Don't Back Down

As some of you may know, we are building a shed. A garage, really, since it's a bit of a monstrous shed. But I still call it a shed, since it is one of those that they assemble on site (that is, at our house). I guess that since it's twenty-four feet wide by thirty-six feet long, I can understand people who don't want to call it just a shed. Add to that the fact that it has a large roll-up door (sixteen feet wide!), and calling it a garage is easily justified.

Unfortunately, a smaller outbuilding can be essentially dropped off. But a beast such as this really must be assembled, and the base for it is a concrete pad. Footer. Slab. Foundation. Call it what you may, but it has to be built. That's not cheap, either, but I digress. To get one of these, you have to jump through a huge number of hoops, and the first hoop isn't what you might call easy. It is obtaining the dreaded building permit.

For those of you who do this regularly, you have my utmost respect. I hope that I never have to do it again. It's really that bad.

I think that main problem is that nowhere is it posted how to go about doing it. Sure, you can call them and ask whatever questions you might have, but without knowing what questions to ask, it's a bit useless. I did call to ask if an extension from our driveway to the foundation for the new garage would require a permit, and luckily the answer to that was "no". So the answer center does work, if you know what question to ask.

Considering myself prepared, because we had a contractor who actually told me what information I could be expected to furnish for the permit, I took all the contractor information with me to the Mecklenburg Code Enforcement building, and prepared for the worst. It actually wasn't bad.

I had to visit the zoning desk, where they asked me for a plot plan. No one told me I would need one of these, but luckily the line wasn't long (there in fact was no line at all), so I could jump over to the information desk and get a plot plan and fill it out. Then I drew a lovely rendering of the proposed location of the garage, which was rapidly approved, and I was able to sign in for the permit desk, at which point I was able to wait. And wait. And wait some more.

Some 45 minutes or so later, I was told that I could come up, only to find out that because of the size of the shed, it had to have electric service. This was a problem, because I didn't have any contractor information for an electrician. We do typically do business with a particular company, but I hadn't received an estimate as yet (required for the permit, since they charge you based on the overall cost), since we were going to add that at a later phase. Now it turns out that we have to do it all up front. Looks like I'll have to come back.

Two days later, I finally have all the (new) information, and I have to go back through the zoning process, because I had to redo the permit application. The only problem is that someone mistakenly crossed my name off of the sign-up sheet. So after four or five people who come in after me have checked in, I ask when I'm coming up, and get an apology (imagine that - an apology from a government agency), a quick update from the zoning people, then back to the permit people.

Finally, they say everything looks good, and fifteen minutes or so later, I get the permit, and head over to pay for it. After three days (with one in between while I collected the additional information), three hours or so of wait time, and a whole bunch of frustration, I am now the proud owner of my very first building permit.

I can offer this advice to anyone who is getting ready to do the same: Make sure you know the code that relates to your project. If you need electric or plumbing contractors, get their details, including the cost of their part of the project, beforehand, or you're going to have to go back. If the project is under $30,000 (at this writing), you can act as your own General Contractor (on your own property only). If it's over that, you'll need a licensed contractor, which may save you time, but it will cost you money. In the end: Be as prepared as you possibly can be. There are numbers, and the people are nice - but you have to ask questions!