BUILDING: Changes needed

I think Commissioner Marc Eberlein is on the right track. However, I would offer an alternate proposal.

What, exactly is our concern? That homes be built safely with a minimum of government interference.

As a building contractor it always irritated me to have to wait for an inspection from the Building Department. I did not object to the standards, or even the inspection, but generally the job stopped until the inspection was complete. That usually meant a day lost to the work, and as such increased the cost of the project.

I would like to suggest an alternative:

1. No building permit required.

2. Inspection for septic, but if there are other septic systems in the immediate area, then no excavation or soil analysis would be required.

3. Possibly a fire inspection.

4. Individuals would be permitted to build the home without a permit.

5. If the owner wanted to be sure the home would sell again, they could hire an agency to make periodic inspections and then certify the home was built to current standards once the job was complete.

6. If the owner wanted to build a house without the inspections, they would be free to do so and if later they wanted to sell the house, they would be free to do so without the certificate of compliance (just like people did 50 years ago).

7. No permit for re-roofing job.

8. No permit for fence (owner would coordinate with adjoining property owners etc.).

I note that Bonner County eliminated building permits and the world did not end. I would point out that they did require siting permits, and got their pound of flesh in the process.

If this seems too radical a change, then maybe the Building Department could spend a little time deciding which inspections are actually necessary. Maybe we could learn something from the banks. They inspect construction as it goes without a lot of fuss. We could even go back to using a building code for earlier years, say 1960.

These are just rough thoughts. Maybe someone else would have a better idea. Do we really need an insulation inspection? How about sheetrock? I am confident that we can find a lot of inspections that are really not necessary when we think about it.

JIM HOLLINGSWORTH

Coeur d’Alene