I’m holding a building permit in my hand!

This is the latest in my posts about building a new show building. Click here to go to the beginning of the story.

After straightening out the issue of the Scenic Highway and Railroad Code, I was required to sign a host of documents sent by the county planner. These included notes about proper removal of construction waste from the property, inspection responsibilities, and acknowledgements about workers’ compensation insurance coverage. I signed, initialed, and returned the documents, and then I heard nothing for a few days.

This is not at all what a building permit looks like. They are 8.5 x 11 white paper with the words “CONSTRUCTION PERMIT” printed across the top. This one is more impressive!

When I asked about the status of the permit I received a prompt reply that my permit was approved and ready for download. Really? Seriously? I went to the County’s contractor portal, and as promised, the permit and several associated documents were there, ready for me to download. I did it quickly, paranoid that they would rescind them again, and require me to prove that my building is not visible from the Moon.

The master drawing set is now “stamped” with construction approval notices in red on every page. All of these transactions have been done digitally so far. I have not (until today) committed anything to print, which has saved me an immense amount of time, paper and ink. My drawings, and all of the drawings submitted by the various engineering firms, soils engineers, and strucural consultants, have been electronic.

The first page of the document is dated on the original application date: February 14, 2024.

Today, in honor of the approval of my application, I started printing the final drawings for the contractors to use in construction. I have 38 pages of primary drawings – structural, design, electrical, topographic, grading, and more. These are currently printing on my wide-format Epson printer. I bought two rolls of engineering paper (plain paper) to use for this. I’m printing at low resolution (720 ppi), and it’s going quite quickly.

This is my Epson printer printing pages for the contractors to use when building my new shop!

My printer software is treating it as one big job – 76 feet in length. I will have to cut the individual pages and then bind them for the builders. I will use copper grommets, set with a hammer, to hold these large (24 x 36 inch) pages along the short dimension.

This is getting exciting! I have a few tasks to complete before the grading is started. I need to revive my time-lapse camera and its weatherproof box, and then set it up on the hillside to photograph everything that happens from cutting into the hillside to erecting the building and having an open house party!

This will be fun. Stay tuned for progress reports. I’m sure it will be months before I can show you a photo of the finished building.

About Brian Lawler

Brian Lawler is an Emeritus Professor of Graphic Communication at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and was a Guest Professor at Hochschule München from September, 2021 to September, 2022. He writes about graphic arts processes and technologies for various industry publications, and on his blog, The Blognosticator.
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