§ 6-37. Permits.

(a)

Permit application.

(1)

When required. Any owner, authorized agent, or contractor who desires to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace any electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing system, the installation of which is regulated by the construction codes, or to cause any such work to be done, shall first make application to the building official and obtain the required permit for the work.

Exception: Permits shall not be required for the following mechanical work:

a.

Any portable heating appliance;

b.

Any portable ventilation equipment;

c.

Any portable cooling unit;

d.

Any steam, hot or chilled water piping within any heating or cooling equipment regulated by the construction codes;

e.

Replacements of any part which does not alter its approval or make it unsafe;

f.

Any portable evaporative cooler;

g.

Any self-contained refrigeration system containing ten (10) pounds (4.54 kg.) or less of refrigerant and actuated by motors of one (1) horsepower (746 W) or less.

(2)

Work authorized. A building, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing permit shall carry with it the right to construct or install the work, provided the same are shown on the drawings and set forth in the specifications filed with the application for the permit. Where these are not shown on the drawings and covered by the specifications submitted with the application, separate permits shall be required.

(3)

Minor repairs. Ordinary minor repairs may be made with the approval of the building official without a permit, provided that such repairs shall not violate any of the provisions of the construction codes.

(4)

Information required. Each application for a permit, with the required fee, shall be filed with the building official on a form furnished for that purpose, and shall contain a general description of the proposed work and its location. The application shall be signed by the owner, or his/her authorized agent. The building permit application shall indicate the proposed occupancy of all parts of the building and of that portion of the site or lot, if any, not covered by the building or structure, and shall contain such other information as may be required by the building official.

(5)

Time limitations. An application for a permit for any proposed work shall be deemed to have been abandoned six (6) months after the date of filing for the permit, unless before then a permit has been issued. One (1) or more extensions of time for periods of not more than ninety (90) days each may be allowed by the building official for the application, provided the extension is requested in writing and justifiable cause is demonstrated.

(b)

Drawings and specifications.

(1)

Requirements. When required by the building official, two (2) or more copies of specifications and of drawings drawn to scale with sufficient clarity and detail to indicate the nature and character of the work, shall accompany the application for a permit. Such drawings and specifications shall contain information, in the form of notes or otherwise, as to the quality of materials, where quality is essential to conformity with the construction codes. Such information shall be specific, and the construction codes shall not be cited as a whole or in part, nor shall the term "legal" or its equivalent be used, as a substitute for specific information. All information, drawings, specifications and accompanying data shall bear the name and signature of the person responsible for the design.

(2)

Additional data. The building official may require details, computations, stress diagrams, and other data necessary to describe the construction or installation and the basis of calculations. All drawings, specifications and accompanying data required by the building official to be prepared by an architect or engineer shall be affixed with their official seal.

(3)

Design professional. The design professional shall be an architect or engineer legally registered under the laws of this state regulating the practice of architecture or engineering and shall affix his official seal to said drawings, specifications and accompanying data, for the following:

a.

All Group A, E, and I occupancies.

b.

Buildings and structures three (3) stories or more high.

c.

Buildings and structures five thousand (5,000) square feet (465 m ) or more in area.

For all other buildings and structures, the submittal shall bear the certification of the applicant that some specific state law exception permits its preparation by a person not so registered.

Exception: Single-family dwellings, regardless of size, shall require neither a registered architect nor engineer, nor a certification that an architect or engineer is not required.

(4)

Structural and fire-resistance integrity. Plans for all buildings shall indicate how required structural and fire-resistance integrity will be maintained where a penetration of a required fire resistance wall, floor or partition will be made for electrical, gas, mechanical, plumbing, signal and communication conduits, pipes and systems and also indicate in sufficient detail how the fire integrity will be maintained where required fire- resistance floors intersect the exterior walls.

(5)

Site drawings. Drawings shall show the location of the proposed building or structure and of every existing building or structure on the site or lot. The building official may require a boundary line survey prepared by a qualified surveyor.

(6)

Hazardous occupancies. The building official may require the following:

a.

General site plan. A general site plan drawn at a legible scale which shall include, but not be limited to, the location of all buildings, exterior storage facilities, permanent access ways, evacuation routes, parking lots, internal roads, chemical loading areas, equipment cleaning areas, storm and sanitary sewer accesses, emergency equipment and adjacent property uses. The exterior storage areas shall be identified with the hazard classes and the maximum quantities per hazard class of hazardous materials stored.

b.

Building floor plan. A building floor plan drawn to a legible scale, which shall include, but not be limited to, all hazardous materials storage facilities within the building and shall indicate rooms, doorways, corridors, exits, fire rated assemblies with their hourly rating, location of liquid tight rooms, and evacuation routes. Each hazardous materials storage facility shall be identified on the plan with the hazard classes and quantity range per hazard class or the hazardous materials stored.

