Friday a friend of mine (Ricky) and I went to the permit office to check on the permit for this garage. The guy in charge of this stuff wasn't there, but one of the girls said she was 99.9 percent sure that we would need to have a soil bore test done on the site. Sheesh, for a garage? Anyone heard of something like this? Ricky said the most headache of this whole thing would be dealing with the permit office, so I'm expecting the worst....
Had soil borings done on Friday. There is pipe clay at three corners of the area where the garage will go, but down between 8.5 and 9 feet. The engineer for the building doing the foundation drawings says that won't be a problem. So hopefully I'll have the drawings this week.
Had the concrete guy (Mike Smith - Custom Concrete Services) come by today and look over the site. He'll be back on Wednesday to put in the forms for the slab. He's going to do the slab first, then the 20 ft. apron afterwards. I told him the important criteria is that the slope from the apron into the garage cannot be too sharp that I can't get my cars over the lip without scraping the undercarriage. After that, he really can't do anything until I have the permit.
I will be going to the permitting office on Monday to get that started. Evidently they have it arranged that you need to get a permit to get a permit, if that makes any sense. Pretty much just a way to make an additional $30 out of everyone who wants to get a permit.
But hopefully there won't be any major headaches with this. From what some people are saying, as long as the engineer doing the foundation drawings states that the pipe clay will not be an issue with the foundation and states such in the documents, then there won't be any problems. But we'll see....
I've been asking around about a concrete person to do my slab for the garage, and found a guy by the name of Mike Smith with Custom Concrete Services who seemed to come highly recommended. So I contacted him to get the ball rolling.
Mike stopped by here last week and I told him what I wanted. 30x50 foot slab for a prefab metal building (garage/shed) with a 20 ft apron. He quoted a total price of $11K, which I thought was kind of high, but he comes highly recommended and I accepted it. After the hand shakes and words spoken about how we are both men of our word and no money needed to change hands then, he agreed to come by today and start setting up the forms while we waited for the permit (which I am working on now).
Well, he shows up this morning promptly at 8am and asks if I have anything showing the actual dimensions of the slab. I had gotten a preliminary foundation drawing on Monday from SteelMaxBuildings (this was prior to the
soil borings being sent to them), so I showed that to him. Seriously, I thought Mike was going to have a stroke. Started going on about how the foundation was WAY overkill and WAY more than what he was expecting to have to do. Now I don't know this stuff from a hill of beans, but all I do know is that I am trying to get a darn building put up and I believe the designers of the building might know something about the pad and foundation they recommend for it. So once Mike started telling me that he needed more money for that slab, I just told him to pack it up. So much for the talk of
the handshake and a deal, I guess. I would like to think the best of the guy, but honestly I felt like I was being hustled and I was not going to agree to pay more money for a job already agreed upon.
So back to square one now with this part of the plan.
Got a packet of stuff from the permit office, and this looks like it is going to be a pain in the butt as well. Lord help anyone doing something major like building a house. No damn wonder that construction is down. Probably from so many contractors going insane from the hoops they need to jump through.
So now I just got off the phone from the place supposed to do the building erection (G&L Steel Buildings) out of Quincy. There is something in the permit packet I got saying that all contractors (sub-contractors?) must be licensed in Wakulla County if they are going to be doing work in Wakulla County). So they called there to find out about it and the owner (Lucia) said that the person on the phone was just downright rude to her. Didn't want to even listen to what she was trying to say. Yeah, I saw a hint of that myself. The people in that office seem to have a chip on their shoulder for some reason. You know the type, I'm sure. More interested in trying to find things to stop you from doing what you want rather than helping you get it accomplished with the minimum of hassle and headaches.
On the slab, I can tell you for sure that the guy quoted you the absolute least expensive, simplest slab possible for a garage. This is almost always going to be less expensive and simpler than building from an engineered drawing. However, it may or may not be something that works for your intended use. You should have given him the drawing when you asked for a price in order to get a good number. But he should have asked as well. From your description of the events, I don't think he was trying to screw you, but I don't know anything about the guy.
