The City Won't Let Us Build...

Man we thought building a house would be a lot easier than this...

[acrim]

Years ago, I worked for a construction company that specialized in building high-end swimming pools. One project we were sub-contractors on was for a pool on a lakeside development with the pool approximately 30 yards away from the water edge and, if I remember correctly, 3.5” above the waterline. The inspector refused to sign off because the pool would be in a 100 year flood plain. I scheduled a meeting with the head of the department and the original inspector to discuss an appeal. The inspector went into his spiel about 100 year this and that. I patiently waited for him to finished and after the department head asked why I thought he should approve the permit I answered “It’s a swimming pool. It’s already got water in it”. The department head looked at the inspection and said “why are you wasting my time with this? Sign the damn permit!” The inspector was obviously miffed by his boss calling him out in front of me and in his pettiness took an extra week to get the permit to me saying that it had been misplaced. What a douche!

[torchup]

As a licensed builder in three States for almost 30yrs, welcome to my world of dealing with local building inspectors and building depts allocating their punishment, instigating delays, and furthering setbacks. They have meetings in conference rooms and whine about being disrespected or dismissed and can halt you in your timeline in an instant if you displease them just once. They are assassins to most any build progress.

[thezfunk]

Don't apologize for the video. You wanted to show us the raw experience to building a house and this is it. This is what people have to deal with. I used to deal with fire inspectors all the time and have dealt with a few building inspectors. There are plenty of good ones and there are a few terrible ones. You don't have a relationship with this guy and maybe he has a dead bedroom at home; who knows.... You might have to make things uncomfortable for the guy to get past this.

[pitsnipe]

As a former inspector (not building) I found that some inspectors feel it’s their job to find violations. I approached it as helping people identify problems and find ways to solve them. When my job involved training inspectors I emphasized that they were there to help people not hinder them. Unfortunately, not very many inspectors, in my experience, approach their work in that manner.

[N-Scale]

In New Mexico, I once had a septic system inspector drive 60 Miles to inspect my leach field. He left a red tag that said it was too small. I drove out to find out it measured 2 feet bigger than needed. We called them and the inspector was asked about it and said he did NOT have a tape but could tell it was too small. What a MARVEL SUPER HERO !!!

[WallyGon]

I am a Geotech engineer working in NYC. When doing borings in small building basements we use electric portable drill rigs, which are small enough to carry by hand. They are slower than the big rigs but yield the same results. Given that you have an open slab, It'll be easy to get one there. Also, another alternative to the boring, we use a CPT which can come in a small configuration that will anchor itself which is light enough to drive on the slab.

[Sarkassociates]

I’m a structural engineer in Michigan. I get requests by frustrated homeowners all the time to do 3rd party inspections and reports after-the-fact. In all cases these have satisfied the dysfunctional city officials. In your case you need to quickly put them on notice that their behavior is not going to be tolerated. You have all the evidence you need to prove a sound foundation exists; soli report, engineer sign-off, video & photos, etc… you are only at the beginning of your project, and they will be a thorn all the way unless you knock them off their high horse now. Pay the few legal fees now to make things run more smoothly later.

[JSH]

Hey guys, to start I’m a huge fan of the channel and love watching. Second, I’m in construction management on the commercial side for a large firm working in larger metro areas. Best advice is to not irritate your inspectors. You have to stroke their ego and play by their rules. Unfortunately in this situation you chose to pour the concrete which you should have never done without the inspectors approval. This is the best way to make them irritated and they would love to tell you to tear it out and start again. Best bet it is to talk to the inspector, apologize and see if anything can be worked out, next option is to reach out to the chief building inspector for any assistance…keep apologizing and don’t act entitled goes a long way. Been there before!

[marcburton]

Just want to say that I appreciate you guys sharing this and other "mistakes" in the past. The power of video editing and not holding yourselves accountable to timing can really lead a lot of DIY projects into the abyss. Where other channels might gloss over these facts, or outright exclude them. It's a service you are doing to inform all of us about the true "trials and tribulations" that taking one of these journeys can bring on. Keep up the good work and we should all remember that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. This certainly is not a mistake, but a learning opportunity. If everybody got it right 100% of the time they are; either not trying hard enough, or not willing to show those failures.

