The power of the permit
What COVID-19 did to tangle the supply chain for building supplies has had lasting effects. If you’re a DIYer, you know the cost of a two-by-four isn’t what it used to be.
If you’re not a DIYer, you’ve probably also learned that some home improvement projects have gotten out of reach.
It’s natural to want to get the most bang for your buck, but there are lessons to be learned from doing things on the cheap. The first is poor quality workmanship; the second is outright fraud.
As the old saw goes, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.
We wrote this week about the city of Prospect Heights fighting back against unscrupulous paving contractors who have targeted the town.
City officials and the Better Business Bureau are warning suburbanites to do their homework on the people who purport to do paving work. In some cases, the “contractor” gets money up front but never does the work. In other cases the “contractor” makes a mess of things that are costly for the homeowner to have corrected.
Dan Peterson, who is the director of building and development in Prospect Heights, told us the same crew of scammers from fictitious companies have been targeting his town. It’s not just older people, who tend to be more trusting, who fall prey to scammers but people who get a knock on the door with the promise of a cheap fix because a contractor is doing a lot of work in the neighborhood.
Other suburban building officials have told Peterson the same scams are occurring in Arlington Heights, Palatine, Hanover Park, Glenview, Round Lake Beach, Streamwood and Crystal Lake.
Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois, said it’s up to us to do some research. “We’re still too trusting,” he said. “That’s a big part of it. And people never think it’s going to happen to them.”
Scammers are more sophisticated these days, sometimes with official-looking logos on trucks and professional-looking representatives.
What’s important to note here is that if you’re getting your driveway repaved, you’re required to apply for a permit from your municipality. Many people see the added cost of doing that and roll the dice.
But a permit isn’t a punitive thing. It’s an insurance policy of sorts. The building inspector who checks out the work done on your driveway is doing that for your benefit. Building departments, which you fund through property taxes as well as permit fees, have a pretty good idea which contractors are real, which are bad and which exist only in someone’s imagination. Take advantage of their expertise.
If you’re found to have had work done without a permit, you could be ticketed.
Meanwhile, check out any prospective contractors on the Better Business Bureau’s website, BBB.org. If you want to find out what kinds of scams are out there, go to BBB.org/scamtracker.
You’ll be glad you did.