Often homeowners and contractors see building permits as an impediment to construction.
“We simply want to work with them to ensure their job meets minimum standards and to protect people using the buildings,” said Mike Selig, program manager for Clark County. As he sees it, residential and commercial building permits protect the health and safety of your family and community.
There are many horror stories of do-it-yourself homeowners who made serious mistakes that would have been avoided had they worked with our safety group, Selig commented. Improperly installed water heaters have blasted through rooftops like rockets. (Yes, you need a building permit to replace your water heater.) Failure to vent a home properly caused one county homeowner to lose his health, his job and his home recently.
“Because someone avoided a building permit and saved a few bucks only makes the horror stories sadder,” Selig said. “They put themselves and their families in danger. A building permit would have been cheap insurance.”
Likewise, taking the lowest bid on a job may not be the wisest financial decision. Often, one of the shortcuts low bidders make is bypassing building permits or not carrying insurance. “When contractors present a low bid, homeowners must ask for verification of insurance and building permits,” Selig warned.
“Homeowners may not realize that improperly installing anything, even things as seemingly simple as water heaters or vents, can affect the future sale of their home,” said Kent Hegsted, plans examiner for the county. “If it’s caught during a home sale inspection, it can slow the sale. Worse, undetected faulty installations might harm the new owner or initiate a lawsuit.”
Building codes getting tighter
Building codes are changing. They are getting tighter and making buildings tighter. By 2030, the state wants to drop its overall energy usage below 2006 levels by 60 percent. “Building standards for residential homes have helped make huge gains in energy savings,” said Hegsted. “Commercial buildings will be the next place to make large gains.”
Increasingly, local commercial and residential builders are following the Green Building Standard voluntarily, which includes duct sealing, heat pump water heaters, smaller furnaces, and increased air tightness and air circulation to create energy-efficient buildings and more comfortable and healthier ones.
The Clark County building safety group has initiated several new programs to make it easier for do-it-yourselfers, builders and contractors to work with them.
They have published a 30-page, spiral-bound booklet called “Code Check.” It’s an illustrated guide for building a safer house and available to anyone building a home.
The group is also trying to make building inspections easier. The department designed a “Tik Tok” program to help homeowners with remodeling, heating-cooling, plumbing and other inspections after hours and on Saturdays.
The department added the Sherlook virtual-video inspections using Skype and Facetime. Anyone needing an inspection can use a handheld device and have the inspector guide them through an inspection of their work.
Advantages of these programs are saving the builder time and money, speeding up inspections and learning from a certified building inspector when changes are necessary.
“We want homeowners and builders to see us as a group that helps them, not hinders them,” Selig said.
For electrical service needs related to building or remodeling, contact the Clark Public Utilities Construction Services department at 360-992-8558 with questions or to get a project started.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
