Building Inspections Newsletter, Issue 4, January 2007

10 W OW It's already 2007 Here in the Inspections Department , we're ready We have many exciting changes coming for 2007 As technology grows and evolves , we are striving to keep up with the changes but we need your help this year Feedback from you is vital Our goal is to provide excellent customer service to the builders and citizens of Johnston County If you have any input that you feel can improve our efforts to provide customer service , feel free to let us know You can e - mail me directly , leave comments on our discussion board , write us a letter , give us a call , etc With your help , we can make this a productive year for the Johnston County Inspections Department If you experience any problems with the Listserv or receiving the Newsletter , feel free to contact me D'Ann Michael at dannmichael @ johnstonnccom Issues Discussed at the January Meetings BUILDING CODE Open Floor Inspections Point Load Blocking is required to be installed for the open floor inspection Approved Plans MUST be on site Johnston County stamped and approved plans are required to be in the job box at the time of inspection If you use the pre approved plan system you must submit 5 plans at a time and when you have built 5 houses , you are to submit 5 more plans Inspections will no longer be made on your project with out the approved plans on site Cripple walls Section R6029 of the IRC states that cripple walls with a stud height less than 14 inches shall be sheathed on at least one side with a wood structural panel that is fastened to both the top and bottom plates in accordance with Table R6023 1 , or the cripple walls shall be constructed of solid blocking Cripple walls shall be supported on continuous foundations Corbeled masonry see diagram in reference section We have been seeing a lot of Corbeled masonry that has not been installed per code Section R6063 States that solid masonry units shall be used for corbeling The maximum corbeled projection beyond the face of the wall shall not be more than one - half of the wall thickness or one - half the wythe thickness for hollow walls ; the maximum projection of one unit shall not exceed one - half the height of the unit or one third the thickness at right angles to the wall The top course of corbels shall be a header course when the corbelled masonry is used to support floor or the roof - framing members Support conditions R60631 Support conditions Cavity wall or masonry veneer construction may be supported on an 8 inch foundation wall , provided the 8 inch wall is corbelled with solid masonry to the width of the wall system above The total horizontal projection of the corbel shall not exceed 2 inches with individual corbels projecting not more than one third the thickness of the unit or one half the height of the unit The top course of all corbels shall be a header course Johnston County Inspections Department Newslette r JANUARY 2007 Issue 4 Table of Contents January Meeting 1 New Code Changes 2 GC License Renewals 2 Unfinished Upstairs 3 Closed Crawl Spaces 3 Inspections Stats 4 Inspector Spotlight 5 Inspector Phone List 5 Registering for Listserv 5 Last Laugh 5 Corbelling Diagram 6 You can find an archive of recent Newsletters on our webpage at wwwjohnstonnccom inspections in the Reference Desk section Bryan Robinson , Commercial Supervisor 1PageFrom the North Carolina Council of Code Official's Newsletter Q & A New Code Changes " Question Beginning January 1 , 2007 regarding one - and two - family dwellings and townhouses , are the window U - value and SHGC requirements and the duct insulation requirements found in the 2006 NC Energy Code mandatory or may I continue to use the provisions found in Chapter 11 of the 2002 NC Residential Code for One - and Two - Family Dwellings and Townhouses Answer The provisions of Chapter 11 of the 2002 NC Residential Code for One - and Two - Family Dwellings and Townhouses may continue to be used for as long as that code remains effective The effective date will be at least through May 31 , 2007 The new 2006 NC Residential Code for One - and Two - Family Dwellings and Townhouses is planned to be effective June 1 , 2007 Because the 2002 NC Residential Code , Chapter 11 in particular , remains in effect until May 31 , 2007 and the 2006 NC Energy Code became effective July 1 , 2006 , we have a period of overlapping requirements between the two codes This allows that a choice by the owner , designer , etc , can be made between using either set of