Township building codes.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I’m thankful that what we have here is zoned agricultural. No permit required to build anything to house tractors or equipment and no written rules about converting these buildings to something else unless they are going to be lived in.

Individual agricultural use also frees up from under all sorts of other regulations too.

We have several counties in MO that have no county wide building department whatsoever, and it shows. In those areas subdivisions create restrictive covenants and lenders require buyers to prove compliance when a home mortgage is applied for. We looked for a long time to find a country spot that is not in a town or subdivision.

[Rob Luter]

God luck. There are three townships around here that I will not bid a job in if it requires permitting. I can't bid and make money because their rules are so arbitrary.

Puzzled....

I work with building and code officials all the time. To a man (or woman) they would all rather have the codes conversation on the front end of the permitting process than on the back end. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had at the behest of panicked customers that installed windows and or doors that were not code compliant with respect to structural or thermal ratings.

Michigan adopted the 2015 IRC/IBC/IECC with amendments. It's the responsibility of the contractor to know this and understand them in the context of the project. In most areas knowing the code landscape is a prerequisite for gaining and maintaining professional license.

Are you saying that the building officials in these townships just make it up as they go along, of just selectively enforce the things that they want to?

I'm reminded of an old adage I learned coming up in the Building Products Industry: The difference between God and a Building Inspector is that God does not believe he's a Building Inspector.

[Larry Edgerton]

Puzzled....

I work with building and code officials all the time. To a man (or woman) they would all rather have the codes conversation on the front end of the permitting process than on the back end. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had at the behest of panicked customers that installed windows and or doors that were not code compliant with respect to structural or thermal ratings.

Michigan adopted the 2015 IRC/IBC/IECC with amendments. It's the responsibility of the contractor to know this and understand them in the context of the project. In most areas knowing the code landscape is a prerequisite for gaining and maintaining professional license.

Are you saying that the building officials in these townships just make it up as they go along, of just selectively enforce the things that they want to?

Twice I had plans approved by the county/state for new homes and the township stepped in and said you can't do that. One was a replacement for an existing house and the plans called for it to actually be 10 feet farther away from the lake than the original. They stopped the project and the homeowners decided they did not want the house if they had to put it back as far as the township demanded. The irony was that the head jerk for the township lived three houses down and his house was closer to the lake than the original. Small people with a bit of power.

Now by this time I had over 100 hrs in the bid and permits, getting all the subs arranged, and wasted my subs time which I hate to do. Life is too short to deal with these kinds of people. I was never short of work, so I just blow those places off.

[Tim Elett]

Very thankful for all the replys, this fantasy project is not going to be done. It NEEDS to be ten feet from our home, and would mean three permits, around 35.00 each,plus something to set it on, pavers [ did I mention I already have a paver patio] or build a wooden deck. The cost of the building would be less than something to put it on.
Good advice from Tom and Maurice next move , the place will have what we want. 🙄