(c)

Examination of documents.

(1)

Plan review. The building official shall examine or cause to be examined each application for a permit and the accompanying documents, consisting of drawings, specifications, computations, and additional data, and shall ascertain by such examinations whether the construction indicated and described is in accordance with the requirements of the construction codes and all other pertinent laws or ordinances.

(2)

Affidavits. The building official may accept a sworn affidavit from a registered architect or engineer stating that the plans submitted conform to the construction codes. For buildings and structures the affidavit shall state that the plans conform to the laws as to egress, type of construction and general arrangement and if accompanied by drawings showing the structural design, and by a statement that the plans and design conform to the requirements of the construction codes as to strength, stresses, strains, loads and stability. The building official may without any examination or inspection accept such affidavit, provided the architect or engineer who made such affidavit agrees to submit to the building official, copies of inspection reports as inspections are performed and upon completion of the structure, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems a certification that the structure, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system has been erected in accordance with the requirements of the construction codes. Where the building official relies upon such affidavit, the architect or engineer shall assume full responsibility for the compliance with all provisions of the construction codes and other pertinent laws or ordinances.

(d)

Issuing permits.

(1)

Action on permits. The building official shall act upon an application for a permit without unreasonable or unnecessary delay. If the building official is satisfied that the work described in an application for a permit and the contract documents filed therewith conform to the requirements of the construction codes and other pertinent laws and ordinances, he shall issue a permit to the applicant.

(2)

Refusal to issue permit. If the application for a permit and the accompanying contract documents describing the work do not conform to the requirements of the construction codes or other pertinent laws or ordinances, the building official shall not issue a permit, but shall return the contract documents to the applicant with his refusal to issue such permit. Such refusal shall, when requested, be in writing and shall contain the reason for refusal.

(3)

Special foundation permit. When application for permit to erect or enlarge a building has been filed and pending issuance of such permit, the building official may, at his discretion, issue a special permit for the foundation only. The holder of such a special permit is proceeding at his own risk and without assurance that a permit for the remainder of the work will be granted nor that corrections will not be required in order to meet provisions of the construction codes.

(4)

Public right-of-way. A permit shall not be given by the building official for the construction of any building, or for the alteration of any building where said building is to be changed and such change will affect the exterior walls, bays, balconies, or other appendages or projections fronting on any street, alley or public lane, or for the placing on any lot or premises of any building or structure removed from another lot or premises, unless the applicant has made application at the office of the director of public works for the lines of the public street on which he/she proposes to build, erect or locate said building; and it shall be the duty of the building official to see that the street lines are not encroached upon except as provided for in Chapter 22 of the Standard Building Code.

(e)

Contractor responsibilities. It shall be the duty of every contractor who shall make contracts for the installation or repairs of building, structure, electrical, gas, mechanical, sprinkler or plumbing systems, for which a permit is required, to comply with state or local rules and regulations concerning licensing which the applicable governing authority may have adopted. In such case that the state requires a contractor to have obtained a state license before they are permitted to perform work, the contractor shall supply the local government with their license number before receiving a permit for work to be performed.

(f)

Conditions of the permit.

(1)

Permit intent. A permit issued shall be construed to be a license to proceed with the work and not as authority to violate, cancel, alter, or set aside any of the provisions of the construction codes, nor shall issuance of a permit prevent the building official from thereafter requiring a correction of errors in plans, construction, or violations of the construction codes. Every permit issued shall become invalid unless the work authorized by such permit is commenced within six (6) months after its issuance, or if the work authorized by such permit is suspended or abandoned for a period of six (6) months after the time the worked is commenced. One (1) or more extensions of time, for periods not more than ninety (90) days each, may be allowed for the permit. The extension shall be requested in writing and justifiable cause demonstrated. Extensions shall be in writing by the building official.

(2)

Permit issued on basis of an affidavit. Whenever a permit is issued in reliance upon an affidavit or whenever the work to be covered by a permit involves installation under conditions which, in the opinion of the building official, are hazardous or complex, the building official shall require that the architect or engineer who signed the affidavit or prepared the drawings or computations shall supervise such work. In addition, they shall be responsible for conformity with the permit, provide copies of inspection reports as inspections are performed, and upon completion make and file with the building official written affidavit that the work has been done in conformity with the reviewed plans and with the structural provisions of the Construction codes. In the event such architect or engineer is not available, the owner shall employ in his stead a competent person or agency whose qualifications are reviewed by the building official.

(3)

Plans. When the building official issues a permit, he/she shall enforce, in writing or by stamp, both sets of plans "Reviewed for Code Compliance." One (1) set of drawings so reviewed shall be retained by the building official and the other set shall be returned to the applicant. The permitted drawings shall be kept at the site of work and shall be open to inspection by the building official or his/her authorized representative.

(Ord. No. 37-01, § 6, 9-6-01)