Submitted by Stephen Beckman
Fernandina Beach Building Official
November 9, 2020
[Over the past year, the City of Fernandina Beach has issued 54 stop work orders. The article below explains why such actions are necessary.]
Stop work orders are placed on a job when work is found that is being done without the proper permits, performed by people who should not be doing the work, or when a permit is obtained and workers are proper if it is dangerous or unsafe. Florida State statutes require a Building Official to stop work that meets any of these conditions.
Rarely does work get stopped because it is found to be unsafe or dangerous when it is being done by permit and the appropriately licensed contractors, but it does happen. Most of the time, it is because a permit hasn’t been obtained, and the contractor is unlicensed.
Why do people not want to get permits? There are a number of reasons that people don’t pull permits that mainly stem from worry that it will increase their taxes, cost too much, be too difficult, or fear inspectors will nitpick or find other problems. For the most part, these fears are misplaced.
First of all, many things don’t require permits—things like changing fixtures and most minor repairs. Minor repairs can mean fixing a leak in the roof, a leak in a pipe, or a broken door. If you have any doubt, you can call the Building Department to ask. If you are worried that doing so will flag you, you can always just call anonymously. Calling the Building Department (904) 310-3135 may easily clear up the question.
One concern is that a permit will be expensive. While building a new house may require a $2,000 permit, most permits only cost $100 or less. Some may cost a couple hundred bucks. Generally, permits cover the time involved for an inspector to do the required inspections, which will help ensure that you do not have to worry about problems.
Sometimes the concern is that you won’t be able to do the work yourself. Here in Florida, if you own your home and occupy it (not for rent or lease or for sale), you can do the work. You will still need to follow the codes and get inspections, so be sure you know what the requirements are. If something fails an inspection, you can correct it and get it reinspected. If you are in doubt about something, the Building Department can help you find the answers to what is required.
So why get a permit? To start with, it’s the law, unless it is a minor repair. The reason it is law is that legislators have recognized that history has shown us that if we do not have these codes and inspect the work, buildings become less safe. For this reason, it is the intent of the Florida legislature to require that buildings be inspected. Building fires, structural failures, lack of egress, to name a few, can result in loss of life. Another good reason is that if you ever have a problem associated with work that was done, water leak, fire, structural failure, you may be on your own when it comes to filing an insurance claim. Also, when selling your home, an astute buyer can find out if certain improvements were permitted and, if not, may walk away from the sale or not be able to obtain financing. For many things that you might do, probably the number one reason to get the permit, at least in my opinion as the Building Official, is that you will get to have a highly qualified code expert inspect the work. This protects you as the owner from getting work done incorrectly, which can result in loss of property or worse, loss of life. A permit to add circuitry for new things, such as a hot tub, will cost about $90. This gets you two inspections, a rough and a final. Is it worth $90 to ensure your new electrical is safe? Where else can you get a qualified inspector to show up at your house to inspect something for $45? See the photo of an electrical disconnect for a hot tub installed in a dangerous manner by “an electrician,” which was discovered when work was being done without permits.
A building permit to remodel your entire home might cost $200-$400 and will get you maybe a dozen inspections. A $30,000 remodel general permit would cost $203 that goes to the city, and $4 to the state making the total fee $207. If that job includes re-wiring, it would require an electrical permit which would cost $84 ($80 to the city and $4 to the state). Often as homeowners, we are not experts in construction and do not know the details of the various codes. A permit and inspections take a great deal of worry off your shoulders and provide a better job. How about this “contractor” who remodeled a house and made a new bathroom and found a creative way to address the electrical panel? See the photos below.
Lastly, if you are hiring an unlicensed contractor in Florida, they will not be allowed to pull permits as a proper license is required. Often an unlicensed contractor will ask you to pull the permit as an owner, which is against the law and can result in a stop work order if discovered, and steep fines to both the owner and the unlicensed contractor. Unlicensed contracting in Florida is a felony, and State Statute requires the Building Official to take action when it is found. Besides fines, a final certificate of occupancy can ultimately be denied per Florida Statute. Many times owners choose to take this risk because the work is cheaper and/or they can’t find a contractor to meet their schedule. Doing this comes at significant risk to an owner. Unlicensed work without permits can result in fines, penalties, disconnection of building utilities, and substandard work.
Hiring the right people and getting a permit may cost a little more but comes with many benefits by eliminating many potential issues that could end up costing far more than you can ever save.
The permit may cost $100, but aren’t there additional costs and fees to review the application, etc., bringing the total cost significantly higher?