[davidmessersmith]

My contractor in Houston used a permit specialist to chase my permits through the city bureaucracy just 4 years ago. It cost me extra, but he walked them through on occasion if the city was being sluggish. The big stuff was settled quickly, but it bogged down on some really simple details and the specialist even took me along on one of the sessions to make my case in person. We finally got a response from the next layer up.

[Jutilaje]

Keep in mind, this is the same Houston building inspector's office that approves houses with literal cardboard for sheathing for DR Horton/etc 😳🙄😂

[RussWilsonII]

I'm frustrated just listening to you guys, so I can't imagine how frustrated you must be with this project. You've got the documentation you need, so let's just hope the city inspector comes to his senses and realizes this is an obvious approval. Would LOVE for you to do us a favor and just create a quick 60 second video once you hear all is approved! We're pulling for you fellas!

[ericweber]

As a Licensed General Contractor in California, I too just completed a custom house for my family. Love watching your videos. When scheduling, I always plan to fail my first inspection (it doesn’t always work out that way) but that way I have a one day buffer in case something comes up. Just a thought moving forward.

[kevinjo]

Go above them to the State, they are state building codes not local. Submit a complaint with all docs to the State of Texas Building Division. Worked in my state when I run into "cordial" inspectors. I always go over them when they try that bull.

[tomasbajarunas]

I know some guy, who submitted his building plans in metric measurements. That's in Washington state. The city rejected the drawings, asking them to be re-done using feet and inches. The guy goes to court, wins, the city is knocked from their high horse, and *had* to accept original drawings. Basically, layer up, you have all the evidence, all on youtube!

[nathantilly]

so here in the UK and I'm guessing in most places around the world, the saying in the construction trade is 'dont piss off the inspectors' because they have the power to make ur life a living hell, ultimately you did the right thing but pissed off the inspector, now hes pissed that he didn't get to scratch his superiority itch and now he's making sure he does.

[EricJaeger-ht]

I have been a general contractor for more than 32 years doing large remodel and second story additions. It is hard to admit and hard to accept that the error here was not getting the foundation inspection sign off before pouring concrete and that is on you. All of the soil reports, compaction reports, photos, and engineering sign offs mean nothing without the inspector's signature on the permit. Although it was hard to see at the time, the correct decision would have been to reschedule the pour.

A lot negative comments have been directed at the inspector but he is just doing his job. No one likes being called out for making an incorrect decision. As mentioned in the comments there are ways to get the coring done without using large machinery. At least you were give a path forward that so far does not require removing the slab and starting over but there will be a cost involved. I wish you well with your project and I look forward to the seeing the resolution of sign off issue and the start of framing.

[StudPack]

We would love NOTHING MORE than to just post building videos that are drama free. Shoot at this point I'd pay just for that! But when we embarked on this journey we made a commitment to film and post the entire process, including the stuff that most people shy away from. Anyone who thinks we poured without the inspection just because we wanted to needs an analysis.. but not on a foundation. We think a re-schedule in the 3 days that followed could've have been reached, and communication could have solved this. But we got stiff armed and had to make the call.
Like we said at the beginning, everyone's doing their job to the best of their ability, and the city is no different! It sucks for us, but they could be making it a lot worse, so we're grateful they're willing to work with us on this so we can move forward.

[gtfg]

On the phone with the 2nd engineering firm, the gentleman says he never heard of an engineers seal not being accepted, but that is not the issue. The issue is that the building inspector could not verify the condition of the grounds or the quality & status of your work at the time of the pour because it was under water when he last visited. If he signs off on what you did it makes him liable for any future damages if he allows the job to proceed. He is asking you to hire a 3rd party to confirm what you are claiming because he has no way to verify things now that it's poured.

[michaelegan]

Arguing with the inspector is like wrestling with a pig in the mud soon you realize the pig enjoys it