Architects in Westchester County NY, Fairfield county architects - Residential Legalization and Building permits

Residential Legalization and Building Permit Issues Take Homeowners by Surprise

You've finally decided to take the plunge and refinance your house to get that dream kitchen. the process is going smoothly when, out of nowhere, the title company picks up that certain improvements in the house, for example an added powder room or deck, are not recorded on your property card at the town hall. No Certificate of Occupancy, also called a Certificate of Compliance, exists for the improvements. The title company will not give clear title so you can't get financing. Now what do you do?
Or you've decided to sell your house and finally have a buyer yet, right before the closing, the purchaser's title company, during a search of records, notices that your enclosed porch doesn't have a Certificate of Compliance. In today's tighter lending environment, title companies and banks have become much stricter about these issues. the closing is put on hold as you scramble to clear up the problem, potentially risking losing your buyer.
Architect Michael McCann, AIA, a licensed architect in New York and Connecticut, of McCann-craft, Inc. has received many frantic calls from homeowners and realtors looking to quickly clear up legalizations issues, especially if a closing hangs in the balance. Frequently these unrecorded improvements were done prior to the purchase of the home by the current owner. Regardless of when these changes were performed to the house, title and mortgage banks and companies want C.O.'s before awarding clear title.
In the course of making presentations to almost forty real estate offices throughout Westchester. McCann reports that he has heard plenty legalization tales of woe. Village of Pelham Building Inspectro Len Russo said that he has even received calls from attorneys present at actual closings asking legalization or open building permit questions that were just discovered by the title company.
Fortunately, some of these problems can be solved simply by having an architect , familiar with the legalization issues, render and submit plans for the existing work. Occasionally, minor alterations are necessary and sometimes more extensive work is needed to bring the improvement into compliance with the building code.
Every home has a file at their town hall which records, for example, the dimension of the house, number of rooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size, closed or open porches and finished or unfinished basements. Many towns are now making it possible for owners to view these records online.
When improvements are planned for a property, the owner must file a building permit application available from the building department, submit plans from a licensed architect or engineer and get town approval and variances if applicable, before beginning construction. the plans are then reviewed by the town's building department for compliance with the Residential Code of New York State or Ct. and any additional zoning laws enacted by the localities.
Dealing with the local building department often invokes fear in homeowners, but building officials and inspectors only want town records to be accurate and up to date in addition to the improvements being built in a safe and legal manner. Building Inspector Russo reinforced the importance of accurate records for the homeowner. "People don't realize that we maintain permanent records regarding their properties and having that information current can be vital if a property catastrophe strikes, such as a fire."
Bottom line, it's the law. Always make sure building permits are property obtained when contemplating any building project, and closed out when the project is completed. that way you can avoid the inevitable problems that will occur when the property is sold or refinanced, especially in today's lending environment. After all, not one wants to get stuck at a closing that won't close.

Michael McCann AIA is a licensed architect and builder in New York and Ct. He has extensive experience as a residential architect in Westchester County, NY, Fairfield county, Ct and the Hamptons. Michael McCann, president of McCann-craft, Inc. is also a builder licensed in Westchester county, NY and Ct.

Architect, residences, Certificate of Occupancy, legalization fines

Many towns in Westchester County, NY levy fines when a residential owner has a home improvement done without filing a building permit. Some towns are assessing heavy penalties. New Rochelle, for example, has a fine of $2000 regardless of whether or not the owner instituted the remodeling or home improvement or if the upgrade to the property was present when the current owner purchased the home.

See an explanation on McCann-craft, Inc. website for further discussion of this problem. Michael McCann, architect and builder in Westchester County and Fairfield County has resolved these legalization problems for many owners.

Architect Michael McCann, remodeling, home improvements

Legalizations, Building Permits, and Certificate of Occupancy

Architect Michael McCann is seeing an uptick in clients asking for legalization and Certificate of Occupancy resolutions. As a residential architect and builder, Michael was recently called by a potential client regarding the legalization of a basement remodel. The owner had just installed a new boiler which required final inspection by his town located in Westchester County. When the inspector came to see the boiler he noticed that the basement had been refinished without a builder permit. The inspector then told the owner that he would not complete final inspection of the boiler without the basement being legalized through obtaining a building permit. This requires filing architectural plans with the building department, filing appropriate electrical and plumbing applications. The town would then inspect the basement for code compliance. As an architect Michael has resolved many of these situations.

Legalizations, Building Permits, and Certificate of Occupancy

Title companies and mortgage companies are insisting that all home improvements done without a building permit must be legalized before granting clear title. Homeowners need to contact an architect for plans and proceed to file for a building permit to legalized existing conditions. Many towns have fines for unfiled improvements even if the improvement was present when current owner purchased home many years before. Often, plumbing and electrical inspects must be obtained also before a certificate of occupancy (sometimes also known as certificate of compliance) is issued on the residence.

Residential legalization and Certificate of Occupancy Issues

Michael McCann and McCann-craft, Inc. offer legalization services to secure required and missing certificates of occupancy (C.O.’s) and to correct and remove building code violations on existing residential properties. When placing their residence on the market, owners frequently discover that their property has legalization problems that must be resolved before the house can be sold. Sometimes these improvements, such as an enclosed porch, deck or added bathroom, were constructed without obtaining a building permit and were even present when the current owner purchased the house years before. In the past, legalization problems may not have been noticed or were overlooked by title companies and banks. But in today’s lending environment, banks will refuse to grant the purchaser a mortgage until legalization problems have been resolved by the current owner. Additionally, title companies will not grant title insurance with legalization issues. Very often, real estate agents are the first to find out that a home their agency is marketing has legalization problems or open certificates of occupancy that can potentially delay or prevent a property from being sold. These problems can come to light during a search of records by the agent or the title insurance company, frequently right before a scheduled closing. Without a resolution of legalization problems or the issuance of a final C.O., banks will deny the mortgage. Therefore, the closing will be held up as the owner scrambles to clear up the problems, potentially risking losing their buyer. Usually, when these problems come to light, the owner is then faced with finding a licensed architect to draw up stamped plans to submit to the town’s building department. Once the plans have been drawn up and approved by the building department, the owner frequently must then find a licensed trades’ person, such as a carpenter, plumber or electrician, to make the necessary corrections before the architect will certify that the C.O. problem conforms to the building code. Michael McCann, as both a licensed architect and builder can help a real estate agent and owner resolve these problems quickly, while the owner has the convenience of dealing with only one person overseeing the whole process. As a licensed architect, Mike has familiarity with the New York and Connecticut State Building Code and can draw up any required plans. With 29 years experience as an architect and builder in New York and Connecticut, he has dealt successfully with many building departments, inspectors and planning boards in obtaining building permits and C.O.’s. Additionally, as a licensed builder he has both a staff of carpenters and sub contractors that he can easily call upon to streamline the process for the owner to resolve any legalization issues, thereby removing any code violations that would hold up the closing process. Mike’s services include securing building, plumbing and electrical permits, if required. This will encompass stamped architectural drawings, permit applications by a licensed architect, plumber and electrician, all with required contractor insurances. He can perform code compliance inspections of existing conditions and provide architectural services, if a variance is required. Mike will provide and supervise the work as necessary to make existing conditions code compliant, secure and supervise governmental inspections, if required, and apply for and secure the required C.O.