TJCAIA News Blog

Lost in Red Tape

When you think of starting a construction project, you are probably thinking about the arrangement of interior spaces in the finished building. You are dreaming about a more efficient layout or updated décor. You are not expecting to be filling out applications for multiple government agencies. That is what TJC does for you. We spend a good portion of our time responding to regulations from a variety of city and county departments. If your property is located in a city, we will deal with the zoning regulations through a development application. We will meet with the city planner and process the paperwork and drawings. The rule of thumb is this: the more changes you are requesting for the use of a building, the longer the process will be. Developing vacant property, for example, may involve also the planning commission and the city council. In the county, your project may be reviewed by other agencies such as Environmental Health to approve the layout of a septic system, or a forester to report on tree removal and replacement. We are careful to follow the rules so that the process will not be delayed. If a particularly thorny issue is expected, we sometimes recommend a land-use attorney; but most of the time, we process the permits ourselves.

Our projects meet national and state building standards as required by law. Each section of the California Building Code (i.e. Building, Structural, Fire, Electrical, and Mechanical Code) is larger than a telephone book. City or county plan checkers in building departments will review every drawing sheet to verify that we have met public safety standards. We attend seminars to keep up with code changes, like the one that Tom participated in last week to review the American Disabilities Act.

Dealing with bureaucracies can be frustrating for the faint hearted, but we do accomplish this for our clients. We are willing to wade through the paperwork so that you can walk through your new building.

-TJC