Pro Tips for Permitting —
by Meta Levin
Successful permitting boils down to three things: relationships, honesty and doing the right thing. That was Jon Hirsch and Moira Dillon’s message to those who attended their iLandscape 2022 presentation, “Everything You Should Know to Make Your Building Permit Process Flow.” Both Hirsch, president of Krügel Cobbles in Lake Bluff, and Moira Dillon, designer for the company, have a long history with the permitting process. “This is a big issue with ILCA members,” says Hirsch. “If you get a reputation of doing the right thing, you will get the benefit of the doubt if something goes wrong,” Hirsch says. That reputation begins with forging relationships with the right people in the building and zoning departments of the municipalities in which you work. “Get to know them and let them get to know you.”
Why do you need a permit?
Getting a permit for most construction work is the law. “If you get caught doing the work without one, it can be expensive,” says Hirsch. In the worst case, municipal officials can make you tear out the work you’ve already completed. It can be a time-consuming process to get a permit, which leads some clients pressuring contractors to skip it. “Tell them it’s a necessity,” Hirsch says. “It’s a must have, not a nice to have.” In the long run, it will save everyone a lot of heartache. If you think that you can go ahead without one, know that building inspectors drive around looking for signs that work is underway, then check if the permit has been issued. One inspector told Dillon that when he saw the Krügel Cobbles trucks, he didn’t worry about the permitting, because they had a reputation of doing things right. Not so for some other contractors. During the permitting process there are fees for review, inspection and for each subcontractor. They far exceed the $150 flat fee that Krügel Cobbles charges. “The rest of the fees charged by the municipality are 10
included in the last invoice when we close the job,” says Dillon, who stresses that Krügel Cobbles itemizes the amounts and includes payment confirmations. “We only take care of any required bond that will be reimbursed once the job is finished without any damage. This usually is when the right-of-way is involved.” Other costs connected with the permitting process are rolled into the overhead. Dillon usually warns clients that the job may require a new plat of survey, as well as other related fees. “It is important to tell the client that we don’t know what it is going to cost,” she says. “A new plat and drainage and grading plans are an extra expenditure.” Dillon ticked off several advantages to following the permitting process in detail: • Avoid potential lawsuits •
Avoid unpleasant surprises
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Comply with code standards
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Minimize environmental impact
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Keep a record (what was done)
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Protect your client relationship
There are advantages both for the contractor and the client. For instance, any modification done with an approved permit will be covered by home insurance if anything happens in the future, says Dillon. It also means that the municipality has a record of when and what types of work was done. Hirsch notes that he has had new home buyers contact him about work done years before they bought their homes. “They had been connected to us by the municipalities that had our permit presentation on file,” he says. “This connected us to a new client who had bought a house where we had worked before. They were (continued on page 12)
The Landscape Contractor April 2022
