Elite Permits

I happen to live in Florida where we enjoy beautiful beaches and weather, however, a small price that we have to pay is to endure the occasional hurricane. I remember when I moved to Florida in May 2004, my husband told me “don’t worry about the hurricanes, I have been here for over 10 years and not even one has come through the city”. Lucky me! That year and the following year we had two major hurricanes which went through our backyard and did significant damage to our property.

In an emergency….look for the alternative exit! When I started working on building code compliance almost 15 years ago, I wasn’t aware of the multiple exits that are required for buildings, I just thought they were optional exits by the architect but they are there for a reason. Any space that can accommodate more than 50 people must have a secondary exit so people can go in different ways. This is nothing more than another safe way to get out of the space.

Moving to Florida? Beware of the 50% FEMA rule. With so many people moving to Florida, I think it is important for you to know what this 50% FEMA is all about. Many people may be looking to buy a new home or have big dreams to remodel their current home, only to find out that they are limited on what they can do.

Do I Need a Permit? This is THE question I get asked all the time, and 95% of the time the answer is, YES! As a former building department manager, I have found that most people don’t realize they need a permit because they are working within their own 4 walls…

Where do Building Codes come from? It is hard to believe that concern for construction standards are dated to almost 4,000 years ago. The oldest known written codes were developed between 1792-1750 BCE under the direction of King Hammurabi of Babylon.