Electrical/Plumbing permit pain.

[psicodude]

So I have decided to develop my basement by myself. I did it in my last house and am fairly comfortable with the work.

I decided to head to city hall last week and get all of the required permits. I showed up around 1:30 pm and fully expected a 30 - 60 minute wait. The dude gives me my number 41, I look up at the sign, and it says they are on 30. No big deal, right. Well, 45 minutes later we have moved up to number 32. I look at the guy beside me, and he has number 36. I ask him how long he has been there, and he says 3 fricken hours! I go back to the guy that gave me the number and ask how long this will take. Dude tells me the average wait is at least 4 hours!!!

So, here is the question. I am a normal guy with a job and a family. I don't have a spare day that I can take off work to sit at city hall. They aren't open weekends, of course. So, what do I do? I have no problem paying the extra taxes, and am concerned that if I don't get the permits, my insurance won't cover me. Is anyone familiar with the system and can give me some tips on an easier way of doing this?

Thanks for any help.

[redforever]

Maybe hire a master electrician to pull the permit for you. But has to be master electrician, journeymen electricians can't pull permits.

[Flames_Gimp]

i went in 2 weeks ago to get permits and waited only 45mins. You can get a Homeowners electrical permit, its about 45-$60

[ken0042]

Last year after getting my permits pulled I went through something similar. The trick used to be to show up Tues-Thurs; not near a long weekend, at about 10:30. Not anymore. Last time I went on a Wednesday at 10:30, was done at 1:45. Had it not been for the garage (which is fairly obvious that it was built-unlike a basement) I might have re-considered getting the permits.

I understand that they are short staffed, but really what they are doing is making it so that people might not want get a permit. The kicker is, sitting there waiting and reading all their pamphlets, you see that if you are a contractor you can submit your plans via email and come pick up your permit a few days later. Why can't the homeowner do that? Or allow for appointments? Sure, might be a few week wait to see somebody, but most of my projects I knew about ahead of time.

[MoneyGuy]

I thought it plumming.

[psicodude]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I will definitely try going earlier in the morning.

Oh, and a "master" electrician sounds expensive!

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

I thought it plumming.

I was just going ask, what is plumbing, I only know what plumming is!