Is the Contractor Really the Agent?
I had a wonderful trip to Colorado recently teaching Advanced Legal Aspects for Building Officials (and my husband and I took some time to go sightseeing). One of the building official’s told me that in the area he was from, roofing contractors had swarmed through a neighborhood hit by a tornado. The contractors wrote down the addresses of the homes that obviously needed repairs because of the storm. The contractors then went to city hall and pulled permits without the knowledge of the homeowners. The contractors would go the owners saying they were ready to begin work and had the permit in hand. If the owners refused to allow them to do the work, the contractors would try to get their money back from city hall. It’s important to remember that a permit is given to a contractor because he or she is the agent for the owner of the property. The local jurisdiction can an
d should require proof of that agency to avoid this type of outrageous behavior. This can be achieved by having the owner sign the permit in addition to the contractor or by requiring a copy of a signed contract as part of the permit application.
