Spring building season set to return, permit activity already picking up

‘Spring’ break

The calendar says it’s springtime. The constant screaming of snowmobiles still on the street indicates otherwise.

As the winter season is supposed to be clearing away to make room for hopefully warmer weather, contractors, professional designers and customers alike are starting to come out of hibernation.

From Thanksgiving time, up to and usually including the April break, the code office receives a modest number of new applications.

If history repeats itself, that will change by mid-April.

Phone calls have already increased, which is indicative of what’s coming soon.

This trend is not so different in any other town; however this area is probably unique in that winter arrives earlier and leaves later than most places and over 85 percent of the properties in the Town of Webb are owned by out-of-town seasonal homeowners.

Many people begin returning to their seasonal home in April and May, as the weather allows and the frost leaves the roads.

It’s not until then many people decide on that project, big, small or in between, and start calling their favorite contractor to make arrangements.  Continue reading →

Everything the code office does is for safety, protection, conservation

Ever since New York State adopted the “Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code” in 1984, training, passing a State exam, annual re-certification along with continued education has been required for all Code Enforcement Officers throughout the state.

This past week was the annual in-service continued educational training conference held in Lake Placid for the Northern Adirondack Code Officials.

Nearly 250 code officers, fire marshals, a few professional engineers, a couple of architects, a few elected officials were there as well and plenty of Department of State officials.

Large cities, small towns to really tiny villages were represented. We all had one basic commonality… The State Codes, enforcement, administrative responsibilities and challenges.

Having been involved in codes even before the major transition in 1984, these educational conferences can be sometimes a little dry, depending on the instructor and the topic.

Topics like proper plan review, structural analysis and documentation, energy code requirements, fire safety features, sprinklers, alarms, exiting requirements, material testing and listing, construction safety, duties and responsibilities, legal aspects, hazardous materials, construction debris… the topics are seemingly endless.

For Code Enforcement Officers that work inside the Adirondack Park only, most will likely never

have to deal with any building taller than forty-feet.

Continue reading →

What is a clerk of the works? Can the code officer act in this capacity

The Code Officer and Clerk of the Works have similar, but very different roles. A Clerk of the Works is not the Code Officer. Nor is the Code Officer a Clerk of the Works.

The Code Officer will be working directly for the local municipality to administer the NYS Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.

Usually they also administer the local Zoning regulations as well.

All too often Code Officers are called Zoning Officers, making an assumption that all they enforce are “local” regulations.

Years ago [pre-1984] zoning was the primary function, but now more time is spent on state building and fire safety regulations than on zoning.

The two issues are so closely interwoven in almost every project application, it is often impossible to say whether more time is spent on local zoning issues or on the State building and fire codes.

The Code Officer’s job is to review permit applications and documents, communicate with the applicant in that process and grant permits when appropriate.

Also to conduct selected inspections and issue final certificates upon reasonable verification of substantial compliance.

Record keeping is a huge part of the process, therefore being organized is essential.

In the Town of Webb code office, Tina is invaluable for this. Continue reading →

Some see building codes as more of an urban necessity, not so by Andrew Getty

Rules—even up here?

Wow! Was Presidents Day weekend busy, or what? At least it sure seemed that way. While helping to cook chickens for an outside benefit BBQ (that’s right an outside February BBQ), snowmobiles were just screaming past.

The fundraiser was at the Community Center of Old Forge on Crosby Street, near Park Avenue.

Sometimes the air was full of blue smoke, mixed with the chicken smoke it made for an interesting melody of scent.

The rules of the road are not so different than building and zoning rules. You would like to believe that people understand and abide by some of the simplest of rules.

Most do, but the perception may seem otherwise when there are so many things going on in one little spot of the 480 square miles of this town.

The rules apply to all, equally.

Of course, you don’t need to be sixteen years old to get a building permit, but if you do get one, the NYS Building Code and local rules, apply no matter your age.

Last weekend was a textbook example of this comparison. How the simplest rules are ignored not by all, but certainly enough.

There was certainly no lack of failure to adhere to some basic rules.

Snowmobiles running up and down sidewalks, going down the middle of Park Ave at what looked like sixty mph, passing cars on the left and right side driving down South Shore Road, not looking when crossing other roads, parking cars, trucks with trailers along the wrong side of the road, blocking fire hydrants, riding the trails without the proper trail permits… and of course the big one, drinking and driving. Continue reading →

Some permit approvals run with the deed, while others expire

Two permit types

Each municipality has the ability to establish different types of permits, such as: special permits, conditional permits, use permits, building permits, sign permits, operational permits or just about any kind of permit someone could think of.

These different permits are usually identified within the local Zoning Ordinance, if the municipality has a Zoning Ordinance.

If they do not, usually they will have various “local laws” that accomplish the same thing.

The Town of Webb does have a Zoning Ordinance that spells out all the different permits and procedures.

The Zoning Ordinance is a local law by itself.

The town has a host of other local laws as well.

Currently, a comprehensive process is underway to codify all the local laws, along with the Zoning Ordinance, into one consolidated book.

This new book will be properly indexed; will have a table of contents, and give the historical aspect of each section.

This process has proven to be a daunting task and thus, painfully slow.

However, when done it will provide a reference tool for the town, builders, developers, property owners, business owners and applicants alike.

Not to mention the ease of use it will bring for town officials and board members.

Back to the whole idea of approvals and permits. Continue reading →

Feel free to bring code staff back to speed on projects 

CRS Syndrome

It seems that too often remembering who’s who, and what project they are involved in is getting harder and harder. Or so it may seem.

The Code office, just like any other code office has thousands of files.

Permit applications, building plans, surveys, maps, preliminary drawings, complaints, litigation documents, subdivision documents, denied applications, tens of thousands of different documents.

Everything needs to be kept for current use, future reference or historical reasons.

Here in the Town of Webb, we have seventeen four-drawer file cabinets, all legal size right in the office area.

There is more in the storage room.

Then there is another sixty or so feet of shelving containing reference materials, code books, various rules and regulations from other agencies, board minutes and various open / active files.

During a typical year several thousand different files are accessed, added to or researched for many different reasons.  Continue reading →