A citizen filed a complaint alleging that the City of Stockton is not pursuing making all contractors obtain building permits, and that inspectors are inspecting work of contractors that they have hired for work on their personal property.
1.
Part
III, Section 13.301 of the Stockton Municipal Code requires building permits
for each building, structure, repair, demolition or alteration to buildings,
with some exceptions.
2.
The
Building and Professions code requires that a contractor be licensed to build,
repair, demolish or alter any building.
3.
Contractors
are required to be aware of building permit requirements.
4.
The
Citizen alleges, and the Grand Jury confirmed, that some work that requires a
permit is being completed within the City of Stockton without proper permits.
5.
The
City of Stockton has an aggressive program to require that contractors obtain
required permits. This program includes
an investigation fee equal to nine (9) times the original permit fee to a
maximum of $1,000, if a permit is not obtained.
6.
The
City of Stockton imposed said fee 45 times for a total of $19,603.52 collected
in penalties for 1999.
7.
The
City of Stockton has a limited public education program for property owners to
make them aware of the requirement for permits.
8.
The
City of Stockton has no policy regarding inspectors inspecting a contractor’s
work on other sites, even though the contractor is working on the inspector’s
property.
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·
Met
with City of Stockton Community Development Department, Building Division and
City Attorney staff members.
·
Reviewed
appropriate City of Stockton code sections regarding building permits
·
Reviewed
public information flier (the Building Division).
·
Reviewed
summary of records of building permits issued in 1999.
·
Reviewed
summary of penalties imposed for building without proper permit.
1.
The
Grand Jury is satisfied that the City of Stockton has a satisfactory program to
notify contractors of need for building permits.
2.
The
Grand Jury is satisfied that the City of Stockton adequately pursues
contractors working without proper permits.
3.
The
Grand Jury finds that the Public Education Program is inadequate and does not
adequately notify property owners of building permit requirements.
4.
The
Grand Jury finds that there should be a policy that inspectors not inspect work
being performed by a contractor doing work on an inspector’s property.
1.
The
City of Stockton develop a Public Education – Outreach program to educate
property owners of the need for permits.
This should be monitored annually and could include news articles and
attendance at trade shows like Home Improvement or Garden shows.
2.
The
City Website should include information relative to Building Permit
requirements.
3.
The
City Hall at the Mall should prominently display posters and information about
the need for building permits.
4.
The
City of Stockton should develop and enforce a policy that removes any
appearance of conflict of interest when the City is inspecting a contractor’s
work, including the requirement that the inspector not inspect work of a
contractor who is currently doing work on the inspector’s personal property.
Pursuant to Sections 933.05
of the Penal Code:
1.
The
City Manager of the City of Stockton (respondent) shall report to the Presiding
Judge of the San Joaquin County Superior Court, in writing and within 90 days
of the publication of this Report. That
statute requires that as to each finding in the report, the response
indicate one of the following:
a.
The
respondent agrees with the finding.
b.
The
respondent disagrees with the finding with an explanation of the reasons
therefore.
Section 933.05 also requires as to each recommendation,
the response indicate one of the following:
a.
The
recommendation has been implemented, with a summary of the action taken.
b.
The
recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be, with a timeframe for
implementation.
c.
The
recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation of the scope of
the analysis and a timeframe not to exceed 6 months.
d.
The
recommendation will not be implemented, with an explanation therefore.