However if you don't have the final drawings, you should just wait for them as the soil borings may affect the final slab design and you may be getting another change from the next guy. You cannot expect a contractor to agree to build one thing and then change the specs on him and expect him to make the changes for free. If it were me, I would invite three bidders to look at the site and give them a copy of your drawing and request a bid from each.
FYI, I just paid $9800 (including soil treatment, permits, etc) for a 30x48 slab for a future shop and a 24x30 parking pad off of my garage. I was supposedly 'getting a deal' because they made a mistake during construction on the house.
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Man that sucks Rich !
Sorry to hear about all that...
When I bought my first land and house in C-ville I was 20yrs old (7 yrs ago) and I remember the permit people still to this day.....
RUDE AND COULD CARE LESS ABOUT HELPING YOU !!!!
It took forever to get anything done with them I literally had to go stand in their office to get anything done.....calling on the phone they basically laughed at me !!!
The guy quoted me a price. I had to assume he was experienced in putting in pads for buildings of this nature and knew what he was doing. He actually showed up here this morning intending to get started, which tells me he was completely clueless about what he was doing if he was going to start digging and putting up the forms. I can't know that someone else doesn't know what they are doing. I'm having enough trouble trying to figure out what I need to know, much less someone else who is supposed to be a professional.
I've been looking over the permit packet and it is completely goofy. They have a page there that is called the "Property Owner's Permit Affidavit" which describes some interesting stipulations.
Basically is a statement that I sign claiming that I am the owner of the property covered by the permit, will be doing the work covered by the permit, know what I am doing (which is not true, but a minor detail), and take full responsibility for the codes and regulations. If the building inspector finds deficiencies, it is my responsibility to correct them. Sounds fair enough.
But now it gets odd.
In bold letters is stated:
IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR THE PROPERTY OWNER TO OBTAIN THE SERVICE OF ANY UNLICENSED TRADESMAN TO PERFORM ON ANY PROPERTY OWNER'S BUILDING PERMIT.
Now just what the heck does THAT mean? What exactly is a "tradesman" and if i am hiring him to do a job for me, and am responsible for the work that is done in relation to passing the inspections needed for the permit, who the hell cares if he is "licensed" or not?
Then we get to the section that continues the strangeness..
"I understand that.
State law requires construction to be done by licensed contractors, and that I have applied for a permit under the exemption to that law.
The exemption allows me, as the owner of my property, to act as my own contractor with certain restrictions even though I do not have a license. I understand that I must provide direct onsite supervision of the construction myself.
But, that I can only build or improve a one-family or two-family residence or farm outbuilding, and that I may only build or improve a commercial building provided the cost do not exceed $25,000.00.
That the building or residence must be for my use or occupancy and may not be built or substantially improved for sale or lease.
That if I sell or lease a building I built or substantially improved within one (1) year after the construction is completed, the law will presume that I built or substantially improved if (sic) for sale or lease, which is a violation of the exemption.
That I may not hire an unlicensed person to act as my contractor or to supervise people working on my building.
That construction must be done to building codes and zoning regulations.
I also understand that it is my responsibility to make sure that the people I employ have licenses requires (sic) by state law and by county or municipal licensing ordinances, I further understand that I may not delegate the responsibility for supervising work to a licensed contractor who is not licensed to perform the work that is being done. That any person working on my building who is not licensed must work under my direct supervision and must be employed by me; which means that I must deduct F.I.C.A. and withholding tax and provide workers' compensation for that employee, all as prescribed by law.
The construction must comply with all applicable laws, ordinances, building codes and zoning regulations.
I understand that any person, who violates any provisions of Chapter 49, Part 1, Florida Statute, and/or Chapter 8, Wakulla County Land Development Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable as provided by Section 75.082(4). Florida Statutes.
I dunno, but whatever laws they are talking about most certainly could be grouped under the title of "THE CONTRACTORS SECURITY PROTECTION ACT", it appears to me....
The garage build.
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