercial projects. (I design kitchens and have my crew install fixtures/hood systems in kitchens, bars, cafaterias ect.) I know that if an inspector walks onto our job and sees things are not up to code he can and will halt all work on the project, put a hold on realated permits/approvals and maybe even issue fines. A good chunk of my day to day activities around the office is just getting permits approved and making sure we are within guidelines with local and state officials. I assume you had to pull a building permit to start construction on your home, and i assume this official is probably your building inspector. I am not sure if there are any codes/rules against living in an unfinished building but i do know an Inspector is really not someone you want to have mad at you.

 

[DRB]

Why mess around with the guy doing his job?

But to answer your question a building inspector can make your life an everliving hell, if you screw around. I'm talking about pages and pages of issues that have to resolved before further construction can be undertaken. They can always find something. Especially in the latter stages of construction, you could end up tearing stuff down and undoing work for them to fully inspect.

And living in a house before a CO, is a huge no-no. I'm surprised that he didn't stop contruction right there and then. Sounds like you got a pretty big informal warning.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Sorry to chime in with the rest, but in short, yes, these guys are Gods in their jurisdiction.

Best course of action is to play dumb and apologize profusely. Maybe he'll cut you a little slack. If he doesn't, the best thing is to get your stuff out as soon as you can.

Sounds like your house is way past its completion date. Is it your builder's fault?

 

[jacksonpt]

Sounds like your house is way past its completion date. Is it your builder's fault?

Yea, we are about 2 months behind at this point. Most of the delay is due to subcontractors - the plumbing and electrical guys just not showing up. The mason is no where to be found either, which is causing some problems.

 

[jacksonpt]

Thanks for the info everyone.

When I found out he thought we were living there, I called him up and explained what was going on. I was very polite, very friendly, and not 100% truthful. Basically I said we moved our stuff in because we sold our old house much faster than we had anticipated, but that we were living elsewhere untili we could get a CO. I let him bring up the topic of a temporary CO, and we discussed that briefly. He was polite, but made no bones about the fact that we weren't supposed to be living there.

Just seems odd that the town can kick us out of our own house even though it's completely paid for. Seems like it should be between us and the builder when we move in, but oh well... such is the town of Vestal I guess.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip>
Just seems odd that the town can kick us out of our own house even though it's completely paid for. Seems like it should be between us and the builder when we move in, but oh well... such is the town of Vestal I guess.

More powerful than *GOD*, I tell ya...........

-S.S.-

 

[N8 v2.0]

Yea, we are about 2 months behind at this point. Most of the delay is due to subcontractors - the plumbing and electrical guys just not showing up. The mason is no where to be found either, which is causing some problems.

Damn! That sucks.

What kind of relationship does your builder have with these sub's? Has he pissed them off by not paying per their contract or something?

I have a strict policy of paying a 2-3 draws as my sub's do the work making sure they understand I am holding back 33.33% of the money until final completion and/or inspection. This is in all my sub's contracts. In return I agree to pay on time as I've agreed.

If my sub's don't show up 2 times when I have them scheduled, I fire them and hire another company. They can try to file a 'mechanic's lien' on the job but these are easily defeated for non-performance per their contract.

 

[jacksonpt]

What kind of relationship does your builder have with these sub's? Has he pissed them off by not paying per their contract or something?

Everyone around here is behind schedule. They aren't avoiding us, just booked too many jobs. Apparently that's the way things are around here... with the winters so bad, construction people book as much work as possible during the summer, then (basically), just get to it when they can.

It's frustrating to say the least.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Everyone around here is behind schedule. They aren't avoiding us, just booked too many jobs. Apparently that's the way things are around here... with the winters so bad, construction people book as much work as possible during the summer, then (basically), just get to it when they can.

It's frustrating to say the least.

Ah... so it's a common problem up there then.

Ugg...

Nothing anyone can do but wait then.

I guess we are pretty lucky here since we can work year 'round except when we have 4 weeks of rain, then nothing gets done if the house isn't in the dry yet.

 

[Knuckleslammer]

town code officials, town reps, town managers, town etc have no power whatsoever. Well, I kind of take that back. As far as what your talking about, the inspector can make your life hell if he wants to. I'm kind of derailing this thread a bit, but what I'm saing as far as builders is that they can do whatever they want. Take my development for instance. The whole development was built about 2' lower than the street because the builder diddn't want to build retaining walls behind the houses and pay for dirt, becasue he is a cheap, unreliable, unreputable, unconscionable, piece of sh*t with no integrity and pride whatsoever. I will compile a list of problems that the town does not give a sh*t about
1. Perimeter drains on 2 properties so far without perforated pipe (pipe with holes in it for water to drain into. They used regular pvc
2. 12 houses basements flood when it rains.
3. No cement platforms at the bottom of deck stairs. Stairs are resting on the ground (code violation in Worcester)
4. Deck footings are 2' and 3' deep. (code violation in Worcester, must be 4' minimum.
5. No drainage system at bottom of driveways. (Water flood into garage on 4 properties.
6. When sidewalks were put in, they realized that the houses were 2' too low and 8 people couldn't get into their driveway because the sidewalk was so high.
7. Plaster was done in the Winter of 02 and 5 houses have plaster cracking and falling off the wall as there was no heat brought in when plastering was done.
8. 4x4's holding up cantilever beams on 4 houses. (code violation, must use 4x6's or 6x6's)
9. 2 years and the street is not finished as far as final coat on sidewalks and street
10. Trash buried on properties ( I dug up a 20' piece of a telephone pole, garbage bags, gas cans) EPA has been notified and items placed on sidewalk in front of house with sign "look what the builder buried on my property"
11. Gutter downspouts go into pvc pipe into the ground which is not tied into perimeter drain or catch basins.
12. Catch basins were placed on peoples properties and buried (some under driveways, some in the middle of peoples front yards and wherever else)

My whole development is a HORRORSHOW and the builder should be strung up by his balls and set on fire.

I have done the following with phone calls, emails, letters and followups and nobody gives a ***k or can do anything or stop the builder from building. Nobody.

I've sent the above to the following
DPW, Attorney General, BBB, City manager, Code Dept, Dept of engineering, state reps, senators, congressmen, mayor

NOBODY DOES NOTHING, Builder can do whatever he wants with no repercussion whatsoever. Think very hard before moving into a new development.

Knuckle

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip lengthy tale of woe>

NOBODY DOES NOTHING,

From the sounds of it, *everybody* does nothing...........

-S.S.-

 

[Knuckleslammer]

From the sounds of it, *everybody* does nothing...........

-S.S.-

Yeah yeah yeah, it's Friday. I'm spent

I would highly advise building a house unless you hire/interview/watch everyone involved and know the codes and hire the appropriate inpectors. Most large town inspectors, like my town, can't monitor every hole that is dug. It's mainly a trust thing somewhat between the builder and the inspector. If the inspector knows the builder is reputable, he keeps less of an eye on the builder. My builder is a complete BS artist and has cost the people in my hood and the town a lot of money fixing his SH*T work. However he still builds and still gets away with murder. Someone somewhere is getting either paid off, or s***ed off.

Knuck

 

[reflux]

More powerful than *GOD*, I tell ya...........

-S.S.-

Ditka vs. inspector?