city business license

[PLUMBER RICK]

this week i needed to get a plumbing permit in 2 different cities.
beverly hills, and burbank calif.

both cities having a much smaller building and safety department than los angeles, it streamlined the whole permit process.

first was beverly hills. i needed a permit to run a natural gas line for a new 100 k.w. generator. the counter person at first was confused to the need for natural gas, but then checked with an inspector and all was resolved.

the nice thing with beverly hills, unlike los angeles is that the whole process happened at the same window, with the same person from start to finish.

even the city business license was figured into the cost of the permit.

los angeles requires you to get a number, wait till it's called, have all the paperwork properly filled out. have a copy of your business license. once they see it's all there, you wait till they call your # again and pick up the permit. then you need to wait in the next line to pay for the permit.

the city business license is paid for a year in advance based on estimated work done in the city, outside of the city and payroll. then you need to make adjustments the following year to balance the totals. almost like a tax return:eek:

why can't the city of los angeles learn something from their smaller brother to the north:confused:

burbank did. when i went this week to get a permit for 4 backflow preventers. it was streamlined like beverly hills. i commented to the counter person that it's like beverly hills. they smiled and told me that they copied their forms and process:D

in and out with permit and business lic. in under 20 minutes. plus free parking.

maybe los angeles has something to learn from these 2 smaller cities:confused:

rick.

[plumbdog10]

The City of Los Angeles was always the worst. Sounds like it still is.

Although,

Last year I needed a permit to relocate and replace an 8" detector check valve on a fire line from a pit on city property to an above ground installation on the customer's property about 12' away. This was in a moderate size city in Orange county.

I spent weeks off and on try to get a permit. Why?

Because it was a fire line the Fire Department was involved.
Because the pit was on city property the Public Works Department was involved.
Because the new valve was on private property the Building Department was involved.
Because the street valve would have to be shut off the Water Department was involved.

Of course most of these departments are in different locations and have absolutly no communication with each other. I bounced from department to department as I was told "We can't issue anything until so and so signs off on it." I made a complete circle of the departments.

End result. The job took about 40 man hours of labor, and about 60 man hours of preperation. Good thing my employer bid the job on T&M.

[PLUMBER RICK]

forget what i said about the city of beverly hills being a pleasure to deal with:eek:

the permit process and business lic. was a breeze.

the inspection process was a joke.

there is no such thing as a 24 hour inspection request line. even though the permit says to call 24 hrs. a day.

basically you have a free for all at 8:00 am. you call the #, get a busy signal and by the time you get through (8:15am) they are all full for the next day.

you can't be put on the list for the next avaliable day. they don't even want you to call and talk to a real person. so basically you have to try the next day and start the whole process over again.

so to make a long story short, I PASSED GAS TODAY:eek:

the electrician has tried for 4 days to get through to the inspector. he was on the job today and took advantage of my luck and passed too:D

took 4 tries for the electrician to call with no luck. i had to do it myself;)

rick.

ps. it's actually easier to get a golf tee time at the busiest public golf course in the city for a friday morning. i had to show the same electrician this trick too. now all i have to do is beat him:p