I was asked to layout a new home by a builder to replace the one that was a burn out. Naturally I agreed and he sent me some PDF plans a few weeks ago.
The plans had problems, quite a few.
1. The site plan did not show a setback and this is a hillside property.
2. The city permit was issued in 2008
3. The detached garage was in a very awkward position and was never setback according to the city formula of H/2 not to exceed 15 feet where H is the vertical distance up slope to the driveway.
4. The first floor plan only gave footprint dimensions, none of the rooms or interior walls were dimensioned.
5. The S1 foundation plan did not close so pile and grade beam locations could not be figured.
6. The structural engineer was doing the architectural work, he had a buddy who would sign off on the plans.
Ok, so all this was a few weeks ago. I point out all these problem items and the builder assures me he would get all the ducks in a row.
A few days ago I get a new set of revised PDF plans...none actually signed though. The setback was still missing and this is what the new garage layout looks like on the 'corrected' site plan..The main house is going to be placed off screen of the picture.
Garage over PL
The builder just ignores this and wants to know when I can layout the piles and grid lines for the new house. I told him the S1 plans still don't close among other site items that he refuses to address.
I did not have a formal contract yet so I told him to just find someone else because I don't want to be anywhere near this job when it explodes.
He was not happy with me at all, but I just cannot work for pushy contractors who ignore problems so they can get some concrete in the ground. I had a real bad feeling about this one.
Ohh yes, the homeowner is also a lawyer.
Sometimes you need to refuse. Good call.
jud
looked like a fairly steep site, then I noticed the contours were 5 footers, not 2 footers.
Are those contours supposed to be final grade?
Either way, that's going to a be steep driveway.
Looks like a cliff on the right edge of the topo, or the person that prepared the DTM did not clean the edges very well.
Smart move Paul to stay away from that one.
>
> Ohh yes, the homeowner is also a lawyer.
Paul, did you think about notifying the landowner/lawyer that his Arch/contractor... whatever... had no qualms about placing the new garage over a property line? That might raise some red flags about the "qualifications" of the other "professional". And then you can walk away.
Carl
I dropped a job - Perry
> Are those contours supposed to be final grade?
The contours are existing 5 footers. City code allows the garage to be five feet away from the PL passing through the garage 😛 but the setback from the toe of the slope has to be figured using the H/2 formula. Since the setback from the toe will +/- 13 feet if a wall was installed that setback would decrease some. There is not a lot of room in that area.
I dropped a job - Carl
> Paul, did you think about notifying the landowner/lawyer that his Arch/contractor... whatever... had no qualms about placing the new garage over a property line? That might raise some red flags about the "qualifications" of the other "professional". And then you can walk away.
>
> Carl
I considered it but decided against it. I could open myself up for a lawsuit if I said anything negative against any of the other parties involved based upon my limited knowledge of the whole situation.
Kathleen is a nice woman, her hubby is the lawyer. It's a shame that they got hold of such loser professionals, one after the other, in a burn out situation. I posted about the topo and civil engineer drawings on this site a couple of weeks ago.
Ohh yea. After I did a topo survey with one foot contours of a portion of this property I discovered that this builder guy never gave the structural/architect a copy of my survey and made sure to tell me not to send them one. That sure struck me as a very odd thing to do. The contours shown in the picture are from a previous survey that was done and are not from my survey.
I dropped a job - Paul
I read you loud and clear...
That project is fraught with past, current and future problems.
Good call, Paul. :good:
I dropped a job - Carl
Ok, if you don't want to tell the owners that for a fact their designer is screwing up, why not let them know that "due to some communication difficulties that might leave room for mistakes, I am giving up this job. I recommend you ask your designer to verify that all setback requirements have been met relative to the property line and with respect to the slope of the driveway, as these are things we have not been able to clearly communicate about."
That implies what you are worried about but does not say that anyone has done anything wrong.
I dropped a job - Carl
Every day surveyors have to ante up to pay for their facilities, employees,
and insurance. The clock keeps ticking. You have to play some of the hands
or do some of the jobs. Most of the losers that I know have to play every
hand or underbid the competition on every job.
Some things you need to walk away from.
I dropped a job - Bill
> Ok, if you don't want to tell the owners that for a fact their designer is screwing up, why not let them know that "due to some communication difficulties that might leave room for mistakes, I am giving up this job. I recommend you ask your designer to verify that all setback requirements have been met relative to the property line and with respect to the slope of the driveway, as these are things we have not been able to clearly communicate about."
>
> That implies what you are worried about but does not say that anyone has done anything wrong.
I spoke to Kathleen a few weeks ago and told her that it is very important that the setbacks for the new house and the garage are correct. It was after that conversation that she nonchalantly said "Oh well, my husband is an attorney" and kept on watering the plants, so it's not like I never mentioned the fact that the job with a three year building permit and still no action is a dog.
I was under a false impression then that everything would start to come together, which it never did.
I wonder who they are getting to survey the new house in now?
I dropped a job - Bill
> I wonder who they are getting to survey the new house in now?
Probably these guys
IF YOU ARE BUILDING A WALL, THE CITY INSPECTOR ASK FOR A BOUNDARY SURVEY, A BUILDING HEIGHT CERTIFICATION?
WE CAN HELP WITH THE FOLLOWING SERVICES:
* BOUNDARY SURVEYS
* TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEYS
* GRADING/DRAINAGE PLANS
* BUILDING HEIGHT CERTIFICATIONS
* FEMA CERTIFICATIONS
* RECORD OF SURVEYS
* STREET IMPROVEMENT PLANS
* SEWER PLANS
* LINE AND GRADE CERTIFICATIONS
* CONSTRUCTION STAKING
* CORNER RECORDS
* AND SO MUCH MORE!!!
CALL US FOR A FREE QUOTE OR ANY QUESTION YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING YOUR NEED!!!!
WE OFFER THE BEST PRICES ON CRAIGSLIST GUARANTEE!!!!
(xxx) xxxx-xxxx TEL
E-MAIL: [email protected]
EVERY JOB IS LEGAL AND WITH LICENSE!!!
But every job is legal 🙂
I dropped a job - Bill
Stick with your first gut instinct. It's usually right.
"Companies"
> IF YOU ARE BUILDING A WALL, THE CITY INSPECTOR ASK FOR A BOUNDARY SURVEY, A BUILDING HEIGHT CERTIFICATION?
> WE CAN HELP WITH THE FOLLOWING SERVICES:
>
> * BOUNDARY SURVEYS
> * TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEYS
> * GRADING/DRAINAGE PLANS
> * BUILDING HEIGHT CERTIFICATIONS
> * FEMA CERTIFICATIONS
> * RECORD OF SURVEYS
> * STREET IMPROVEMENT PLANS
> * SEWER PLANS
> * LINE AND GRADE CERTIFICATIONS
> * CONSTRUCTION STAKING
> * CORNER RECORDS
> * AND SO MUCH MORE!!!
>
> CALL US FOR A FREE QUOTE OR ANY QUESTION YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING YOUR NEED!!!!
>
> WE OFFER THE BEST PRICES ON CRAIGSLIST GUARANTEE!!!!
>
> (xxx) xxxx-xxxx TEL
> E-MAIL: [email protected]
>
> EVERY JOB IS LEGAL AND WITH LICENSE!!!
>
>
>
> But every job is legal 🙂
I have words I use for these kinds of "companies" but if I say them here, I'll wind up being banned by my own husband. 😐 :-O 😉