Any examples of permit drawings...

13 years ago

Hi!

We're first time homeowners who want to try to remodel our kitchen on our own. This would include the addition of a prep sink in a different area of the kitchen than the regular sink, ventilation to the outside, and some minor electrical work.

We went to our local building department and asked for permit applications. We were told that we needed detailed drawings of all of our work. I'm not sure how to do that. For example, how do you put together a detailed sketch of a prep sink addition to a cabinet?

Please help us!

Featured Answer

bmorepanic

13 years ago

There's no way to answer this without knowing where you are located and seeing if someone in the same area knows. This varies wildly between localities.

What I have to do in Baltimore City is different from what people have to do in the surrounding Baltimore County. Some places automatically adopt the latest version of the building codes and some don't.

For example here, all plumbing work is required to be performed by a licensed plumber and the plumber is responsible for pulling their own permits. If I had a home improvement license and functioned as a real general contractor, I would be allowed to get a permit for the work, but not DO the work. Same thing for electrical.

In fact, I did the drawings for both the plumber and the electrician. Our building code allows for sketches so the drawings were a 1/4" scale drawing of the first floor and a 1/2" scale drawing of the kitchen. The plumbing diagram simply showed the location of all fixtures, noting new or moved lines. The plumber also ran the duct work as shown in the sketch. The electrical diagrammed all of the new circuits, light switches, outlet locations and which ones are gfi.

There are places where you'd need to diagram EVERYTHING. And it would need to be done properly with the correct symbols. So you'd need the piping under the sink, how you were going to run the supply lines, the waste lines in the house, and show how you were going to provide a vent at the sink. In our location, this type of detail isn't required for remodeling work if the plumber is pulling the permit. They assume he or she will do it in a workman-like fashion and according to code.

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Comments (7)

rhome410
13 years ago
Bmore is right that we probably won't be able to answer for your specific requirements...In our permit packet there was a checklist of everything that needed to be included in a plan when submitting. Does your building dept offer anything like that, or have something on-line that will help you?
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Again, no one can answer your questions about your local code and permitting authority without at least knowing where it is. Building codes vary by location, even when the codes don't vary, building departments will differ in responsiveness, prescription of codes and remedy for violations. There are 89,004 different coding districts in the U.S. and while there may be a lot of commonalities there are distinct differences. For example, the fence analogy would not work in my community as any fence under 8ft and without anti-intrusion measures (barbed wire or electrification) doesn't require a permit. Whether you are replacing, repairing, or making it taller doesn't matter. Also, in our city, the building department is easy going, and while there are fairly strict zoning and code rules here, our building department is incredibly responsive and helpful to homeowners. The city we are building in, which is only 1.2 miles from my current home, has fewer codes but the building department isn't responsive and tends to be very adversarial. The city my wife grew up in has no zoning ordinances at all. You can construct an office building in your backyard (and yes, people have), there is a 10 year debate running on the council whether or not a building permit is even required as long as all the individual inspections are done and the CO is obtained. One last time. We can give you general advice, some things are easy - new electric and new plumbing almost always require a permit. Some things are much harder, installing a fence for example. Your only options are either talk to your permitting authority, or an expert in your area (a local contractor). You can be on here all day long, loving some advice, hating some advice and becoming much more informed only to find that much of what you learned here doesn't apply to you.
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If the windows are too low to install a cabinet run on that wall and you keep the island, you will need to shorten it. I agree with @palimpsest that it's untenable as is because the fridge is there. Ditch the microwave in the island and replace it with a 9" tray base that has one horizontal shelf at mid height. Cutting boards and baking sheets will fit nicely. This will also allow you to increase the size of you trash pullout (if it were my kitchen, I'd put a small can under the sink and have another drawer base and put a free standing bin on the wall across from the powder room). If you really need seating for 3, use a 6" tray cabinet instead of a 9" and wrap your overhang around. It won't be any less comfortable than the set up you have above and no one will be trapped in the middle seat. The microwave can go in the cabinet next to the fridge. Since storage is limited, a smaller microwave in the uppper cabinet could be better still, depending on how much you use it. As Bmore suggested, replace the 2 18" base cabinets with a 36" drawer base. It's great for pots and pans. If you can afford a drawer in a drawer, that's a great way to store the lids too. Map out where everything will go. You might find that an 18" and 30" drawer base works better than two 24" bases. You're kitchen is small and challenging and the island breaks all the rules but you can probably make it work; it'll just be tight.
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needsometips08
13 years ago
We live in a small town and ours was just a pencil-drawn plan, drawn up by DH that showed the general gist of what we were doing....on a sheet of green paper at that :-).

That was good enough, but it did bite us a bit in the end cause my husband didn't put dimensions for where we were going to be retrofitting the seismic bracing anchors in the wall, and thus they were installed in the wrong place and required a re-do.

So the more detailed, the better.
ccoombs1
13 years ago
I live in a fairly large county in SC and I drew the plans for my house myself, using Autocad. They required a wall cut-away showing foundation and all framing information and the truss information for the roof. And that was pretty much it. I did not furnish an electrical plan or plumbing details. Contact your county and ask them what is required. They can answer your question best.
User
13 years ago
If you are first-time homeowners, don't know how to make a drawing of your plan that can qualify for a permit ... but your plan involves moving plumbing and electric work, I have one question.

How much do you have saved up for the professional who is going to have to fix your mistakes?
monkeymo
13 years ago
We live in the MO. Although we can act as our own GC, we are required to use licensed plumbers and electricians that will sign off on the overall permit we are granted. We need to supply a detailed drawing to the permit office to their specified scale and identity electric and other items using correct symbols, identify new walls, windows, etc.

we are using Architectural Home Designer by chief architect...and pen :-) You should be able to call the permitting office and ask what scale you need or how detailed they need your drawing.

Honestly though if you are adding a sink in a place where there was no sink you should use a professional licensed plumber. There are codes about where you vent the sink and drains, how many fixtures can be vented in one stack, etc. And they are not codes just to be codes, they are there for specific reason.
marthasunny
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for your responses.
1. We live in New Jersey.
2. We need to use the latest version of the national building codes.
3. I still need an example of a permit drawing for a prep sink. Does anyone have one? Please...
4. Lazygardens, you hit it right on the spot. How much money are we going to have for the professional to fix our mistakes? Try telling that to my darling husband, who has insisted for months that we can do everything on our own and won't listen to reason. I'm at a loss. However, that's the start of another topic.

Any examples of permit drawings...

bmorepanic

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rhome410

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Any examples of permit drawings...

bmorepanic

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rhome410

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marthasunnyOriginal Author

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