requirements as long as both remain effective The choice will need to be brought to the attention of the inspection department so that they can inspect to the proper set of requirements that were selected Regarding windows , low - e would be required by the 2006 Nc Energy Code for one - and - two family dwellings and townhouses , but not by the 2002 NC Residential Code , Chapter 11 The requirements are dependent on the compliance path selected Likewise , duct insulation requirements are also dependent on the compliance path selected " For more information about the code changes , check out the following websites North Carolina Department of Insurance wwwNCDOIcom North Carolina Building Inspectors Assoc wwwNCBIAorg International Code Council wwwICCSAFEorg Important Reminder General Contractor License Renewals In Febuary we will receive the list of general contractor licenses that have not been renewed this year or have lapsed Make sure to keep your license renewed yearly If you are on the list , any active permits with your license will be void In the past when this occurred , we charged full permit fees to reactivate the permit Due to the higher costs of permits , we have adopted a renewal fee of 20000 for each permit Check out the article below from NCLBGC regarding their policy on licensing renewals General Statute 87 - 10 Application for license ; examination ; certificate ; renewal A certificate of license shall expire on the thirty - first day of December following its issuance or renewal and shall become invalid 60 days from that date unless renewed , subject to the approval of the Board Renewals may be effected any time during the month of January without reexamination , by the payment of a fee to the secretary of the Board The fee shall not exceed one hundred twenty - five dollars 12500 for an unlimited license , one hundred dollars 10000 for an intermediate license , and seventy - five dollars 7500 for alimited license No later than November 30 of each year , the Board shall mail written notice of the amount of the renewal fee for the upcoming year to the last address of record for each general contractor licensed pursuant to this Article Renewal applications shall be accompanied by evidence of continued financial responsibility satisfactory to the Board Renewal applications received by the Board after January shall be accompanied by a late payment of ten dollars 1000 for each month or part after January After a lapse of two years no renewal shall be effected and the applicant shall fulfill all requirements of a new applicant as set forth in this section 2PageUnfinished Upstairs The Realtors & Homeowners Headache Article from the desk of Dean Barbour , Chief Building Inspector When contractors sell a house with an unfinished upstairs , the buyers are under the assumption that they can finish the upstairs at their leisure without any permits So most people , unaware of the rules and regulations , proceed to finish the space as they see fit Since they were never informed by the builder or seller of the property of the requirements imposed on that unfinished space , they are oblivious to the problems that are going to arise Three years later they try to sell the house with the additional square footage only to be told a startling revelation A revelation that if they were informed of at the time the home was sold , could be avoided altogther The realtor informs them that to sell the space as finished area , it had to be permitted and inspected So the realtor calls the Inspections Department for the permitted square footage when the house was originally built Then proceeds to ask if permits were obtained for the unfinished upstairs To their dismay , no permits were pulled The space is completely finished with sheetrocked walls covering all work that was done So what happens next How do we resolve this situation Below are the steps to obtain a permit for the unfinished area after the fact 1 County policy states that if work has commenced or completed prior to the issuance of a permit , the permit fee will be doubled 2 An engineer must approve all the covered work including the electrical , plumbing , mechanical , and building This may involve more than one engineering firm Each must write a letter with their signature and seal 3 Submit plans for plan review to the Inspections Office 4 After everything is approved and a permit is issued , we will go out and do an inspection of the completed work To make matters worse , the people selling the house has to complete all