Article 8-2 . PERMITS AND FEES

ARTICLE II. PERMITS AND FEES¹

8-23 Permit required; plans to be submitted as required.

No wall, structure, building, heating facility, mechanical system or part thereof shall be built, enlarged, altered or repaired until a permit application along with a plan of the proposed site and work, together with a statement of the materials to be used, shall have been submitted as required to the department of public works, which shall, if said application is in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the building code, issue a permit for the proposed construction.

(Rev. Ords. 1962, § 721; 1969 Cum. Supp., § 721; Ord. of 12-12-83; Ord. of 4-8-96)

8-24 Professional architectural and engineering services.

(a) General. All design for new construction work, alteration, repair, expansion, addition or modification work involving the practice of professional architecture or engineering, as defined by the statutory requirements of the professional registration laws of the state shall be prepared by registered professional architects or engineers as certified by the state. All plans, computations and specifications required for a building permit application for such work shall be prepared by or under the direct supervision of a registered architect or engineer and bear that architect’s or engineer’s signature and seal.

(b) Special professional services. Where applications for unusual design or magnitude of construction are filed or where code reference standards in Appendix A require special architectural or engineering inspections, the building official may require full time project site representation by an architect or engineer. This project representative shall keep daily records and submit reports as required by the building official.

(c) Building permit requirement. This special professional service requirement shall be determined prior to the issuance of the building permit and shall be requisite for the permit issuance.

(d) Fees and costs. All fees and costs related to the performance of special professional services shall be borne by the owner.

(e) Exemptions. Classes and characteristics of structures with respect to which persons performing building design may be exempt from registration requirements.

(1) Single-and two-family dwellings. Persons not registered under the Vermont architect’s or engineer’s registration law may design single-and two-family dwellings and sheds, storage buildings, and garages incidental to such dwellings.

(2) Multifamily dwelling. Persons not registered under the Vermont architect’s or engineer’s registration law may design multifamily housing facilities, provided that such structures are not over three (3) stories in height not including basements, cellars, or nonhabitable attics.

(3) Agricultural structures. Persons not registered under the Vermont architect’s or engineer’s registration law may design farm buildings, including barns, silos, sheds, or housing for farm equipment and machinery, livestock, poultry or storage.

(4) Other structures. Persons not registered under the Vermont architect’s or engineer’s registration law may design structures if such structures are of type 5 construction. In addition, the administrator may require a certification by a registered architect or engineer regarding any feature of the building which in his judgement may affect public health and safety.

(5) Alterations, renovations. Persons not registered under the Vermont architect’s or engineer’s law may design an alteration, renovation, or remodeling of a building when such alteration, renovation, or remodeling does not affect structural or other safety features of the building in the view of the administration of public health and safety.

(6) Architect, engineer, or designer on-site observation. The parties responsible for any improvement to real estate must engage the parties responsible for the design of a structure or a registered architect engineer to provide periodic on-site observation of the construction of all structures.

(Ord. of 12-12-83; Ord. of 1-9-95)

8-25 Permit not to be issued for buildings without sanitary facilities or running water.

No permit for the construction of any building to be used for human habitation or for the alteration of any building so as to render it usable for human habitation shall be issued unless the plans therefor shall provide:

(a) One (1) water closet for each family unit to be housed therein, and the connection of the same with the city sewer system, if the same is to be located on a street where such sewer is installed, or, if not so located, with a cesspool or septic tank of design and construction approved by the city health officer; and

(b) An adequate and continuous supply of running water suitable for human consumption, with not less than one (1) water tap for each family unit to be housed therein.

(Rev. Ords. 1962, § 721)

8-26 Conditions to issuance of permit.

No permit shall be granted until the required fee is paid to the city treasurer and until the building inspector is satisfied from an examination of the plans and specifications or the detailed memoranda of the proposed building or alteration that such structure when completed will be safe and secure and built in a good manner to escape the dangers of fire, explosion and disease. In every case where a structure is to be placed or erected within six (6) feet of the street line, no permit shall be granted until the street line is staked off by the city engineer, and the city engineer certifies on the application that such line has been so staked off as shown thereon.

