If remodel is almost complete without a building permit is it too late to complain?
Greg asked:
One of my new neighbors (realtors) started putting additions to the exteriors (added a bathroom to the roof), which is now blocking some sunlight into my living room. Now that the remodel is almost complete can anything still be done? I have notified the owners of the problem and they keep on telling me that they will need to tear down the entire roof to accomodate our request. Thanks.
they do have a permit but it’s for something totally different then what they are currently remodeling. thanks
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One of my new neighbors (realtors) started putting additions to the exteriors (added a bathroom to the roof), which is now blocking some sunlight into my living room. Now that the remodel is almost complete can anything still be done? I have notified the owners of the problem and they keep on telling me that they will need to tear down the entire roof to accomodate our request. Thanks.
they do have a permit but it’s for something totally different then what they are currently remodeling. thanks
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November 3rd, 2008 at 4:47 am
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No. It is never too late. You can always report a violation at your town planning/building department.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
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no but are they getting the inspections that are needed ?
November 5th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
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Nope you can still call because it has to be inspected when it’s done. Call your township and complain. But there are no laws with them blocking your sunlight, if they pulled the proper permits- they are not going to do a thing about it.
November 6th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
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Probably not, but do you know that they don’t have a permit for sure?
November 9th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
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I’d be happy if the sun didn’t shine in my living room.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:37 am
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well that’s just their tough luck. they should have applied for a permit and then it would have been refused and they wouldn’t be faced with pulling down their structure. i recommend that you report it to the authorities today.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
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If you know for sure that they don’t have the correct permits - or even if you just suspect it - you can contact your local code compliance office to report them. Even if the job is completed. If the code compliance office searches for required permits and finds that none were issued, they will contact the property owner and inspect the property. If any work was done that requires permits or appears to be done in violation of building codes, they will order the owners to either remove the unpermitted additions or pull the necessary permits to be in code compliance. They also fine the owners some token amount (like paying double permit fees) in order to issue the permits.
If inspections are required that require the additions to be torn apart (like to check framing, wiring, plumbing behind a tiled wall, etc.), the owners will have to tear out whatever building materials are required for the inspectors to do a proper inspection.
A property owner in my neighborhood put his house up for sale. But, he contacted code compliance before listing the house for sale to verify what was and wasn’t permitted. Turns out he had an outbuilding that he used as a party room, and that had an unpermitted bathroom in it. The city (San Diego) made him remove the toilet and pour concrete down the drain to ensure that it could not be used as a toilet drain before listing the house for sale.