(a) Application for a building permit shall be made by the owner or his agent to the Building Inspector and, when supervised by an architect or required by the Building Inspector, shall be accompanied by plans and specifications in duplicate for the structure or work contemplated which shall be in conformity with the provisions of City ordinances and other laws relating thereto. When required by the Building Inspector, the plans and specifications shall include the maximum live load for which each floor is designed when floor construction is involved in the proposed work, the number of persons to be accommodated at one time on each floor above the first story, the proposed purpose for which each story is intended, and any other information that may be deemed necessary. Plans and specifications shall be examined by the Building Inspector, or his assistants and filed in his office.
(b) All plans and specifications shall bear the name of the party making the same and shall be drawn to a scale of not less than one-eighth of an inch to the foot on paper or cloth, in ink or by some process that will not fade or obliterate so long as it can be discernibly duplicated. All distances and dimensions shall be accurately computed and drawings shall be made explicit and complete showing the lot lines and buildings, if any, on the adjoining lots. However, the lot lines and the relative location of the building may be drawn to a smaller scale than required herein. However, the Building Inspector or his duly authorized agent shall determine the acceptability of all plans and specifications.
(c) If the Building Inspector finds that the plans and specifications conform to the requirements of City ordinances and other relative laws, he shall officially approve and stamp the same, and issue a building permit. The plans and specifications so stamped shall be returned to the applicant and a copy shall be retained by the Building Inspector.
(d) No person shall erase, alter or modify any lines, figures or markings contained upon drawings so stamped by the Building Inspector or filed with him for reference. If, during the process of the execution of work, it is desired to deviate from the plan and specifications in any material manner, notice shall be given to the Building Inspector and his consent shall be obtained. Deviations which do not involve any change in structural parts, stairways, elevators, fire escapes or other means of communication, ingress or egress, or lighting or ventilating, and which are not in violation of any ordinance or law, may be made without the permission of the Building Inspector.
(e) All approvals of applications, plans, and specifications, and amendments thereto, shall expire by limitation six months from the date of the original approval of plans and specifications. However, this expiration limitation shall not apply to the erection of any buildings under approved plans and specifications, when work thereunder has been begun and carried on with reasonable continuity within six months from the original approval, or when the work to be performed is lawful and can be carried on without violating any provision of any law or City ordinance.
(f) Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, the City Engineer, the acting City Engineer, or the duly authorized agent of the City Engineer or acting City Engineer shall be the Building Inspector and shall have and exercise all the duties and powers enumerated by the Building Inspector in this section or other sections of this code.
(g) If it is the opinion of the Building Inspector that a survey by a duly licensed, certified or registered surveyor shall be submitted with any plans and specifications for the lot of land upon which any building, fence or other structure is being constructed, then the Building Inspector shall require that a survey by a duly licensed, certified or registered surveyor be submitted with the application for a building permit regarding the building, fence or other structure.
(1980 Code 150.20; Ord. 8128)