Palm Beach County Code Enforcement

The Palm Beach County Code Enforcement Division is a major positive for residents who are not having trouble maintaining their standard. On the other hand, if you are having trouble maintaining the expected standard that the Palm Beach County Code Enforcement holds, you can find yourself stressed out and under water when dealing with them. Below is an explanation on the permitting and inspection process required when you have gotten a violation. To see a list of some of the most common violations in Palm Beach County.

Step 1. Assess the Situation

After you receive your notice of violation, you must apply for a permit from the Building Division staff to fix the violation. At the time that you apply for the permit, you must submit the plans to resolve the issue to the Building Division. The way the code in Palm Beach County works makes it somewhat necessary that a licensed architect or engineer draws up the plans. Another major issue, if it fits your scenario, is that if the improvement was installed without being inspected during construction, someone like a design professional must certify the interior components of the construction for compliance with the State and County codes and submit an ‘As-Built’ drawing.

As a property owner, you have the right to act as your own contractor. Although here at FL Home Buyers we recommend hiring a professional contractor to assist you through the entire process. A licensed contractor would handle everything from applying for the permit to walking the inspector through the final inspection. According to Palm Beach County Code Enforcement their experience has shown that a considerable amount of time is saved when using one. 

Keep in mind, this does not apply to every situation. In less serious violation cases such as an inoperable vehicle, or trash removal. In those situations you would remove the vehicle or clean up the trash and call your Code Enforcement Officer to come back out and close the case. 

Step 2. Apply for a Permit

No one but you, the property owner, is truly responsible to obtain the permit and complete the required inspections in the time allocated on the violation. The staff in the division is aware of the time it takes to actually acquire the permit and they will provide you with ample time, but in reality you need to move quickly. There are usually fines that are associated with these violations and they can add up. If something unexpected is to happen to where you can’t complete the required actions, you must communicate that with the Code Enforcement Officer who is responsible for your case.

Step 3. Inspections and Completion

The inspection is the final step. After the completion of the job, you will need to set up an appointment with your Code Enforcement Officer to come out and inspect the work. If the inspector finds any code violations the inspection will fail and will not be approved until the the corrections are made. If the work was done properly they will approve the inspection and will submit the report to the office to close the open violation. 

In Conclusion

To be as straightforward, unless it is a light violation, the whole process of correcting and closing out a violation can be tough. Chances are, you would not be reading this if you were a licensed contractor or a licensed architect with experience in satisfying violations. Any reputable contractor that you hire should know the city code, will do the job to the satisfaction of the inspector, and will know the ins and outs of the process. In this process, time is of the essence. The money you may save by doing it yourself may be lost in daily fines if something does go wrong.

Here at FL Home Buyers, we can purchase a home with an open violation using an agreement called a “Hold Harmless.” In plain english, this document would clarify that we are buying the property knowing that there are issues and that we can not hold you accountable in the future for anything whatsoever. We buy houses in all types of conditions and we close fast. If you do not want to deal with the hassle of correcting an open violation and want to see what a quick cash offer would look like, give us a call today.