Comments on: Why People Don’t Get City Permits

By: heather

heather — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:38:42 +0000

I have a 1929 Kits house. We tried to get permits in 1989 to put a nanny suite in and the city resisted and said: Replace the house with a duplex and we’ll sign the plans today.” So we built to code and skipped permits. In fixing a leaking roof/dormer this year, the builder found the upstairs needed more and before long we had a bigger space, higher roof and a neighbour called us into city hall. Now after 5 months city hall says: all must be removed to 1988 status, no suite, no upstairs, rip it all off. Is there an architect/etc in Vancouver known for dealing with city hall and giving direction to a house owner that just wants to look like her neighbours who all have suites, all have dormers, and we are willing to pay for permits. We need help and advice.

By: john

john — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:05:57 +0000

Yeah, it was just really annoying since the original carport was build with no permit, lasted at least 20 years, and the city added a bunch of extra fees on top the of the $130 i expected to have to pay.

We will probably end up doing something complete different with the space, so now it was a compete waste of money. I guess sometimes it pays to procrastinate–especially if your plans might change.

By: Eric Goodwill

Eric Goodwill — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:59:41 +0000

Well, one other option would have been to go ahead and do the work and find out one of two things happen.

One, your neighbour calls city hall, and a building inspector comes out and slaps a stop work order on your project. You end up having to get the permit anyways plus pay a fine, plus have your project put on hold while this is done.

Two, you spend a lot of effort, and money, to hire someone to do the work only to find out that they did not do the work to the building code and you have to tear it out and redo the work properly.

While expensive, permits are there to protect you and your property. Just wait till your neighbour starts some project where you know that they are not following the building code. You will be glad they have inspectors.

Of course, it is always possible that everything goes without a problem and you have a great new carport roof, and keep all that money in your pocket.

Ultimately the permits are there to protect you, your property and the public.

By: jojuchst

jojuchst — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:38:44 +0000

Permits are somehow tied to the value of the project. For sure it will increase the value of your assessment next year. Can someone correct me otherwise?