LuAnn, thank you for your comment. I should clarify that the fees I quoted in the article were for building only. When I wrote the article, I was mainly thinking of interior remodels which is one of the main types of work that get caught going unpermitted. If a project is an interior remodel, there usually aren’t other fees involved. However if it involves exterior changes to the footprint, drainage or in the historical district with exterior work, for example, the fees would be more as other departments have reviews and inspections as well. A project which alters drainage might need review and inspection from the city stormwater engineer to insure that the altered drainage doesn’t adversely affect a neighbor. When projects involve changes to the building footprint, planning reviews the plans to see that the proposed work will meet the land development code requirements. Living in a small city such as ours, we want to make sure that work done on our properties doesn’t negatively affect what we all love about the city, which is the goal of the Land Development Code and the work of the Planning and Conservation Department. The “building department” is only a part of the process that reviews and inspects for building code. The building department is also the department where applications are received and permits issued, but often involves other city departments for their approvals and inspections as well.
Maybe something can be done to speed up the permit process?
Hi Debra. I agree that the process can be slow sometimes which usually happens when there is a great deal of activity, as is happening now. Sometimes it moves slow because corrections are required. Sometimes it can move pretty quick. The process can always be improved upon. We are always interested in hearing your comments and suggestions.
I agree with Mr Beckman about safety concerns, but agree with Ms Dawson that he is being disingenuous about fees. I recently recieved a permit for a supposedly exempt 12 x12 garden shed I built myself. The permit was supposed to be $100. My bill was for $287.74.
I continue to maintain that tax payers would be much better off if we closed Fernandina’s building department and used the County’s sevices.
The $100 portion of the fee is for “building” which performs a review and inspection for building code requirements. The other part of the fees are for planning and conservation for their reviews and for the state. The county exempts sheds as it is much less of a concern when you are in a more rural setting. The city is a small area where lots are close together and where meeting set backs and building code are a much greater concern. It usually matters to your neighbors when setbacks are violated, which are the biggest complaints received when sheds are built without permits. Also, we live in an area where wind is a big factor and if buildings are not built to withstand wind, your shed, if not built properly, can destroy your property or your neighbors property in a storm. When you are some where out in the county, it is quite a different thing. Granted the county has area on the island as well, However most of the county jurisdiction is off the island.
Why is Suanne Thamm’s name posted next to this article? Did she ghost write it? Edit it? Approve it’s placement? It’s clearly a piece of city propaganda from a city department that has come under heavy criticism for its excessive fees. The three responses so far disagree with Mr. Beckman, the alleged author.
Dave, my name appears next to many articles on the FO that I have posted but not written. Such is the case with this piece.
Sometimes a permit is not warranted. I am a 3rd generation contractor and this is a true story. I was building a new 1200 sq ft house. I hired the City Water Department to bring the water lateral from the City main onto the property for a cost of $1100. Not bad for cutting the Street, installing the line and patching the street. Per the City’s munincple code the Water Department was required to remove a 5’x5′ piece of the sidewalk. The City doesn’t want you to tunnel under the side walk. During the course of this work a Water Department Supervisor commented that his workers were not very good concrete finishers and the 5’x5′ section that was removed wouldn’t look very good. I am a first rate concrete finisher. I mentioned to the Supervisor that I wanted my house to look really good when it was complete, including the City owned sidewalk. I told the Water Department Supervisor to take the concrete finishing as far as his guys were capable and I would finish it off professionally to look as good as the rest of the surrounding side walks. At the same time the Public Works Inspector happened to be listening to my conversation. The Public Works responce was” If you touch the Concrete you will have to post a $1500 Bond, pay a $500 permit fee, and have and approved Curb and Gutter Plan ( Approx $2500) before you can do any work on this sidewalk patch. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be giving. I politely said “screw you” to the Public works inspector. My conclusion is, sometimes permits are a good idea, other times permits are gross governmental over reach.
Interesting story.
I live in the County portion of the island but my water is supplied by the City.
A few years ago, my 30-year old steel water line (lateral) was determined to be corroded and leaking. The water main on my block is across the street under my neighbor’s lawn. The City water department came out and dug a neat hole in my neighbors lawn. Then their subcontractor bored and installed a new plastic lateral approximately 70 feet under the street to my water meter. Done in less than 4 hours and my water service was out for less than half of that time. (Thanks, F.B.)
I can understand why the City might not want a big trench dug under the sidewalk, but direct boring doesn’t disturb the soil and might have avoided the time and expense of trenching and repairing your street, as well.