STAFF REPORT
Operations Committee, December 6, 2007
Town Code Ordinance Amendment (IP08-001)
Consideration of adoption of an ordinance amendment to Chapter 8 of the Town Code, Building and Building Regulations
Speaker: Mr. Bob Strowbridge
From: Bob Strowbridge, Inspections and Permits Director
Prepared by: Bob Strowbridge, Inspections and Permits Director
Approved by: William B. Coleman, Jr., Town Manager
Approved by: Benjamin T. Shivar, Assistant Town Manager
This ordinance amendment to Chapter 8 is one that had been previously adopted by council on October 24, 2002 and placed in the Cary Code of Ordinances as section 5-56 (b). It was inadvertently removed during the last recodification process in 2005 and the deletion only recently discovered. The following explanation and amendment verbiage has been extracted from the original staff report (IP02-010) and remains relevant at this time.
The State of North Carolina requires every person, firm or corporation that elects to erect, construct, enlarge, install, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, convert or demolish any building, structure, or service system to first obtain a permit for such from the Inspection Department having jurisdiction.
Once the Inspection Department issues a permit and work commences, periodic inspections are then required for each phase of construction. Work shall not be done on any part of a building or service system beyond the point indicated in each successive inspection without first obtaining a written release from the Inspection Department.
Upon satisfactory completion of a building, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, fire protection or gas system, or portion thereof, a Certificate of Compliance is issued. This certificate represents that a structure or system is complete and for certain types of permits is permission granted for connection to a utility system. This certificate does not grant authority to occupy a building prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy.
Upon satisfactory completion of a building and after the Certificate of Occupancy final inspection, the Inspection Department shall issue a Certificate of Occupancy. The Certificate of Occupancy shall state the type of occupancy (i.e. Business, Storage, Residential, Assembly etc. ) that is safe for the building.
The Town of Cary Inspections and Permits Department will occasionally identify individuals who habitually do not fulfill the basic legal requirements stated in and related to the regulations listed above. Unfortunately, at this time there is nothing in either the N.C. State Building Code or in the Cary Code of Ordinances to prevent these individuals, who may have outstanding code violations, outstanding fees, or incomplete and unfinished permits associated with one or more projects, from obtaining additional permits. This condition only serves to perpetuate the problem.
While this situation is not a new one, we are now seeing an increase in the number of builders specializing in minor projects such as the construction of decks, screened porches, room additions, and remodeling projects who may or may not obtain permits for the work, neglect to schedule the appropriate inspections and/or fail to pay outstanding fees associated with re-inspections.
The result is a backlog of outstanding and incomplete permits, an inventory of potentially unsafe construction and a loss of revenue for the Town. In an attempt to reduce the number of these outstanding issues, staff is proposing the following amendment to the Cary Code of Ordinances.
Sec. 8-55. Permit.
No permit shall be issued to any person who has failed after notice to remedy defective work, or has failed to pay a civil penalty assessed pursuant to this Code which is due and for which no appeal is pending for work performed under a permit issued pursuant to this chapter.
Secs. 8-56--8-81. Reserved.
Suggested Adoption Date: 12/13/07
Effective upon adoption.
Fiscal Impact: N/A
Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the amendment to Chapter 8, Sec. 8-55 of the Cary Code of Ordinances.