What should you know about permits and inspections?
Building a home is a process. There is the physical process of laying the foundation, framing the house, adding the roof, and finishing the interior and exterior. Also, a paperwork process includes a series of permits and inspections. Both processes need to go smoothly to keep your building experience pleasant and to ensure that your house if finished on schedule.
Permits
Before you begin building your home
Before you are even able to get a loan to build your home, you will have to obtain a building permit. Permit regulations and the documentation necessary to receive a permit vary by state. To find out exactly what is required in your state you can go online to the U.S. Census Bureau website at census.gov and look up the specific requirements for your state.
The most important thing to know about getting a building permit is that it is something that your contractor, not you, will take care of. There are a number of things that your contractor will need for the building permit. He will need a complete copy of the building plans, most states want two complete copies of the plans. He will also need statements from both the architect and the structural engineer associated with the foundation. Depending on the location of the house, there may be other necessary documentation.
Once the contractor gets the building permit approved, you will have to pay the permit fee. The permit fees are based on things like the size of your project and the location. This fee is non-negotiable and might cost between $400 and $6000 dollars depending on the projected value of your home. Unless your house is very big or very small, you can probably plan to pay in the neighborhood of $2000 and you should include this cost in with the construction costs.
Inspection
While the home is being built
During the construction of your home there will be a series of inspections. These inspections are required by law but they also make good sense. After all, you want to make sure your house is up to code right?
Every step of the physical process of construction will be inspected. This means the foundation frame will be inspected before the foundation is poured, the walls will be inspected before the roof is put on, etc. If at any point your house fails an inspection the building process must stop while the problem is corrected. Once the inspection is passed, the process can begin again.
These inspections continue right up through the finishing stages of construction. You can be prevented for closing on your house if the finishing touches, like railing on the porches, don't get passed off.
Besides the building inspections from the state, your contractor should do a walk through inspection of the site everyday. Stay involved with the construction process by walking through with your contractor during the daily inspections.
The two most valuable resources that you will have during the period of construction are your contractor and the internet. Hiring a good contractor is essential to having a good experience building your house. An experienced contractor will have gone through the building permit process as well as the inspection process many times. He will be able to explain each step and if things aren't going well, he should have the ability to correct it.
Of course, you also want to be educated yourself. Trusting your contractor is great and, if you chose well, there shouldn't be any problems. However, if you do encounter problems you should know all that you can about permits and inspections. Use the internet to find out about the regulations and codes in your area.
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