Cost of Permit to install lighting Fixture

[push-stars.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know what it costs for a Permit from the City to install a ceiling fan?  Apparently, you are not allowed to pull an electrical permit and do this work yourself even if you are the homeowner. Instead, you have to hire a licensed electrician (who sends his assistant) to pull an electrical permit and to do the work. (which probably doesn't get inspected)...   I do know about how much the electrician fee is, but how much is the permit itself?

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[push-stars.livejournal.com]

We are in the process of taking over our entire two-family as our family is growing and we need the space. The tenants apartment had drop ceilings which we are removing ( along with other work like adding replacement windows and painting).

I wanted to find out which permits were needed for some of the work and they asked if I was doing any electrical or plumbing. I explained that I was taking out drop ceilings and would need to move some light fixtures but not doing any plumbing..When they told me that I would need a licensed electrician and a permit I was surprised. Since I was also thinking about doing some plumbing later.. I asked specifically what a homeowner could do in Somerville, if they could replace a ceiling fan or change a sink. They said I would need a permit and a licensed plumber\electrician for that.. ..

Perhaps I should convert my home back to a legal single family? They did not volunteer whether or not that would make a difference... Does anyone know what is required to do that? Would it make a difference? Would my taxes go down as well? I am wondering if 10 people called ISD and asked the same questions about electrical and plumbing permits if they would all get consistent answers?

I prefer doing a lot of this stuff myself, not just to save money but because the few times that I have called "Professionals" in emergency situations I had shoddy work done that I thought was going to be permitted \ inspected... It seems like the developers or licensed contractors don't have to get things inspected. We called PANN Home services several years ago when we had a leaking pipe over our tenants Bathroom. I knew their prices were high, but I wanted quality work done fast, We ended up getting some kid in training that had to call the master plumber on the phone to be directed on what to do. It was very long process they charged a lot of money. When sears told me I had to pay for permit to get a water heater installed I thought it would be done right, Instead there was no inspection and the water heater looked like the leaning tower of Pisa.. So what was the permit for?

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I've had similar experience with PANN: overpriced and not particularly good work and sending unqualified people out to the job (or shady ones who told me to decline the work then hire them separately). Sears just told me it would cost more to fix my stove than to replace it, which was annoying because it was only a striker not firing. (We opted for a 50cent box of matches). These days I only use plumbers/electricians who are sole-proprietors, or maybe in a group of up to 3 or maybe 4 max in a company.

As for converting from 2-to-1 family I'd say check w/ a real estate lawyer. Be careful with that one. If you have a mortgage, it might not be permitted in the terms of it because it might lower the re-sale value (makes it much harder to flip to condos). There are all kinds of rules that change depending on how many families the house is. Plus I'm pretty sure you can never change it back. We're figuring that some day we'll want to retire down to our first floor and rent the upper levels out when we get older. For us, we have to worry about the 2-fam to 3-fam distinction, because at 3-fam there are new laws regarding sprinklers

If it's a two family there are a lot of energy loans as such that at per unit, but you can get in trouble if you falsely declare multi-family.

By the way, if you get shoddy work done, you can complain to inspectional services and might get the license pulled. PANN definitely is in need of having some inspectors come down on their asses.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Wait a sec. You called to ask which permits were necessary and didn't ask how much they cost when they told you what was needed? And then you posted to LJ to ask instead of calling back?

Was this really a question to the community, or just a complaint masquerading as a question?

[push-stars.livejournal.com]

I called back, I also called 311 about converting my home and they told me that I would have to talk to zoning and planning but that everyone had gone home already. This was before I left work on Friday. My electrician estimated the cost of permits for some work which includes light fixtures. Looking forward I wanted to know what to expect if I need a permit for one fixture or sink, what the costs were, whether other people have had experience with this, etc.. . I am interested to know how others do this sort of thing, and what kind of experiences they have had. I would be lying if I did not say that I was frustrated with the process so you could say that is a question and complain and a discussion. No masquerading needed.