these requirements , while trying to make a house closing deadline Possible Solution This scenario happens one to two times a week causing much grief for the homeowners involved If the builder could supply the house plans to the buyer with the unfinished upstairs at the closing and inform the buyer that permits are required to finish the upstairs Let them know the consequences so they can make an educated decisions about how to proceed with the space This simple exchange of information could save the homeowners , the realtors , the Inspections department and even the builder many headaches Effective immediately Procedures For Closed Crawl Spaces New Construction 1 Plan Review a Submit the design of the crawl space system to be used with all details to comply with the requirements of section R409 of the 2006 IRC 2 After permit issued a Resubmit to plan review by permit holder BEFORE work begins on closed crawl space b Submit the design of the crawl space system to be used with all details to comply with the requirements of section R409 of the 2006 IRC Existing Houses 1 Submit permit application and plans for review 2 Submit the design of the crawl space system to be used with all details to comply with the requirements of section R409 of the 2006 IRC 3 Purchase permit after plan approval and before work begins Check out our website at wwwjohnstonnccom inspections under the Reference Desk section then Handouts and Building Information for code Section R409 - Closed Crawl Spaces 3PageChart of Inspections and permits 11 year period YEAR TOTAL PERMITS Total Inspections Number of Inspectors No of Inspections per person 1995 3,400 23,277 12 1,939 1996 3,905 28,535 11 2,594 1997 4,025 38,585 16 2,411 1998 4,132 42,025 16 2,626 1999 4,421 44,898 18 2,494 2000 4,371 43,670 19 2,298 2001 5,025 55,675 19 2,930 2002 4,837 57,641 19 3,033 2003 4,170 27,629 20 1,381 2004 4,526 40,624 20 2,031 2005 5,209 50,765 20 2,538 2006 4,983 57,156 22 2,598 Revenues Collected 606,13782 664,65478 1,133,94200 1,478,67491 1,573,87030 1,608,89519 1,820,87498 2,161,79007 1,928,87592 2,227,52705 2,684,80758 3,063,91309 Inspections Statistics More revenues collected for permits in 2006 than in any year , possibly due to larger homes being constructed In 2006 , we had the most Inspectors working to try to keep inspections next day as much as possible Inspectors worked 14 Saturdays in 2006 in an effort to maintain next day inspections for the builders We issued approximately 4,954 permits in 2006 ; of which 1,578 were New Houses 62 major subdivisions resulting in 2,498 proposed residential lots were processed in Planning and Zoning as well as 194 minor subdivisions resulting in another 289 proposed residential lots The Inspections Department averages 250 walk - ins per week in 2006 which is nearly double over 2005 We answered 2,500 phones called per month in 2006 4PagePage pageNumber5Inspector Spotlight Shane Hudson History Level 3 Inspector in Building , Electrical , Plumbing , Mechanical and Fire Experienced inspector with 6 years in the field Lieutenant Firefighter for Dunn Fun Facts Born and raised in Johnston County , North Carolina Enjoys hunting and being a fireman Favorite movie is Days of Thunder Inspector Contact Numbers Name Nextel ID Mobile # Allen Derry 26 47344 427 - 4287 Barbour Dean 26 47237 868 - 4615 Barry Trip 69 2 427 - 3536 Blackman Walter 26 47242 427 - 4285 Bledsoe Mike 26 47294 868 - 4618 Clifton Amy 26 51020 868 - 3584 Clifton Tommy 26 47321 868 - 4638 Creech David 26 47208 427 - 7894 Hudson Shane 26 47314 422 - 6812 Johnson Davy 26 24836 369 - 0308 Johnson Patrick 26 59509 625 - 8742 Jones RB 26 47298 422 - 6759 Lewis Ed 26 47247 291 - 1571 Motsko Cindy 26 47284 291 - 0486 Pender Charles 26 47203 422 - 6725 Reeves Russell 26 34500 291 - 0613 Robinson Bryan 26 47562 201 - 0430 Ryan Eddie 26 47296 524 - 0089 Sasser Brian 26 46963 868 - 4620 Sauls Jimmie 26 47277 427 - 4283 Stratton Mike 26 47349 422 - 6811 Sutton Tony 26 47276 427 - 4282 Registering for Listserv If you would like to be added to our Listserv to receive the latest Newsletters and events in the Johnston County Inspections department , you can Go to our website at wwwjohnstonnccom inspections Call the office at 919 989 - 5060 Send me an e - mail at dannmichael @ johnstonnccom Also , if you have any topics for the next edition of the Newsletter , feel free to let us know We will try our best to get your ideas and input in Last Laugh Continue to Next Page For Reference Documents News and Events 5PagePage pageNumber66Page