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Health & Fitness

How To Kill Good Residential Building and Remodeling in Creve Coeur

Bringing the Creve Coeur Building Department into the 21st Century

At last night's Council Meeting the Creve Coeur Building Department asked the Council to approve three new ordinances: 1) To amend and adopt the 2009 International Building Code as the City's New Building Code for Commercial Structures; 2) to Adopt the 2009 International Energy conservation Code As The City's New Energy Conservation Code; and 3) To Amend and Adopt the 2009 International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings as the City's new Residential Building Code.

The St. Louis Home Builders Association submitted 60 repeat 60 suggested changes which they believed would make construction of homes in Creve Coeur less difficult and expensive without sacrificing safety.

EVERY ONE OF THEIR SUGGESTIONS WAS DENIED!

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Fortunately, David Kreuter, Ward I was wise enough to suggest and achieve a positive Council vote to delay the approval vote for another two weeks to allow for further discussion on the code amendments between the City and the HBA.I am not a member of the HBA but have been in years past when I was operating an active contracting business in St. Louis and know the organization to be one of the best and respected in the Region if not the Country.The current codes as amended by the CC Building Department would result in the most restrictive building codes in the area according to one developer, and ask yourself. "Why would I build homes in Creve Coeur when I can build homes in adjacent cities with less hassle and lower cost?" The answer is obvious.

To make matters worse, The Building Department utilizes the St. Louis County Inspection Department to perform all of the Mechanical, Plumbing and electrical Inspections for new construction and Remodeling.So, If you want to remodel your kitchen and bathroom, you have to get a permit from Creve Coeur for the building (And fire inspection in Monarch district) and from the county either in Clayton or Clarkson Road Office to get a permit for each of the other utilities. That means you have to schedule up to 4 separate rough inspections and up to 4 final inspections (provided you have no infractions requiring re-inspections on any area). The Building Department is also giving up up between $150,000 to $200,000 per year in permit fees to the the County.The State law allows the City to hire qualified and state certified private inspectors who could operate out of the Creve Coeur Building Office eliminating much of the hassle and probably saving some money as well or the Building Department could hire inspectors have them state trained and certified. Apparently, the present inspectors are not competent enough to be trained and certified in any additional building codes. ( I do not really believe this)The inspectors are smart enough to be trained to do apartment inspections, fire inspections and energy  (solar) inspections and the building department wants to do residential inspections at time of sale. Not on your life with this Building Department!!!Nope.

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Not this Building Department, indeed. The present policy promotes an incentive for citizens not to take out permits and go around the entire system. This provides an ideal climate for the "Pick-up truck contractor" to operate in Creve Coeur. How many neighbors do you know that are doing bathrooms, kitchens and family rooms with out permits?

Additionally, the inspectors still drive their own unmarked personal cars on calls.So, if you see a stranger coming up your driveway from a private car, don't be alarmed it is probably just one of the Creve Coeur Building Inspectors checking out the neighborhood for un-permited remodeling jobs.The operative synonyms for customer service in this department bring to mind: Stubborn, Obstructive, Refusal to change and This is the way we have always done it!!

Mr. Mayor, as an Architect and Premier Residential Builder in Creve Coeur, you know how to fix this.

SO NOW IS THE TIME TO FIX IT!

FIX IT!!

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