(A) Investigation. Whenever any work for which a permit is required by this chapter has been commenced without first obtaining a permit or exceeds the scope of a valid permit, a special investigation shall be made before a permit may be issued for such work.
(B) Fee. In order to obtain a permit to commence work the following fees must be paid.
(1) Permit Fee. The appropriate permits shall be acquired and fees paid.
(2) Work Without a Permit Fee. In addition to the permit fee(s), a fee equal to the permit fee(s) shall be paid not to exceed four thousand dollars for residential construction and fifty thousand dollars for all other types of construction.
(3) Investigation Fee. An investigation fee shall be assessed at twice the hourly rate as fisted in Table 3-I of this chapter.
(4) The payment of these fees shall not exempt any person from compliance with all other provisions of this chapter and the technical codes nor from any penalty prescribed by law.
(C) Voluntary Disclosure. For voluntary disclosure of work without a permit, the building official may reduce the fees as follows:
(1) For voluntary disclosure which occurs within ninety days of the effective date of this ordinance or within ninety days of a certificate of occupancy or receiving ownership of the property, the building official may waive the fees in Section 22.02.360(B)(2).
Exception: R-3 occupancies and their accessory structures as defined in the building code are exempt from the ninety day limit.
(2) For all voluntary disclosures the building official may reduce the hourly rate charged in Section 22.02.360 (B)(3) to the hourly rate in Table 3-I of this chapter.
(3) For unpermitted work performed by a previous owner, the ninety-day period for voluntary disclosures under this subsection does not begin to run until the current owner knows, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have known that work has been performed without a permit in violation of this chapter. For this paragraph, an owner is deemed to have the same knowledge as its employees or contractors charged with the responsibility of performing the work at issue. (Ord. 3642 § 1, 2008: Ord. 3618 § 2 (part), 2008)