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Plumbing permits are not required for the clearing of plumbing stoppages,provided the work does not <br /> involve or require the replacement or rearrangement of valves,pipes, or fixtures. <br /> Should equipment replacement or repairs need to be performed in a urgent situation, a permit <br /> application can be submitted to the building official the next business day. <br /> Application for permits is not required for ordinary repairs to a structure. The repairs shall not <br /> however, include the cutting away of any wall,partition, or portion of a wall or partition,the removal <br /> or cutting of any structural beam or load bearing support, or the removal or change of any required <br /> means of egress, or rearrangement of parts of a structure affecting the egress requirements; nor shall <br /> ordinary repairs include addition to, alteration of, replacement, or relocation of any standpipe,water <br /> supply, sewer, drainage, drain leader, gas, soil, waste, vent or similar piping, electric wiring, or <br /> mechanical or other work affecting public health or general safety. <br /> PLAN REVIEW <br /> i <br /> On the surface, many believe that code enforcement is simply going to a construction site and <br /> inspecting construction activity in progress. If building code violations are found, orders are written <br /> and corrective action required. Simple as it sounds,this kind of code enforcement alone would <br /> actually add cost to most projects and serve the public interest poorly. In contrast,the idea of"plan <br /> review"is characterized by the building official's ability to address code issues ahead of time,thereby <br /> providing a cost savings to the owner through a more effective construction schedule and the cost <br /> savings that might otherwise be used by making required on-site corrections. Plan review can also <br /> serve to promote a positive and more open form of communication between the building official and <br /> their customers. <br /> Plan review takes time. It can range anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or two on most of the <br /> smaller residential types of projects. It can however, also take upwards of 20 to 40 hours per project <br /> on those larger commercial, industrial, or institutional types of projects. There may also be added time <br /> resulting from required changes or correspondence exchanges between the building official and a <br /> designer or building owner. In terms of the complexity of a project,the building official may even opt <br /> to contract out a portion or even all of the plan review to a third party. For some types of projects, <br /> construction plan review may need to be handled by a state or federal agency beforehand too. <br /> Examples of this may include public school district projects in excess of$100,000,hospitals or nursing <br /> homes projects, and other state owned or state licensed facility projects. In some cases, state and/or <br /> federal laws may mandate other governmental agency review in addition to any local government <br /> review procedure. An example of this would be those commercial and/or multi-family dwelling <br /> projects. Their plumbing plans must all be reviewed and approved by the Minnesota CCLD— <br /> Plumbing Code Unit before a plumbing permit can be issued. Because of the time and complexities <br /> involved with plan review, a municipality may elect to collect plan review fees in addition to the actual <br /> building permit fee. <br /> 12 <br />