If you build a shed bigger than 108 square feet in the city of Prince George you need a permit. This permit used to be around $100, however the city upped their fees a year ago and now the fee is $300.
Accompanying your fee you have to draw your own plans and write on it what sort of wood you are using for the trusses or rafters, the walls and the floor. You need to show what size door opening you will have, what you are putting on the roof: Shingles, or a tarp. I guess that depends on what part of the city you live in. You need to tell the city what is under the shed, clay, dirt, gravel concrete or Jimmy Hoffa. You also need a site plan. As in, where the main residence is located, where the shed will be, the distances from the property lines, which way the water will flow when the shed is flooded etc.
For a newbie it can be a daunting task and to be quite honest a pain in the arse. You supply these four pages to the city and wait a couple of days to see if they have approved the plans and any added changes they would like to see. There is also the possibility the city would take one peek at the plans that look like they were sketched by a three year old on meth and inform you that not only are you not allowed to build a shed but you should take some art classes as well.
If you were to assume that the city would have a standard form available for you to fill in the blanks as to what your shed would be built from and what the dimensions would be, then you must be under the influence of alcohol or some other recreational drug.
There is no such form, but if there were (making it a huge help for shed morons like me), it could be broken into the necessary parts. Foundation, floor, walls, openings and roof.
Then you could fill in the particulars under each heading.
What are the walls made from? What is the floor made from? Are you using engineered trusses or rafters, or are you building them yourself.
What is an engineered truss? What is a rafter?
I had no clue what to do so I went to the city and asked one building inspector what was expected in my plan. I was told, that I should just draw the plans, bring them into the planning department and they would look at them to approve or not approve.
There were no suggestions for a first-time shed builder about what would be good for the floor, or the walls or the roof for that matter. Whether it is better to nail or screw the wood together. Whether industrial Velcro is actually a better option to both nailing and screwing. There was no help with "if you are going to do this then you should consider this." There wasn't even a "listen pal, if you haven't built a shed before, and you have no idea what you are doing, I would go home, have a warm bath with a couple of beer and seriously contemplate your sanity."
There was nothing. Just fly by the seat of your pants.
They were very convincing though, so I gladly handed over my $300 and went to art class.
A few days later I got my childish drawings back from the city, thankfully with only a couple of minor alterations, although I had to look up what the hell they were 'cos I had no idea.
There were only three stipulations on the plans. I had to get the shed to where the framing was finished for the first inspection.
I had to have the shed inspected when it was finished, and if I made any alterations like adding gun turrets or a draw bridge I had to let the city know so they could approve them. But honestly, who wouldn't approve gun turrets and a draw bridge?
Next Week: Part three - Bent wood and certainly no tadaa
