13-32-280 Amusement devices – Submission of plan to buildings commission – Permit.

   Before any mechanical amusement device, roller coaster, scenic railway, water chute, or other mechanical riding, sailing, sliding, or swinging device is erected, either in existing or new amusement parks, or places or sites where such devices are operated under carnival, fair, or similar auspices, a detailed plan shall be submitted to the buildings commissioner for his approval or rejection, and if approved, a permit shall be procured by the person desiring to erect such device.

(Prior code § 43-23; Amend Coun. J. 9-13-89, p. 4604)

13-32-285 Permit required – Approval of plans.

   Before any owner or agent shall proceed with the installation or alteration of any mechanical refrigeration system, such owner or agent shall obtain a permit for the work. No refrigeration system shall be installed, erected or maintained, nor shall any reconstruction of old apparatus or old systems for mechanical refrigeration or cooling purposes be undertaken, unless plans and specifications shall be filed in the department buildings and approved by the building commissioner. The plans and specifications shall show the kind and amount of refrigerant used. Upon approval of the plans, a duplicate set of which shall be left on file in the department of buildings, and the payment of the required fees, the building commissioner shall issue a permit for the installation of the apparatus.

(Added Coun. J. 7-9-03, p. 3609, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 11-13-07, p. 14999, Art. II, § 1)

13-32-290 Violation of building provisions – Revocation of permit – Reinstatement conditions.

   (a)   If the work in, upon, or about any building or structure shall be conducted in violation of any of the building provisions of this Code, it shall be the duty of the building commissioner to revoke the permit for the building or wrecking operations in connection with which such violation shall have taken place. It shall be unlawful, after the revocation of such permit, to proceed with such building or wrecking operations unless such permit shall first have been reinstated or re-issued by the building commissioner. Before a permit so revoked may be lawfully re-issued or reinstated, the entire building and building site shall first be put into condition corresponding with the requirements in the building provisions of this Code, and any work or material applied to the same in violation of any of the provisions shall be first removed from such building, and all material not in compliance with the building provisions of this Code shall be removed from the premises.

   (b)   Any city official who believes that a permit was issued in error shall notify the building commissioner, who shall review the application for permit, related plans and relevant portions of this Code to determine whether the permit was issued in error. If the building commissioner determines that a permit was in fact issued in error, he or she shall notify the permit holder of the error, revoke the permit and require the permit holder to revise the related application and plans to conform to the applicable provisions of this Code.

(Prior code § 43-24; Amend Coun. J. 9-13-89, p. 4604; Amend Coun. J. 12-4-02, p. 99026, § 2.11; Amend Coun. J. 11-13-07, p. 14999, Art. II, § 1)

ARTICLE II. PERMIT FEES (13-32-300 et seq.)

13-32-300 Payment to comptroller – When.

   (a)   (1)   Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection (a), fees for the issuance of permits required by this chapter shall be payable to the City of Chicago when such permits are issued.

      (2)   Fees for the issuance of permits under subsection (a) of Section 13-32-310 shall be payable as follows: A non-refundable fee of $300 for the issuance of permits required by this chapter shall be payable to the City of Chicago at the time of filing plans or drawings for review, to defray the cost of such review. The remainder of the applicable permit fee shall be payable to the City of Chicago when such permits are issued. Provided, however, that if the total fee for the issuance of permits under subsection (a) of Section 13-32-310 is under $300, the entire permit fee, which shall be non-refundable, shall be payable to the City of Chicago at the time of filing plans or drawings for review, to defray the cost of such review.

      (3)   Except as otherwise provided in section 13-32-301, no building permit shall be issued by the building commissioner, unless the department of buildings determines that the following fees have been paid to the City of Chicago: (1) all applicable permit fees required under this chapter; (2) all applicable zoning fees; and (3) the open space impact fee, if applicable.

   (b)   The building commissioner is authorized to require a deposit, payable to the City of Chicago, to schedule any appointment related to the submission of a permit application. The deposit shall be in a sum sufficient to defray the estimated costs of failing to attend a scheduled appointment as determined by the building commissioner, but under no circumstances shall exceed the cost of the permit sought. If the person requesting an appointment attends the appointment as scheduled, the deposit paid by that person pursuant to this subsection shall be credited toward the final permit fee. If the person requesting an appointment fails to attend the appointment as scheduled, (i) the deposit paid by that person pursuant to this subsection shall be forfeited to the City of Chicago, unless the scheduled appointment is cancelled 24 hours in advance of the scheduled appointment, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays; and (ii) no new appointment shall be scheduled unless another deposit is paid. The amount of the deposit required by this subsection shall be $150.00.

   (c)   The commissioner of the mayor's office for people with disabilities is authorized to establish and maintain a program, whereby applicants for a building permit may, on a voluntary basis, submit preliminary plans to the mayor's office for people with disabilities for review, corrections and technical assistance regarding compliance with Chapter 18-11 of the Code. The fee for review pursuant to such program shall be $150.00 for the first hour of review, and $100.00 for each hour, or fraction thereof, thereafter. The $150.00 base fee shall be payable at the time the review is requested as a non-refundable deposit, subject to the forfeiture and cancellation provisions set forth in subsection (b) of this section. Any additional fee shall be assessed and payable upon the conclusion of the review.