(Rev. Ords. 1962, § 724)

8-27 Duration of permit.

Building permits shall be invalid after three (3) years from the date of issuance. The building inspector shall have the discretion to approve extensions of time beyond the three-year limit provided that all extensions are in writing and are for a specified duration which is consistent with the permits issued by the department of planning and zoning for the subject permit.

(Rev. Ords. 1962, § 725; Ord. of 5-20-02)

8-28 Fees; exceptions.

(a) Every person applying for a permit shall first pay to the city a fee for such permit at the rate of eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) for every one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of the estimated cost of the work and construction as the building inspector may approve. There shall be a minimum charge of twenty dollars ($20.00) per permit. On the completion of construction projects equal to and greater than an estimated cost of construction in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), the owner or authorized representative shall furnish the building inspector with a correct signed statement by the owner of total actual cost of the construction, including the cost of all materials and labor of all associated construction trade permits attached to the project and shall then pay to the city an additional fee according to the above schedule on the excess of such total actual cost of the work above the estimated cost on which a fee was first paid, and in case the actual total cost of the construction upon the completion thereof is less than the estimated cost upon which the first fee was paid, the city shall refund to the person who paid the first fee the proportionate part thereof represented by the excess of the estimated cost over the actual cost; provided, that such refund does not reduce the fee to less than the minimum of twenty dollars ($20.00). If the actual costs are within two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) of the original estimated costs, no additional fee or refund shall be required.

(b) If a building, alteration, extension or repair of a building is begun without the payment of such fee and without such permit, or the building inspector is not furnished upon the completion of the work with the required statement of the actual cost thereof and any additional fee required in such case is not paid, the builder and owner shall both be deemed to have violated the provisions of this article.

(c) No permit or fee shall be required for storm windows and storm doors, nonsolid fences, carpeting, draperies, painting, installation of personal property and floor covering, except that a permit shall be required for flooring.

(d) No permit or fee shall be required for any alterations or repairs, the cost of which is not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).

(e) No fee shall be required for the portion of the estimated cost of any work and construction that is to be owned by a department of the City of Burlington.

(f) When the building inspector enforces the provisions of this chapter and a building permit is required as a result, there shall be an administrative processing fee added to the fee set by subsection (a) to recoup the administrative costs associated with enforcement. This processing fee shall be thirty dollars ($30.00) where the estimated cost of construction is less than or equal to three thousand dollars ($3,000.00). When the estimated cost of construction is three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) or greater, this processing fee shall be equal to one (1) percent of the estimated cost of construction. No processing fee shall be added to the permit when a permit is required to abate a condition deemed an emergency by the building inspector if the inspector determines that the owner is not responsible for the circumstances that led to the emergency.

(Rev. Ords. 1962, § 723; 1969 Cum. Supp., § 723; Ord. of 5-26-81; Ord. of 5-3-82; Ord. of 9-24-84; Ord. of 10-2-95; Ord. of 6-2-03; Ord. No. 10-27-03, eff. 11-26-03; Ord. of 6-25-12; Ord. of 9-9-19(1))

8-29 Moving of buildings—Permit required.

The owner of a building or structure shall not move or cause to be moved such building or structure until a permit has been obtained from the building inspector. No permit shall be issued if in the judgment of the building inspector the proposed new location of the building seriously increases the fire hazard of the surrounding buildings.

(Rev. Ords. 1962, § 722)

8-30 Same—Contents of permit.

Every permit as required by section 8-29 shall include the condition that no injury shall be done to any tree standing in or contiguous to a street or highway; and shall also specify the streets through which, and the time within which, the building shall be moved, beyond which time such permit shall not be of any force or effect.

(Rev. Ords. 1962, § 4252)

8-31 Buildings not in conformity to be removed.

Buildings or structures hereafter erected or moved without permit, not in conformity with this chapter, shall be removed.