How frustrating! But yeah, I think in most places you do need a permit for just about any sort of construction job you do around your house. Your contractor should have been on top of this, but in my experience, it's not unusual for a contractor to just totally "brain fart" and plunge headlong without following proper procedure. I wouldn't imagine you'd be fined for not having the permit -- just forced to get one before proceeding further, as is the case now. If there happens to be a fine involved, you absolutely should not have to pay it. And the cost of the permit should have been included in the overall quote that you received from the contractor before work began.

Sending you lots of "no rain!" vibes!

Don't worry about it. If it's the contractor's responsiblity, he's the one that would have to pay the fine, since YOU didn't submit any paperwork yourselves. It sounds like someone in the administrative end neglected to get the paperwork in to the building department in a timely manner, so it's their problem, not yours.

Why not just call the town building department and ask what happens, if there is a fine, etc? As for who would be responsible to pay the fine, as the property owner I believe that it would be your responsibility. Now, if the contract you signed with the pavers said that they would obtain all necessary permits, you are within your rights to ask them to pay the fine should there be one, but the town will still hold you responsible, I am guessing.

Hope it all gets ironed out soon, and you have a beautiful new driveway, with pix to show us!

I would let sleeping dogs lie and let the paving company work it out with the building department. The paving guy acknowledged that it was up to them to get the permit.

You said the paving company was the big one in the area so they must know the guys down at the building department so they might be able to expedite it.

Interesting that the building department found out so fast, though.

I found out the I needed a permit to replace the door to my garage! You've got to be kidding.

I had a licensed tree guy come to take out a huge pine tree that had been struck by lightening and was precariously hanging over our roof. Tree guy said no permit needed because it was a slash pine. Well $2000 and 12 trees (we had to plant replacement trees) later, we couldn't convince the tree guy to pay half since it was due to his bad information and the county wouldn't support us. They said ultimately it was the homeowners responsibility.

Good luck with your project.

Permits are always the homeowners responsibility. Even if the company doing the job says that they are applying, it is your resp. so make sure you actually see it - don't just take their word for it.

Peoplel complain permits are just a money grab but they are there to enforce safety and keep neighbour squabbles to a minimum.

Our neighbour built a deck while we were out of town and didn't get permits. It is right up to our property line (possibly over it) and a huge monster. We love this neighbour (she's like a godmother to our children) and won't make her tear it down, but if we reported it to the city they would make her and it would cost her a small fortune. It put us in a terrible position. We don't want her deck there, but don't want to cause her grief. A permit would have stopped the situation before it started.

You guys are right that ultimately the permit is the homeowner's responsibility. But the paving guys appear to be working it out with the building department and the paving guys are clearly not going to restart the project without the necessary permit. I should hope that if there is any fine involved the contractor would pay it since they took on the responsibility of applying for the permit.

mustangs: That's really a shame about $2,000 fine. You would think that because it's a dangerous tree they would have made an exception. You would think that in an emergency such as a perilous tree limb you have the right to protect your property from further damage. I am surprised there is no provision for that because after the hurricanes it looked like people were cutting down dangerous tree limbs here without any permits.

I don't get it with some of these permits. They are supposed to be "for our protection," but when HD installed my windows -- and took out a permit -- they did a terrible, leaking job. I had no clue of how windows should be installed. No one was ever around inspecting what they were or weren't doing, to make sure the job was done well or according to code. They simply collected a fee and had a record of the work. That was the only permit ever taken out on my place according to the township.

Permits are the homeowners' responsibility. End of story. Budge is "dead on".

Requiring permits allows the town to control what is done and how it will impact the abuttors. It also allows the town to recoup some of the cost of enforcing inspections. I would immediately notify the charming abuttor that she is in serious violation of your property rights! she may well be entitled to a portion of YOUR property if you allow it to go unchallenged. We have a similarly charming neighbor. She cut down trees and filled wetlands and planted her choice of trees ON OUR LOT years before we built our home. My late FIL notified her legally that she was in violation of the lot lines. She was totally freaked out (rightly so!) but we don't really care... . The salient point is that she understands that much of "her" landscaping IS ON OUR PROPERTY and it now belongs to US.

Deal with infringements quickly, efficiently and without emotion. Fail to do so at your peril... when you decide to sell your home and the survey is "contested". Trust me on this, Budge. Please.