   (d)   If, after a permit application is submitted for a project, the owner of record identified in such application seeks to make a design change to the plans accompanying such application and such design change requires plan examiners to reconsider and reanalyze the project's building systems as if the project was newly submitted, the existing permit application shall be deemed to be void, and a new permit application for the project, accompanied by payment of the non-refundable fee required under subsection (a)(2) of this section, shall be required for the project identified in such new application. Provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to any change to plans required as the result of a code correction comment made by a plan examiner designated by the department to review such plans for compliance with the requirements of the Chicago Building Code.

   (e)   If the project identified in a building permit application is for phased construction of a full foundation only (i.e. a foundation-only project), one structural design change to such foundation will be allowed per permit application without penalty to the applicant. If more than one structural design change to the foundation is made by the applicant, the permit application for such project shall be deemed to be void and a new application for such project, accompanied by payment of the non-refundable fee required under subsection (a)(2) of this section, shall be required.

(Prior code § 43-25; Amend Coun. J. 12-15-93, p. 43919; Amend Coun. J. 12-12-01, p. 75777, § 7.2; Amend Coun. J. 12-15-04, p. 39840, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-15-06, p. 93239, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-12-07, p. 17167, § 39; Amend Coun. J. 6-3-09, p. 63891, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. I, § 10; Amend Coun. J. 10-28-15, p. 12062, Art. VIII, § 2)

13-32-301 Permit fee waiver – When.

   (a)   Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of this section, the building commissioner shall not waive for any person any permit fee required under this chapter or any associated fee for any project identified in a building permit application.

   (b)   If the applicant for a permit is a natural person 65 years of age or older, the building commissioner shall waive the permit fee(s) required under this chapter and any associated fee for the project identified in the permit application, if all of the following additional requirements are met: (1) the permit being sought is for alterations, repairs or replacements to a dwelling unit(s) located in an existing building comprising three dwelling units or less; and (2) the permit applicant owns and has owned for a period of not less than ten years the building identified in the permit application; and (3) the permit applicant occupies and has occupied for a period of not less than ten years one of the dwelling units located in the building identified in the permit application; and (4) the permit applicant's household income does not exceed 80 percent of the Chicago area median family income as calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

   (c)   If the project identified in a building permit application has been certified by the City of Chicago's department of buildings as qualifying for the Chicago Green Permit Program and the permit being sought is for new construction or for alterations, additions, renovations or repairs to an existing building, the building commissioner shall waive for such project the permit fee(s) required under this chapter and any applicable associated fee, up to a maximum of $25,000, as follows: For permit and associated fees of $5,000 or less, the entire permit fee shall be waived. For permit and associated fees over $5,000, one-half (1/2) of the fee shall be waived up to the maximum waiver of $25,000. If multiple permits under this chapter are issued for such project, the maximum waiver of $25,000 authorized by this subsection shall apply to the aggregate total of all permit fees and associated fees assessed for such project, and not to each individual permit or associated fee.

   (d)   If the project identified in a building permit application includes the construction or initial installation of a permanently applied vegetated roof system, the permit fee for the project shall be reduced in the amount of $.05 per square foot of vegetated area. This permit fee reduction shall not be used in conjunction with the permit fee waiver provided for in subsection (b) of this section.

   (e)   The building commissioner shall waive 20% of the permit fee(s) required under this chapter and any associated fee for the project identified in the permit application, if the applicant for such permit is (i) a public museum, if such public museum is eligible to receive funds for capital development under subdivision (7) of § 1-25 of the Department of Natural Resources Act, as amended, codified at 20 ILCS 801/1-1 et seq., or (ii) a not-for-profit hospital, if such hospital qualifies for a disproportionate share adjustment consistent with Section 148.120 of Subchapter d of Chapter I of Title 89 of the Illinois Administrative Code, as amended, codified at 89 Ill. Adm. Code § 148.120. Provided, however, that no fee waiver shall be provided to any public museum or disproportionate share hospital in connection with any monies owed by the City to any third party for any service provided to the City by such third party under the department of building's developer services program or any other program.

   (f)   The City of Chicago shall not be required to pay a permit fee to wreck a city-owned structure or any other building ordered by the City to be demolished. A contractor applying for a building permit for a city digital sign identified in a coordinated city digital sign program agreement entered into pursuant to Section 10-28-046, or identified in an amendment to such a program agreement approved by the city council, shall not be required to pay a permit fee.

   (g)   For purposes of this section, the term “associated fee” means any fee required for: (1) appearances before the Building Board of Appeals and the Committee on Standards and Tests; (2) preliminary plan review by the mayor's office for people with disabilities; (3) plan review by the office of underground coordination; (4) driveway permits; (5) permit fees under section 15-16-190 for the installation or alteration of a sprinkler system; (6) permit fees under section 15-16-740 for the installation or alteration of an inside standpipe system; and (7) all applicable flat fees identified in subsection (b) of section 13-32-310.

(Added Coun. J. 12-12-07, p. 17167, § 40; Amend Coun. J. 6-3-09, p. 63891, § 1; Amend Coun, J, 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. VIII, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 12-12-12, p. 44485, § 8)