Residential building permit in Moses Lake, Washington

When you need this permit

• >>> MOSES LAKE ADOPTS NO MODEL CODE AND NO WAC CHAPTER. IT ADOPTS APPENDICES. MLMC 16.02.020 opens: “Pursuant to Chapters 19.27 and 35.21 RCW the state building code is established. Effective July 1, 2004, the following appendixes to the state building code are adopted for use within the city”. The base code is not adopted by the city at all — it arrives by operation of state statute, and the ordinance only picks up the appendices the state leaves optional. SO THERE IS NO EDITION YEAR AND NO EDITION PHRASE IN THE BASE ADOPTION, BECAUSE THERE IS NO BASE ADOPTION. Des Moines adopts the WAC chapters themselves, which is already a step removed from naming a model code; Moses Lake does not even do that. The audit rule keys on the absence of a year, and here there is not even a sentence for a year to be absent from. A YEAR-CONTEXT TRAP SITS IN THE SAME SENTENCE: “Effective July 1, 2004” is the date the appendix adoptions took effect, not an edition. THE SUPPLEMENTARY CODES DO CARRY AN EDITION PHRASE, AND IT IS ONE ALREADY SEEN: MLMC 16.02.020(D) adopts the Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, the Uniform Housing Code and the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, each at “most current edition” — the same wording SeaTac and Pullman use, now a third and fourth city on that phrase.
• THE APPENDICES ARE THE WHOLE OF THE LOCAL ADOPTION, SO THEY ARE WHERE THE LOCAL RULES LIVE. MLMC 16.02.020 adopts, from the IBC: Appendix C (Agricultural Buildings), Appendix I (Patio Covers) and Appendix J (Grading); and from the IRC: Appendix AH (Patio Covers) and Appendix AQ (Tiny Houses). >>> APPENDIX J IS ADOPTED CONDITIONALLY, WHICH IS NEW IN THIS SET. It applies only “when: a. Grading involves more than five hundred (500) cubic yards, and/or b. Regulated by either Chapter 19.03 or 19.06, and/or c. Regulated by City of Moses Lake Shorelines Management Master Plan.” Every other city in this series adopts a grading appendix outright or not at all.
• THE PERMIT EXEMPTIONS ARE AMENDED AWAY FROM AREA AND TOWARDS COUNT, USE AND PROPORTION — NOT ONE OF THEM IS A SQUARE-FOOTAGE THRESHOLD. MLMC 16.02.050 amends the state building code: (B) 105.2(1) of the IBC and IRC becomes “One-story detached accessory structures, provided that only one (1) may be placed on a lot without a permit.” NO FLOOR AREA LIMIT AT ALL — the test is how many are already on the lot. Every other city in this set uses 120 or 200 square feet. (C) sidewalks, decks and driveways exempt when “not more than thirty inches (30″) (762mm) above grade and not over any basement or story below and which are not part of an accessible route”. (D) a new IRC 105.2(11): “Reroofing a single family dwelling or private garage, provided that no more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the existing roof sheathing is being replaced.” (E) a new IRC 105.2(12) and IBC 105.2(14): “Replacing siding over existing siding or exterior sheathing.” Also not adopted: IBC 105.1.1 and 105.1.2, and Section 105.3 of both the IBC and the IRC.
• REROOFING IS EXEMPT HERE AND PRICED ELSEWHERE, WHICH IS THE SHARPEST CITY-TO-CITY CONTRAST IN THIS SET ON ONE JOB TYPE. Moses Lake exempts a reroof of a single family dwelling or private garage outright unless more than 25% of the roof sheathing is replaced (new IRC 105.2(11)). Walla Walla requires a permit for the same work and computes the fee from a deemed valuation of $200.00 per square where the old roof is torn off. Neither is a default; both are published.
• POLE BUILDINGS ARE PROHIBITED OUTRIGHT, NOT REGULATED. MLMC 16.02.080: a “pole building” is “a wood frame structure which is built using post and beam construction without concrete footings or foundation”, and “No pole building as defined in subsection A of this section shall be constructed or erected in any area or zone of the City of Moses Lake.” A flat citywide ban rather than a standard to meet.
• MLMC 16.02.050(G) replaces IBC and IRC Section 108.3: “The determination of value or valuation under any of the provisions of this code shall be made by the building official. The value to be used in computing the building permit and building plan review fees shall be the total value of all const[ruction]…” — the remainder of that subsection is not reproduced here. Because the fee schedule is a council resolution that is not part of the code, the valuation rule is the only part of the fee calculation the code publishes.
• >>> MOSES LAKE IS THE FIRST CITY IN THIS SET TO PUBLISH WHO INSPECTS ELECTRICAL WORK, AND THE ANSWER IS NOT THE CITY. MLMC 16.65.010: “This chapter is enacted to establish the requirement for electrical inspections, performed by the Department of Labor and Industries, for all work that requires an electrical permit.” Every other Washington entry in this project leaves that question open; this one answers it in its own code. >>> AND THE STATE'S INSPECTION GATES THE CITY'S OWN MILESTONES, WHICH IS THE PART THAT STALLS PROJECTS. MLMC 16.65.030: “The applicant shall coordinate with the DL&I for the rough in electrical inspection. The city will not complete the framing inspection until the DL&I has approved the rough in electrical inspection. The DL&I approval will be evidenced by their signature on their job card.” And 16.65.040: the city “will not issue a certificate of occupancy until” the DL&I final electrical inspection is complete. TWO AGENCIES, ONE SEQUENCE, AND THE COORDINATION IS THE APPLICANT'S JOB.
• MLMC 16.02.045 is headed “Building Prior to Filing Final Plat” and 16.02.100 “Revocation of Business License”. Neither is summarised here.