BUILDINGREGULATIONS: A SELF-HELP GUIDE FOR THE OWNER-BUILDER

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The SBC— in § 107.4—places the duty to set fees on the authority having jurisdiction - (presumably the governing body adopting the building code) and not oil the building inspector. The standard by which to collect fees is based oil the value (defined in § 201.2 as "the estimated cost to replace the building in kind ") of the construction. If you have underestimated the -value" of the structure oil the application, the building inspector (toes not set his own value (as is done in the other models ), but denies the permit. § 107.5. You then have to show detailed estimated costs to support your figures . . . or submit a new application showing new (higher) estimated costs.

Further, under the SBC, there's a plan-checking fee—for construction valued over $1,000—of one-half of the building permit fee, and that permit fee doubles if you commence construction without a permit. (The SBC does, in Appendix K, recommend a schedule of permit fees ... which are significantly lower than those charged under the UBC. For example, construction "valued" at $2,000 requires a fee of $20 under the UBC and only $10 under the SBC.)

PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS. When you review the plans and specification provisions of your building code, you should look for two things: [1] whether plans and specs are required at all in order to obtain a building permit for a single-family dwelling, and [2] if required, whether or not the owner-builder can prepare the plans and specs himself.

The BBC—in §113.5—states that two copies of plans and specs must be filed with the building permit application. ("The building official ma y waive the requirement for filingplans when the work involved is of a minor nature " says this section, but I don't think you'll prevail in arguing that your small one-room cabin is "work of a minor nature". You (-an use this language however, to argue that the repairs, which might be extensive enough to warrant a building permit, are still of a minor nature so as not to require plans and specs.)

The plans that are mandated by the BBC shall be "drawn to scale, with sufficient clarity and detail dimensions to show the nature and character of the work to be performed ". If the building inspector demands engineering plans (it's optional with him), these must be signed by in architect or engineer § 113.7. So if you keep your construction simple and understandable to the building inspector, you can prepare your own plans and specs.

The NBC has seemingly uncomplicated directions in § 102.6:

Applications for permits shall be accompanied bydrawings of the proposed work, drawn to scale, showing when necessary, floor plans, sections, elevations,structural details, computations and stress diagrams asthe building off icial may require.

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