I'm right in line with Budge. on this one. The rules are their for YOUR protection and the protection of the environment (esp. with respect to driveways and contaminated runoff).

In my community the necessity is relative to price of the home renovation, but is MANDATORY when one wants to undertake any sort of "improvement" that may impact the sensitive nature of the surrounding natural environment relative to the designated zone.

I'm surprised ANY homeowner would not understand that any large project would not require a permit (and a fee!). Welcome to the world of home ownership!

Not all large projects require a permit. When we were building a shed on our last property, we called about getting a permit. We were told that in our area you don't need a permit if the structure is under 250 sq. ft. or if it isn't a permanent structure. Since we built the shed sitting on concrete blocks instead of a permanent foundation, they didn't require us to get the permit. Every city/town/county is different, though, and it's always best to check first.

I'll bet this turns out fine for you, though, Nadine. From what I've seen, if the companies work with the city or county enough, they get cut a little slack at times. Good luck -- I hope it's perfect for you!

I think some types of permits are fairly specific to the town/city in which you live. Many project permits where I live are dependent on the cost of the project; if it's costing under X amount no permit is required. We had to get a permit to change a wood fence to a stucco wall, and if memory serves, the main issues were the property lines and the height of the wall. I wouldn't worry too much about your present permit snag--I'll bet it will all be taken care of with no repercussions for you.
I do know that tree removal in *some* places can be problematic. Some cities want to preserve the remaining trees in some districts, and if they're on the easement I suspect they don't technically belong to the homeowner. We removed two trees from our easement and planted xerics shortly after moving in and we didn't think to get a permit. At the same time, however, the next door neighbor needed to put in new sewer pipes right across our easement to the side alley because 'our' tree roots were mucking up his pipes. It all worked out great. He removed our tree stumps for us , put in his new sewer pipes, filled it all in and put down some topsoil, got us a load or two of landscaping gravel and delivered it, and poured us a new concrete parking pad because he had to break up the old one to fix his pipes. He was a contractor and I suspect he dealt with the permits. The whole thing cost us nothing, and we had a blank slate ready for the new xeric landscaping.

OMGOSH...this is a biggie for me. I work for a natural resource enforcement agency, and I issue permits. I'm with the State, so my job is for bigger things, but I do know that you really need to check with your local government (and even higher, sometimes) before you do ANYTHING.

I can't tell you how many neighbor-neighbor problems would not exist if people got permits, and got things recorded with their deeds. It would save people thousands of dollars in the long run...and their heirs, too!

Never just count on being a good neighbor. Budge, when you sell your home, the new owners could very well have a feud with your neighbor (or whomever owns her property after her) if they did a survey and found there was an infringement on your property. I always tell people that you're not going to live there forever, but the property will always be there.

It only takes a phone call to check on the need for permits before you undertake any project. I just built a closet in a room, and called to check on permit requirements. Seriously...you wouldn't think to do so, but it could really make a difference later on if you don't get the permits.

It is important to get permits. I can attest to the fact that it's true because it happened to us. We built a deck (actually a "floating platform") that encroached on our neighbors' property. They gave us permission because it was between our garages and leaving a 12" space would have looked stupid. Lo and behold, they go to refinance their house and the new survey showed the encroachment. So we had to cut the deck down by a foot so that it would no longer offend and they could get their mortgage. Neither of us liked the solution because both families liked the deck with the encroachment, but we didn't have a choice.

Then when we went to sell the house we found out we needed a C of O for the "deck". Mind you this was a deck that could be picked up and put into a truck and moved away because it wasn't attached to anything. I had to get a letter from an architect saying it wasn't a deck but a floating platform and, voila, that did the trick! Now, THAT was a surreal experience.

Last year when we had our 2-car driveway replaced I went to the city and asked about permits and I was told we did not need a permit for the driveway. So it must differ from city to city.

We have done some things that are not to code, like building a taller than allowed fence. But the neighbors love it as much as we do because it provides them privacy as well. However it does mean you have to be on your best behavior because all it takes is one nasty neighbor with revenge on their mind to ruin it for us.

Flying flower, be aware that if you should sell your home, that fence will be an issue for the buyer. When the home inspection is done it likely will be discovered.