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My city is getting very greedy

visual800

visual800

Active Member
Had a broker company ask me to survey and do signs for a small medical complex all I had to do was place new decals on everything, no brainer

1 sign by road 1 sign on building and door lettering. Not big at all. I gave them a price for redoing all this and they said they would send decals and get it done. I went out, did the job and sent pics. The broker then said I needed permits to show to get paid.
I said the work is done what does the permits matter?

So I contacted city and told them about the job sent layouts to them via email and they called me. I told them I was installing decals that were sent to me so my install price should have been the ONLY monetary figure they should have been concerned with....OH NO, they wanted to know the PRICE of the decals to make me pay on the permit. I was pissed, this is why I dont like permits and to top it off it tokl the city 1.5 weeks to issue this permit (for work already done, because I knew they would not go check it out, its all about money not about inspection.

Getting permits on small work is nothing but a PITA and waste of money and time, i fpermit really mattered they would go out and check whats going on
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
I filed 1000s of permits all over the country and most of them want the job total. Sometimes it effects the price, most of the time not... (I assume when it doesn't it's for property tax purposes) 1.5 weeks isn't bad for turnaround. Charge them $300 for handling it plus costs... it's extra $$ for you doing a little paperwork.
 
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
I stopped doing permits, it became a huge waste of time. The last one I did caused me to lose a customer, it took something like 2 1/2 months to get permits approved for two frickin' wall signs and the permit fees ended up being twice as much as they initially stated. Customer was pissed and took it out on me.

I'm in a small town under 10,000 population. You'd think it would be a simple process but they farm out permit apps to various surveyors in the county for review, so they likely end up at the bottom of the pile.
 
2B

2B

Active Member
Agreed,

We recently had a project that was going to cost MORE for the permits than the sign and labor
$100 just to FILE for a permit application..........

www.signs101.com

Refacing polycarbonate lightbox sign - pull permits?

I've owned a little commercial sign company for 15 years, but I've always focused on small cut decals and inkjet signs, decals, banners etc. My sister recently bought her own business and I need to help her reface her sign. Since I've never taken on a job like this before I have no idea what...
www.signs101.com www.signs101.com
 
JBurton

JBurton

Signtologist
In AR, there is a state trade fee added to sign permits. .05% So you sell a $10k sign, you pay... $5. So you have more cost associated with balancing the books at the end of the year than revenue generated by the fee. In our city, the permit is $35, then add the trade fee, and it's nearly always under $40.
 
B

bcxprint420

Sign & Banner Xpress
Permits are just like getting registered as a contractor. Nothing to donwith safety everything to do with money and tax revenue for the city and state. Ask yourself why am i asking permission to a paper pusher who is clueless about real things like sign substrates etc? We are adults in the business and have gone out sold a job and the last thing im going to do is ask permission to do my job. They give us the rules online, as long as i follow the rules like any mature adult, then leave me the f alone. Freedom never included asking permission to people who we pay their salary for and i never fall in line like a dam sheep. There is no sign trade test just a business test to make sure you know where to pay your employee tax and income and sales tax to. Give me a break.
 
bijutoha

bijutoha

New Member
While it's easy to see the permit process as simply bureaucratic red tape, it's important to remember that permits serve a purpose. They ensure that work is done to code, which helps protect the public's safety. In the case of signage, proper permits can help to ensure that the signs are legible, properly installed, and do not create any safety hazards.
 
N

netsol

Active Member
Many areas have gone permit crazy

Years ago, a town near us told a client that a business needed a permit AND AN ELECTRICIAN to install a mandated smoke detector (the kind you put a 9 volt battery in and double face tape to the ceiling.)
 
visual800

visual800

Active Member
bijutoha said:
While it's easy to see the permit process as simply bureaucratic red tape, it's important to remember that permits serve a purpose. They ensure that work is done to code, which helps protect the public's safety. In the case of signage, proper permits can help to ensure that the signs are legible, properly installed, and do not create any safety hazards.
Click to expand...

thats not the case when they dont go out before or after an install....thats how you realize its just a money grab
 
dasigndr

dasigndr

Premium Subscriber
I operate in Sudbury, Ontario and the permits here are absolutely ridiculous as well.

customer wants to install a simple 4ft X 4ft Alupanel sign and then they have to pay approx. $3000 in permits! (that includes my fees as well because I hate doing this but it is a lot of time and designs required to appease these stupid law makers.) In the end it is the poor client who suffers and has to pay all these absorbent fees.
 
B

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
Many city governments are indeed using permits as a revenue generating source. I don't mind them all that much if the paperwork is simple and the fees aren't outrageous.

In some cases city governments are using the permitting process as a means of pushing an anti-signs agenda. The idea is making the paperwork so complicated that few, if any, sign companies would want to mess with it. They give up. The customer doesn't get the kind of sign he wants installed. Of course the city is going to make the permit fee structure onerous too.
 
Medina Signs

Medina Signs

Old Member
I don't know the laws in each state, but in Ohio, the requirement to obtain permits in the * responsibility of the property owner/lessee. I don't enjoy getting permits, but I have formed a habit of doing the permit research before quoting as every locale has different code. It slows down the process to do the research but I don't end up paying for them.

* had a case once where the owner refused to pull permits or have me pull permits and when confronted by the local Zoning board 2 months after the install, I told them that he said " he would take care of the permits" I simply reminded them of the fact that the permits were his responsibility and nothing more was mentioned.

But do your research before quoting - it helps.
 
AndersHerp

AndersHerp

Something, something Dark Side
That sounds like a pretty easy permit to get. We have a contract with Walmart, and they are requiring permits at the beginning of each project. I don't even know how many small towns I've had to get licensed in, just to pull permits. I get the week and half is a bit excessive, considering the work was done, but at least they didn't fine you or multiply the cost. Small town in Oklahoma tripled our permit fees for not paying them and finalizing the permits before we did the sign work.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Thing is, how many of us complaining have the proper insurance for each and every job ?? I know for a fact, there have been countless threads on how to this or that and these people don't know diddly and still put the sign up. Permits serve 2 major areas.

1) make sure the whole job is totally legal and people have ampe and proper insurances
2) make sure you're not putting a porn shop sign up next door to an elementary school Ya wanna make sure the sign meets the codes in all respects.
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
bijutoha said:
While it's easy to see the permit process as simply bureaucratic red tape, it's important to remember that permits serve a purpose. They ensure that work is done to code, which helps protect the public's safety. In the case of signage, proper permits can help to ensure that the signs are legible, properly installed, and do not create any safety hazards.
Click to expand...
Yeah, a lot of people injured or dying because of signs.
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
This is the sort of thing that I avoid by having nothing to do with permits. I make signs, I don't do bureaucracy. If the client needs a permit, he can get one. My lack of interest approaches total.
 
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