Question: how can I check on building permits?

Alright, so they didn’t. So what do I do with that information? And also, asking an opinion of my fellow Church Hill denizens: This house has been neglected + vacant for years. The owner is finally getting around to doing something about it. Should I contact anyone or just be glad that the source of so much trouble is slowly being repaired?

@2: actually, just because something is being cleaned up does not make it necessary not to worry. Cleaning up, then doing illegal wiring that could cause a fire, could easily be a problem. Hiding the van out back sounds shady to begin with.

@1: I would definitely report it. I reported a neighbor three or four years ago, turned out he had illegal wiring and plumbing, and the house was attached and could easily have caused problems for the folks next door. There are plenty of legit contractors around who DO get permits, and the ones who do not are a blight on the ones who do. Call the city. If it’s in an historic district, you can add to that calling Catherine Easterling at 646-7550, too – she’s with CAR.

If you get the building inspector to visit the site, and they are doing work that requires a permit, he will put a stop order on any work they are doing and they will then have to pay a fine and work cannot continue until they pay the fine and obtain permits for the work they are doing. That might stop or slowdown the renovation. And you might make an enemy, if they know it was you who called.
On the other hand, if they are doing electrical and/or gas lines and they are done in a shoddy manner, it could start a fire which could affect your house in the future. And of course shoddy work will haunt the future residents and buyers of the house for years to come (Though in truth, inspectors usually only catch the most glaring of offenses. Anything hidden or unreacheable goes uninspected in most cases.)
For the most part, in this situation, work where a permit is required includes electrical, plumbing/gas and any structural work (framing, footers, foundations.) If they are just fixing plaster/sheetrock, flooring, trim, painting or reroofing, no permit is required. I think insulating a house requires a permit, but I don’t think anyone really applies for a permit for that, though if there has been major framing, the inpsector will also do an insulation inspection prior to sheetrock going up.

Can you tell what kind of work they’re doing? If it’s strictly finishes – drywall, tiling, cabinets, etc. – maybe it’s not a big deal. If it involves structural work (or serious mechanical or electrical), they should have a permit.

I wish I could support the spirit of making structural improvements without a permit, but that level of corner-cutting exactly why so many houses around town have collapsing or inadequate decks. It’s not that the city is fool-proof on validating any structural work, but I’d almost guarantee that somebody who skips permitting also skips any real structural planning. Decks collapse because of sloppiness, not intentions to actually hurt folks.

On a related note, there is no construction testing for somebody to get a class C contractor’s license.

Disclaimer related to my expectations: I’m an architect in town.

Some work doesn’t require a permit. That said, is the house in one of the City Old/Historic districts? If they’re doing work on the exterior, they need a COA from City Staff or CAR.

Do you own your home next door? If the work is shoddy (and not inspected by the city,) if could at best negatively impact your property value or at worst be a firetrap that causes damage to your home.

Call the Building Inspector’s office–make em come out, see what’s going on and tell the contractor to get a permit (if its necessary for the work they’re doing.)

Yeah, it might cause a temporary set back, but at least the work will be safe and meet code.

You can go to the City’s Dept of Planning website and look up permits there….just type in the address.

@11 Veronica: I beg to differ, the city does not have inspectors with time to drive around checking for permits. They operate on a complaint driven basis. Same with CAR, if the house is in an historic district, they also expect citizens to do the right thing and contact them same as the building inspectors office does.

Call permits and inspections and get an inspector out there ASAP. It could save someone’s life. If they install the electricity wrong, a 100-plus year old house is fire hazard like no other.

Brad Benson is the building inspector that covers Church Hill. He is a good guy and can help.

Last Name: BENSON
First Name: BRADLEY
Title: CODE ENFORCEMENT INSP I – BLD
Phone Number: 646-6966
Department: PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW
Email: BRADLEY.BENSON@RICHMONDGOV.COM