I'm ready to go, permit-wise. Yesterday, I went in to the parish permits office. My intent was to go upstairs and deal with another form that they told me I'd need filled out before I could get the actual permit. I hadn't planned on leaving that day with the permit, but the timing worked out for me to get the whole thing done.
Upstairs, I needed to visit the public works (utilities) office for them to verify that my property has the infrastructure for water, sewerage, etc. That didn't take too long. Then I went back downstairs to the permits office. The guy I spoke with last time was out sick, but I get the next best person to process the application. So I'm now the proud owner of a piece of cardboard that says I can build! :)
I also got a temporary pole with all the components from my uncle. He last used it in Mississippi. We're going to the lot to put this in the ground today. If all goes well, my friend who is doing my electrical work can get the licensed electrician to call in for the inspection soon. Then I can get hooked up!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Silly Parish Plan Reviewers! And Other Assorted Updates
After my last post, I went back to my engineer with the vague list of requirements I got from the parish permits office. The plan reviewer had told me that I needed to be under the 2006 code (too late for 2003 code) and that parts of my house & garage near the property line needed to be "fire rated for one hour". Well, the engineering office had my request for this clarification letter for weeks, and the hold-up was supposedly that the girl they assigned it to left on maternity leave... yada yada. They kept reassigning the task to someone new. Each person would (eventually!) get around to asking me for the letter the parish gave me describing what they wanted. This didn't exist, and the engineer would inevitably get confused and go slobber in a corner somewhere and not call me again. Finally, I decided it was time for me to go back to the parish and get rock solid details about what needed to be in the letter...
I'm glad I did! This time I requested Sal at the permits office (a guy who seems to know his stuff, and who has been recommended to me by others) instead of taking whoever came up in the rotation. I told him what the last guy had told me. He was disgusted because the last guy should have known that I'm still elligible for the 2003 code under the grace period because I started this process before the new code went into effect. I still needed a letter from the engineer, but now it needed to say less. And I got specific details about what it needed to say. The morning I went in, all their computers were down. So Sal took the time to go through my plans and make all the markups that will be necessary so that I wouldn't need to wait the next time I come in.
After leaving that office, I called the engineers again to give them the new info and light a fire under them to get it done. Within a few days, I had the letter from them. There is still one visit I need to make to another parish office (in the same buidling) before I go get the permit. But otherwise, it seems I'm ready to go as far as the permit is concerned.
In other news...
My new utility pole has been installed! It's on the parish easement by the street, and it's just on the other side of the property line. This places it just right so that I can put my driveway out to the street without the pole in the way. My temporary electric pole will go right next to the new pole.
Which brings me to my next topic. The latest slab guy I talked to may work out. He's a second guy recommended by the framer across the street from me. This guy reminded me that he'll need electricity when it's time to start forming the slab. I've been talking to my friend, Matt, about the prices of bids I've gotten. He builds houses for a living, and he's offered to do the electrical work for less than my other bids. I talked to him this morning about what it takes to get the permit process going for the temporary electricity. He said I may be able to apply for the permit myself since it's my house I'm building. I need to check on this.
I'm glad I did! This time I requested Sal at the permits office (a guy who seems to know his stuff, and who has been recommended to me by others) instead of taking whoever came up in the rotation. I told him what the last guy had told me. He was disgusted because the last guy should have known that I'm still elligible for the 2003 code under the grace period because I started this process before the new code went into effect. I still needed a letter from the engineer, but now it needed to say less. And I got specific details about what it needed to say. The morning I went in, all their computers were down. So Sal took the time to go through my plans and make all the markups that will be necessary so that I wouldn't need to wait the next time I come in.
After leaving that office, I called the engineers again to give them the new info and light a fire under them to get it done. Within a few days, I had the letter from them. There is still one visit I need to make to another parish office (in the same buidling) before I go get the permit. But otherwise, it seems I'm ready to go as far as the permit is concerned.
In other news...
My new utility pole has been installed! It's on the parish easement by the street, and it's just on the other side of the property line. This places it just right so that I can put my driveway out to the street without the pole in the way. My temporary electric pole will go right next to the new pole.
Which brings me to my next topic. The latest slab guy I talked to may work out. He's a second guy recommended by the framer across the street from me. This guy reminded me that he'll need electricity when it's time to start forming the slab. I've been talking to my friend, Matt, about the prices of bids I've gotten. He builds houses for a living, and he's offered to do the electrical work for less than my other bids. I talked to him this morning about what it takes to get the permit process going for the temporary electricity. He said I may be able to apply for the permit myself since it's my house I'm building. I need to check on this.
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