CITY NOTES: City code enforcement updates

By Jason Webster and Paul Hughes, Charles City Code Enforcement Department

Greetings from the Charles City Code Enforcement Department.

The cooler weather is coming much too quickly as witnessed with the “way too early” snow we got. This comes as building projects are being worked on feverishly to get them closed up before more snow arrives.

As you can see around the town, this last year has been busy for new building and remodeling around the city. We have issued many building permits around the city, in residential areas as well as the business arena. We have some large scale industrial projects being worked on as this is written.

This is all great for our community as a whole as homeowners fix up and maintain properties as well as businesses expand.

We issue building permits for construction, plumbing, electrical and mechanical and do the follow-up inspections pertaining to those permits. This alone has kept us very busy this last year.

Just this year alone we have issued about 497 permits. This means people and businesses are investing in our community. Kudos to all of you who are doing your part in making our town a better place through improvements.

That being said, a large part of our job is to educate you on what a building permit is and when it is needed. The permit gives you legal permission to start construction of a building project in accordance with local and state codes. 

We take quite a few calls from citizens asking when a permit is required. We don’t mind you calling in and asking, as we would rather get things taken care of up front. So please call if you have a question about anything related to our duties.

Don’t think of a building permit as a “necessary evil,” but as door to open a dialogue with us so we can assist you in keeping professional and within the parameters of the law.

What is the purpose of the permit, you ask? Your home or business is a large investment. If the construction does not comply with code, the value of your investment may be reduced. Some insurance companies many not cover work done without a permit.

The inspection by us also makes sure your work conforms to codes which are put in place to insure your safety as well as the safety of others who come into your residence or business. It also protects future owners of the house or building.

The permit process is simple. Stop down at our office in City Hall and speak with one of us and we will walk you through the application process. Please stop down in advance of wanting to do the work in case this process requires extra time. 

The application is the “who, what, when and where” part of the process. You may be asked to submit sketches or plans of the proposed work. After you have applied, you will get notice if the permit is issued or we may ask for more information on the application.

Please do not start work without an approved permit in hand. This may result in fines and fees being assessed over what is normally charged. It could also result in work being removed or changed to meet code specifications.

After you have your permit and get into the building stage, feel free to call us with any questions and we will make every effort to accommodate you. 

Throughout the work, on-site inspections may be required. This will give you access to us for any questions and concerns regarding the project and may ward off potentially costly mistakes. We try to give notice to work with you for these visits.

At the completion of your project, we may need to come back and conduct a final inspection.

It takes all of us as a community to keep our homes, schools and buildings safe for public use. Please be sure to get us involved in the project right up front so we can assist you with this goal in mind.

Just a reminder of some of the other areas our office takes care of for the city. We are in our sixth year of enforcing the rental inspection code. This involves the work in registering all of the approximately 900-plus residential rental units in town each year as well as going out to a third of the rental units and conducting an on-site inspection annually. These inspections help assure the safety of the renters.

One change to this is that the state has mandated that all residential homes, not just rentals, now have carbon monoxide detectors installed. We also do inspections for the Charles City Housing Office as well. These include 104 inspections so far.

Just this year alone, we have served 152 nuisance violations including junk and junk vehicles in and around people’s residences. Included in these, we served 113 long grass violation notices during this last summer. This is up from 61 served the previous summer.

It all goes back to improving our community through enforcing codes. All-in-all, we keep busy throughout the entire year.

Code enforcement, along with other city staff, recently canvassed the city taking into account blighted and nuisance properties around town. The city is developing a plan to continue to move forward and deal with these properties.

We look forward to meeting you and assisting you with your building code needs and answering any questions you may have. Stop in and see us or give us a call at City Hall.