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Permit office ran me in circles for 6 weeks over a basement window
Just needed to swap out a basement window on my 1950s bungalow. Thought it'd be a quick permit pickup. Nope. They wanted engineering drawings because it's a "structural alteration." Had to chase down a retired structural engineer. That cost me $400 and 3 weeks. Then the permit office lost my paperwork. Another 2 weeks waiting. Finally got the green light yesterday. Has anyone else dealt with the city dragging their feet on minor reno permits?
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white.grant3mo ago
@oscarh16 hits it right on the head. It’s like they WANT to make everything harder than it needs to be. Did they really need engineering stamps for a basement window? Probably not. That’s just a cash grab. I had the same runaround when I swapped a couple rotted window frames for basic vinyl ones. They wanted “structural load calculations.” I had to call three engineers before someone actually showed up. Whole thing took over a month and cost me $250. Then they “misplaced” my application on top of that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a window or a light switch, they always find a way to slow you down.
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