Help me understand permits

[Brigitta]

I'm new at this. Can someone please explain the advantages to building without needing a permit?
Expense?
Hassle?
Time?
Taxes?
Inspections?
Our plan is for my husband to move to another state to start a new job and find land for us to live. Then I will come out and build a small house as quickly as I can. Would I need to get anyones approval, or can I just start in if it is considered temporary housing? :-?

[jraabe]

Rules vary widely and you should call up the planning and building department in the jurisdiction where you will be building (county government if in an unincorporated area). Ask for information about building a small structure and what permits and inspections will be needed.

If it will be a temporary building ask something straightforward like "How big a storage building can I put up without getting a building permit?"

Understand that if you will be doing a septic system, well, bringing in power and telephone, etc. then these are more people to call and coordinate (and pay!)

If you have bought my plans see, "Taking you Plans to the Building Department" for more information and strategies. (Comes in the booklet with the larger plans sets.)

[glenn-k]

All of the above, Brigitta, but most places require them.

[Amanda_931]

Most of what you said on the advantages of building without a permit--perfectly true, but not taxes in my area.  Different set of people.

So far we have inspections on septic tanks (required, even if you were to put in a constructed wetland, if you want grid electricity) and electric.

My house in Nashville had been wired by the previous owner.  He whined mightly about having to get it inspected.  He'd been, he swore, an electrician most of his life, no young whippersnapper could tell him how to wire a house.

Well they did.  Told him everything he had done was a) wrong and b) dangerous beyond belief.  No totally sure about the latter, but there was certainly a possiblity or shock--mild or severe--the way he had done it.  And we won't talk about his burglar alarm.  All the neighbors did!  

Look at the conversations we have had here about sheathing.  Somebody does a doctoral dissertation about that, discovering that all the work people used to do putting diagonal boards on the sides of houses was basically useless--1/4" plywood glued and nailed does a better job, easier and cheaper (unless you're violently sensitive to the glues).

Inspections--or officially built to code--don't mean that a house is well built, let alone well designed.  It probably means that some sort of minimum standards were met.  It really does mean that it's going to be easier for you--or someone you want to sell to--to get some kind of financing on it.

[Brigitta]

Ah, I see! Thanks!

[Jimmy_Cason]

I have posted this link before. It will show you some amazing reasons for inspections!

http://www.inspectionconcepts.com/Picture%20of%20the%20week.htm

[MtnmanMikeM]

I understand why most people need permits etc. etc...    Especially if any want to sell their place someday.   And the police state requires permits, licenses, etc. etc. etc........  It is a police state compared to the freedom such as 100 plus years ago.   Even 10 or more years ago there were more freedoms, without the Patriot Act etc.  but dont get me started on that!

In Mike Oehler's "$50 and Up Underground House Book"  there is a chapter on building codes, permits etc. and what he thinks of them     He could not get and did not need permits, codes or the gov'ts Permission to build all  that he did.     That is what irks me also is that we are not Allowed to build or do so many things on Our land that we worked extremely hard paying for and supposedly owning.     One more thing is it right that the gov't can take your property that may be worth many many thousands of dollars simply for not paying a few hundred dollars in property taxes??       One other book is "Did Big Brother Give You Permission to go WeeWee?"  also many at www.paladinpress.com

I remember reading about some people who were at a meeting with some county commissioners in a county in Idaho.    They were talking about getting building codes, permits etc.   and some just stood there with a rope, hangman's noose and for some reason the subject was dropped.    I don't think they ever did get codes, permits but that was 20 or so years ago...  Need more people like that today but probably could not get  away with that anymore for a swat team etc. would be called fast, especially in big cities....

[glenn-k]

Great to see another enlightened individual, Mike.

I'm sure everyone is saying --- shutup, Mike or you'll get Glenn going too. :-/

I must get the WeeWee book soon.

[jraabe]

Thanks for that link PEG. - Pics are worth 1000 words.  

Let's not start ragging on inspectors and the lose of our freedoms or we'll have to move the thread to the "Off Topic" forum.  

It's all a function of population density. 150 years ago when a person went out into the wilds and built themselves a house and lived in it for the rest of their lives - codes and inspectors didn't matter. This person didn't expect to get social security, county roads, fire protection, schools for their kids and all the other things we now take for granted (and pay taxes for).

With the increasing density of a population, specialization of construction by a "housing industry", and the turn over of "housing stocks" by a "real estate market", people begin to demand protection from sloppy and dangerous building practices. These are usually seen as disreputable builders and developers out to bilk the poor homeowner. And, such people do exist, don't they?

This is not a government conspiracy - this demand for certification of buildings will happen on its own based on the experiences of the local community. At some point on the community growth curve they will be willing to pay taxes to hire a building inspector to make sure buildings are safe and solid.

The only way to not have to deal with such requirements is to move to an area with very low population density. An area where there isn't a "building industry" to regulate. A place where almost everyone builds for themselves and expects to work it out on their own. Such places still exist and some of the folks on this forum live there.  8-)

Now, admittedly, any bureaucracy is soon a life form and like any other life form it will protect its turf, try to expand its feeding range and control or eliminate competition. This is when inspectors stray from health and safety issues (fully valid in my mind) and into the realm of protecting property values, supporting personal agendas, etc.  

(Look at the photos PEG has linked to... all are code violations. Most are potential problems if not real problems. A few are unlikely to ever cause real problems. We can't expect perfection in codes or anything else in life.)

[Pala]

Spot on John.  How terribly resonable of you.