I can see both sides of this argument;

Believe it or not, June’s hailstorm is to blame. It has created a back log of paperwork and home inspections for city employees in the building services department.
Since June, over 6,000 re-shingling permits have been issued in Sioux Falls. The influx of permits has one city council member asking, do we really need permits to re-shingle a house?

Since golf ball sized hail hit portions of Sioux Falls, life at the office has been pretty hectic for Chief Building Official Ron Bell.

“Last year we had a record number of building permits that we’ve ever had issued. I believe that number was just under 8,000,” said Bell.

More than 11,000 building permits have already been issued for this year. Over the last eight weeks, Bell said contractors have been coming in with 80 re-shingling permits at a time.

Bell said at this time last year they had only issued 1,500 re-shingling permits. This year, they are at 6,700.

It’s taking its toll.

“The thing is, is that by the amount of permits that are happening at the counter, the staff doesn’t have the time to devout to large commercial projects,” Bell said.

“We are delaying large construction projects because we are processing re-shingling permits for homes,” City Council Chair Dean Karsky said. “It makes no sense.”

Karsky said that’s why he wants to pull the city’s requirements for re-shingling permits.

“Building permits should be unnecessary for simple maintenance and most communities regard it as maintenance and not as construction,” Karsky said.

Contrary to Bell’s belief that the re-shingling permit gives homeowners a ‘safety net,’ Karsky said not so much.

“Contractors have to be licensed within the city of Sioux Falls, and with their license, they have to post a $10,000 bond,” Karsky said.

Karsky said that process won’t change permit, or no permit.

Believe it or not, I do agree with the city, to a degree, it is kind of a safety net if a city building inspector approves something, and that work is bad. A friend recently had to have some roofing work redone, thankfully she used a contractor for the work and was inspected by the city.

But I also see councilor Karsky’s point of view. Seems silly to get a permit to re-roof a home, say for instance you want to do it yourself over a period of time in different sections. Should you be required to get a permit to work on your OWN home.

IMO, a solution would be to get a permit if you use a contractor, and not require a permit (unless you want to) if you are doing the work yourself. For example, the city requires you to get a permit to build a deck on your home (don’t know a lot of people that build their own decks that get one.) Had a friend go through a nightmarish ordeal with a city building inspector when he decided to get a permit to build his own deck. Let’s just say, he got to build the deck twice.

There seems to be this attitude in the city building department that people can’t do their own remodel/building projects and should always hire a contractor. That is silly, and probably one of the main reasons the city code enforcement department harassed Danielson for 20 years, because he wouldn’t hire a contractor.

12 Thoughts on “The Pros & Cons of a Building Permit for roofing

  1. Dan Daily on October 2, 2014 at 11:27 am said:

    I don’t like Karsky because I think he’s one of the 5 votes bought from campaign contributions. However, he’s right here. Shingles design has improved recently. They’ll last 30 years now. Even with large size hail storms. It’s important to get your roof reshingled. With leaks, the interior becomes subject to mold and decay such that homes will be abandoned. Then tax value income stops and there becomes more blight. Huether would not want to give up revenue from roof permits but there’s really no inspection process except to make sure junk roofing is removed.

    How about a 2 year moratium on roof permits? The city could focus on other development and remining hail damaged roofs can be replaced without code enforcement harrassment.

  2. Builder on October 2, 2014 at 1:11 pm said:

    There is no reason for a city building inspector to be involved with a roofing or basic home improvement project.

    Having had to purchase building permits for roofing, never once did the inspector ever climb a ladder to make sure the roof was done correctly.

    The purpose of the building permit is to make sure the tax assessor is notified to raise your tax base with the improvement and to justify paying the failed contractor-turned inspector’s wages.

  3. skybluesky on October 2, 2014 at 1:32 pm said:

    #1 reason to have building permit for shingling is proof for insurance and warranty purposes. There was a bad batch of Certain Teed brand shingles in the mid 90’s. In order to file a claim against Certain Teed it was necessary to show proof of a building permit.

    I could run circles around you all day why it is necessary to require building permits and inspections for decks. Proper footings, railing height/gaps between balusters, stair tread rise and run, etc… There should be even more reason to require a permit and inspection if you are doing the work on your own. You screw it up…you don’t care…you sell your house…now the next homeowner is stuck with your mistakes that are potentially unsafe.

  4. rufusx on October 2, 2014 at 7:25 pm said:

    The permitting/inspection process also protects whomever might BUY your self-contracted house form your shoddy amateurish work. For example, the house next to mine was rewired BY THE HOMEOWNER a few years ago – not requiring a permit. He sold that house to a young woman with three small children. In three years – it caught fire – TWICE due to faulty wiring.

    In addition, many rental property owners are “their own contractor” types (including my own bro-in-law – who has really NO EXPERIENCE or TRAINING as a builder). Believe me – those folks want to spend as little as possible – even if it means the work they do endangers their renters’ lives. Should they NOT have to get a permit and comply with building (safety) codes?

  5. Wrong on the need to provide a building permit for the CertainTeed settlement. Just got my settlement check last week without proof of permit.

    BTW.. There is a thing called home inspections, provided by a home inspector, before you buy a property. Also you may be familiar with these people called lawyers, needed if you sold a property without full disclosure.

    SooFools is the only city in this state that requires this number of different permitting. As a close relative of a SooFools inspector, our system is a joke used to collect fees. Yet another overreach of home rule.

  6. Common Sense on October 3, 2014 at 10:15 am said:

    LJL I agree with you a 100%. Your home inspection should cover you if work is not up to code. I’m not a licenced contractor it’s gotten to the point where it’s nearlly impossible to do general maitance on your own home. Example of this go down to good old City Hall and tell them you need a permit so you can add a couple outlets to your unfinished garage. Just me by the time it’s complete you will just say the hell with it and add it without getting a permit.

  7. skybluesky on October 3, 2014 at 2:15 pm said:

    Ask any home inspector used for sale of real estate. They will tell you that they DON’T inspect for building codes or building code violations.

  8. rufusx on October 3, 2014 at 5:09 pm said:

    LJL – wrong on the “only city in this state to require…..” Every member city of SECOG requires building permits for roofing – every one.

  9. rufusx on October 3, 2014 at 5:13 pm said:

    skyeblue is correct – real estate inspectors for home sales only look for “apparent” issues – and they only “report” them to potential buyers. They have ZERO enforcement ability. Likewise, the potential buyers have the option to accept the property with flaws. Real estate inspections are “for information purposes only”.

  10. “Ask any home inspector used for sale of real estate. They will tell you that they DON’T inspect for building codes or building code violations.”

    And if you followed around a city inspector you will find they don’t either.

    So I guess people are dying like flies in these other cities that aren’t permitting zealots?

    To Quote Ron Burgundy:
    You might want to sit out the next couple of plays champ.

  11. rufusx on October 4, 2014 at 11:17 am said:

    As I pointed out LJL – other cities DO require these permits. You are WRONG on that point.

  12. Poly43 on October 4, 2014 at 11:39 am said:

    ljl. Not sure I follow you last post correctly. I can assure you, for example, a city electrical inspector will write up any and all electrical contractors for even the very slightest of National Electrical Code standards.

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