[Aggie67]

Kudos to the Colts Neck building, zoning, and health departments. I walked in there at 3:30 pm on a Thursday looking for a not so easy list of documents: well permit, well pump record, and as builts showing well and septic for a structure built 3 years ago. State was coming down hard on the property owner regarding his really shoddy paper trail on the site's well system (non-transient public water supply), and I was asked to help sort it out. No joke, the zoning official, the construction official, the health officer, and the clerk all started pouring through file cabinets and file boxes until I got the info.

I know there are stories out there of the towns causing grief for property owners. But no one ever posts about how good a job they do.

 

[concretemasonry]

I built a lake home in "indian country" (local slang for minimal inspection) in Minnesota - no code requirements except for electrical and sewage. They never asked to see the plans, but were adament about the electrical (power company requirement) and especially the septic because it was 100' from the lake.

I had a reputable contractor install the septic system. It took about 2 weeks because of the trees, excavation and fill. I saw it several times and noted the changes and progress and the contractors notes posted for the inspector on the progress. The hole for perk tests was left open for a few days for observation.

About 2 weeks after the completion, I got a certificate (with gold trim) from the county saying it complied and it described the described the tank size, perk tests, connection box/method, pipe diameters, length of the drain tile legs, protective covering, installation method, etc. - It was very impressive.

It was also worth more than the system cost when I ultimately sold the home and was able to prove it to the buyer. I have no idea how well it was inspected, but to an engineer, everything I saw was and good correct. I think the contractor and the inspection people had a long term respect for each other and tried to make everything as easy a possible for both because of the daily notes left from the contractor to the possible inspector.

 

[Green Giant]

Aggie67 that is awesome. It's amazing how some towns are extremely helpful, while others really don't care and see it as you bothering them when requesting information. I've dealt with a lot of towns in northern NJ, and there's some that even make a big deal/refuse to update you on that status of building permits. I understand that some towns are not as equipped as others with computer software, so they can easily note the progress, but when its over 10 days to get permit for simple direct replacement bathroom, they should have answers.