City
Inspections:
Navigating the Red Tape
Most people will never
venture to the local building department. That's probably a good
thing. At Elite we take on this task very differently. As an
example, we have personally sat down with both Plano and Frisco city
building officials to review their processes and requirements
against our internal processes to ensure we fully understand the
needs of each side. By doing this we develop personal and
professional relationships with the City officials. This
relationship provides the City and our customers the assurance that
we follow all codes, conduct our projects professionally and take
personal responsibility to ensure your project is designed,
constructed and warrantied in a professional manner.
Plan
Check. Before a set of blueprints or kitchen or bathroom
plans can be used, the building department must review the drawings
to insure compliance with our building codes. Elite's Construction
Manager, our Sales & Designer team and outside Architects
if required review the plans for structural design and loads,
plumbing, heating, electrical layouts and specifications, and other
details in the drawings. We also make sure the plans reflect any new
codes. We double check the number of smoke alarms and adequate
emergency exits (called "egress") that may have changed since the
house was initially built. If everything is in order, the drawings
are approved for construction and submission to the city.
Prior to plan check, we
review the drawings and make any adjustments to speed the plan check
process. We may contact subcontractors or building materials
suppliers for their input before submitting the plans. Such
refinements and attention to detail help avoid "red-lining," or a
return of the plans unapproved and marked by the plan checker (in
red pen) for necessary changes ... thus delaying the remodeling
process.
Permitting. A building permit -- a required
document in most municipalities for almost any construction project
-- is the document that a building inspector will review and refer
to when he or she visits the job site as the project progresses
toward completion. The building department will only issue a permit
for an approved set of blueprints or plans, and the inspector will
rely on the permit and plans on the job site to compare what's drawn
(and approved) to what's actually being built. It is imperative,
then, to submit a complete and comprehensive set of plans for
approval and permitting ... and then follow those plans to the
letter to avoid confusion, questions, and potentially costly
compliance issues that can stop the job cold until they are
resolved.
Inspections. Inspections at key points of a
project's construction are necessary to make sure the approved plans
are being built as drawn. Professional remodeling contractors have a
talent for managing their own work crews as well as the many
subcontractors and suppliers hired to do the work and keep the
project on schedule. A tight schedule, in turn, reliably and
accurately pinpoints those key milestones. This allows a timely call
to the inspector, with plenty of time to schedule his or her visit
and, once on site, review the job progress and approve it to
continue.
Other
inspections. Increasingly, all types of
remodeling projects are focused on green initiatives and energy
conservation. Working with the City Inspectors, we can ensure areas
of the home that we are remodeling can be brought up to code for
insulation, electricial, HVAC, and plumbing areas in a manageable
manner.
Warm
regards,
 
John Todd
Elite Remodeling
Showroom
& Design Center
2930 Preston Road, Suite
980
Frisco, Texas, 75252
(972) 334-9800 -
phone
(972) 334-9890 - fax
jtodd@elitehomeremodeling.com
www.elitehomeremodeling.com
c. 2009 All
rights reserved.
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