Just when you think it is over, the man comes a knockin’

Here’s a story for you kids. A tale of misery, woe, and local government not knowing which end is up. If you think the gestapo isn’t alive and well in the greatest country in the world, think again…at least in Houston.

I got a notification of motion at my front door this morning. I was already ready to take the dogs out for a run, so we went up front and I noticed a city inspector out front. When I walked out, I asked if I could help him with something. He said that he was inspecting unpermitted work. I explained that there must be some mistake because everything at my house was permitted and I received final inspection and approval in December of 2018, prior to moving in and living there for over 12 months. He claimed that I added a fourth floor that they did not have record of. Again, I explained that nothing had been added, the entire structure was assembled in one day with the use of a crane. That day was October 31st, 2017 and there was loads of evidence to support that. Nothing had changed or been added since. He asked for a copy of my permit or final inspection report to clear this up, even though he had the tablet with direct access to city permitting docs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t keep home building documents on my person after over a year following final inspection, especially after that amount of time. I told him I did not have them handy. This inspector proceeded to tell me that I did not have approval to have a fourth floor and that I would have to go to the city to clear this up. He gave me a red sticker, which is a violation notice. I removed it, he threatened to fine me for removing a sticker on my front door that says “do not remove”. I said it shouldn’t be there in the first place. He also claimed that I cursed at him. When I said that I did not and I think he realized I had cameras, he backed off and said that I almost said a cuss word. OK, big fella.

I went on to the city permitting portal, which was in its infancy when I first started using it in December 2016 as I began filing for permits. I printed out the city stamped documents that showed they had seen elevations and structural documents showing a fourth floor. I printed out a picture taken from October 31st, 2017 showing the whole structure, exactly the way it is now. I even printed out the Houston CityBook article from September 2018 which showed a clear shot of the structure under construction…including the fourth floor. Document after document showing that the day the first floor was there, the fourth floor was there.

Later, I showed up to the city and made an appointment with a senior inspector. I gave them my project number and explained the situation. They kept looking at each other and at me, saying this has been finaled out, meaning that I had final approval. There was nothing to do because they can’t “unfinal” it. They then pulled up the notes from the “inspection” today. With no one having any real answers, they asked to make copies of my documents, which were copies of their documents they have on file. I eventually got shuffled to the head of a department. I was flat out told that my structure was 3 stories and they had no record of it being four. This is false. I fairly calmly walked them through THEIR system to show them that they had stamped and filed the elevation and roof plan that showed a four story structure….in 2017. I got some silence and stuttering. I explained that even though there were elevations showing three stories, those were the original submissions and there is no way to remove them from the system. They agreed. But by pointing out docs, in their system on their screen, I showed I DID submit and they DID have, in the exact same file, four story documentation. The reason they were all dated the same was not because I submitted them the same day, but because once they receive all of the required information, everything in the file gets approved and stamped with the same day on it. The old files and the updated ones, anything in the file, get stamped and dated.

I told them that they also had photographic evidence in THEIR files that this was built as a four story structure. I gave them the names of the people on their staff that showed these to me. They denied that was the case and said no inspectors remembered it being four stories….until they clicked on a file that showed their own detailed pictures of the complete exterior dated December 2017, including clear shots of the fourth story. I got stories of how inspectors messed up, some of them weren’t with the city anymore, the documentation on their end wasn’t complete, their portal has had to have major upgrades since I used it, etc., etc.

So we are good, right? Not so fast. Even though I proved they had all of the documentation, I did everything by.the.book, and there was loads of evidence that they knew this was four stories all along; they still want more. “Are you OK with letting an inspector in your house to look at it again?” Absolutely not. You had unfettered access to the house during the entire construction process. There were at least 20 different inspections by different inspectors, including third party structural inspection that I pay for. Every required item, every inspection, everything requested by the city was provided. And they approved it. Why should I or anyone else, for that matter, be subject to re-inspection after more than two years since the structure was built and over 14 months after I received final inspection and approval from them? They are literally telling me AND YOU that they can show up to any house at any time, after they have approved it, to look it over again and make sure they did their paperwork correctly.

I did agree to a day and time that an inspector can go in the house, walk up to the third floor, view that there are no stairs to the fourth floor (apparently pictures of this weren’t good enough), and report this back. This would show that the fourth floor is not living space (as shown on the plans they have). This was promised to be the quickest and most effective way to close this once and for all. They apologized, I said no worries. It was a colossal waste of my time, but it would make for a good blog story. The response: oh, the city doesn’t like to be in blogs. Guess what? I don’t like being in a city office to explain myself well over a year after they approved this project. It works both ways.

I will update after the final, final, final re-inspection of the previous inspections happens.

P.S. Can you guess what triggered everyone tripping over themselves to review this again? I was told point blank that a 311 call to the city stating I added a fourth floor started this. Someone literally tattled on me and the gestapo roared into action. I even know who it was. I have helped numerous people with their projects through me documenting my project on my blog. Sometimes people reach out to me and ask for more specific help. I have met up with people over lunch, drinks, and dinner to answer their questions. Last week I told someone, who used quite a bit of info from my blog and used the structural engineer that I recommended to start the process, that their issue with the city about their house being tagged as four stories was not something I could help them with.  That is what architects and general contractors are for.  It wasn’t a container issue, it was a building and permitting issue; not a specialty of mine.  Coincidence that within days of that, a call to the city is made about my four story house is made? No good deed goes unpunished.