Sweet Success!! Yup I got the building permit for the Clarkson St. addition, of course for those who have pulled a permit you’ll be able to relate to the short tale I’m going to tell.
By the time you leave the Baltimore City permit office your emotions have run the gauntlet of being anxious, mild amusement at watching the pained expressions as the folks at the various counters tell people their drawings aren’t complete enough, knowing nods at one another that this whole process is entirely too long, the annoyance at the loud cell phone talker, the frustration with the arrogance of those in charge, and finally the weirdly proud feeling you get as you watch someone just lay into someone in charge, you know the person who walks from one side of the permit office to the other just hollering that these people don’t know what they are doing. You always want to give that person a pat on the back for standing up to the B.S. and quietly you know your about to lose your cool as well so seeing someone else do it usually calms me down.
So I go to the permit office with my letter from zoning stating they have approved the addition. The lady at the counter informs me they don’t have record of me applying for a permit and they do not have my drawings. The permit office has a habit of losing drawings or the people are just to lazy to look for them.
I should interject a little history here, there is this one particular plan reviewer at the permit office who is an engineer and somehow thinks anyone who isn’t just doesn’t know what they are doing. She is excessively arrogant and never forgets to tell me “As an engineer” I need to see this that or the other. I have never told her that I have a civil engineering degree from Drexel University, a fine educational institution. I just feel education is supposed to be used, not shown off.
Anyways as luck would have it she is the first person I have to deal with. I think to myself, let the games begin. She abruptly tells me they have no record of my permit application, no copies of my plans, and I can tell she is not going to go the extra mile to help me.
Well when I get the “run around” I just start to “work around”. So I go upstairs to zoning appeals and there is this wonderful woman who greats me with a smile and asks how she can help me. I ask if they have a copy of the plans I submitted for zoning so pulls out the file and says ” pull out what you need, and I’ll let you know if you can have it” so I pull out my permit application, she says ” I’ll make a copy for you”, I pull out a copy of the drawings with the permit office stamps showing someone had reviewed my plans, she says” I’ll trade you these plans for the ones you have in your hands and they’ll make extra copies for you downstairs” . I love when people go the extra mile to help you, it just adds a bright spot to the day.
15 minutes later I’m back in the permit office with copies of my plans and a copy of the original permit application. The woman who originally reviewed my plans is at the front counter and cheerily says ” Hey there” with a big smile. She remembered me and my plans from the very first visit so she just gives me my ticket to the first station.
All good I think, well its never all good until you walk out the door. After the first station, someone decides my plans haven’t been reviewed enough so back to the front counter I go. I have to meet with the anal engineer or AE as I like to say. We get into a small back and forth about whether a “fire wall” is required on an exterior wall that is adjacent to an alley. I’ve never seen fire “jump” across a ten foot wide alley. I guess anything is possible, I tell her I’ll put in the extra drywall to achieve the fire rating, she’s happy, I’m irritated, she’s really happy, I go to the next station which is the final station. I remind myself that getting the permit is the goal, not winning an argument. I receive the payment slip and head to the cashier after about a 15 minute wait I walk out the door permit in hand.
Mission accomplished! Project can start…oh wait I hear its’ supposed to snow again.
Feel free to add a permit horror story to the comment section or advice on how to survive the process.
To learn more about my company The Olive Group, please visit http://www.theolivegroupmanagement.com
I can be emailed at matthewtuttle@theolivegroupmanagement.com
Happy Permitting
Matthew Tuttle
Tags: architectural drawings, arrogance, Baltimore City, baltimore city permit office, board of municipal and zoning appeals, Construction, construction management, design build, engineer, extra mile, frustration, general contractor, home improvement, MD, patience, permits, rehab, residential renovations, success, zoning hearing
