Building permit self-certification program

[Cass]

The disastrous fires in California have decimated our housing stock. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes months to receive the proper building permit in order to rebuild. That timeline is bound to lag behind even more, since so many new applications are pouring in. In order to address this issue, the city council in Los Angeles voted to consider a self-certification program, which would allow industry professionals to certify their own plans and begin construction immediately. The city will still inspect the structure during the building process and after it's completed. It sounds great, right? Well, naturally, there are risks involved. For instance, the owner must make corrections if the building isn't up to code, which can become costly.

What do you think about their idea? If you were going to be the homeowner, would you accept the risks?

 

[Fenix]

I don't believe I'd want to do that, unless the builder guaranteed that the designs and the work met the city's standards. I know they still inspect the work, so imagine how problematic it would be to get to the end, only to learn that the wrong materials were used or something was off by an inch, and the whole structure needed redone. I bet they have earthquake and fire codes to meet as well, so it's not so simple.