To the editor:

The problem of costly building and zoning code violations could be easily avoided by a few simple corrections by the town of Tiverton.  

Because of inadequate requirements defining building inspector duties and responsibilities, inadequate wording of the building permit form, and inadequate wording of the town regulations governing construction and building permits, Tiverton is incurring numerous building permit and building inspection problems and spending excessive funds for lawyers’ fees.  

These problems cost Tiverton tens of thousands of dollars each year, reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars over several years.  These problems also result in problems and costs for Tiverton property owners.  Building and zoning violations could be reduced or eliminated by implementing the following Tiverton regulation changes, as described below.  

• Tiverton needs a town regulation that requires a copy of the property survey to be attached to any application for a building permit that alters the building footprint upon a property.  Since regulations require a specific setback and a specific minimum distance from each border of a property to any building upon a property, that requirement cannot be determined without a property survey, therefore supplying the need for the survey and the need for a regulation that demands a survey.  

• The building permit form must include a statement (to be signed by the property owner) indicating that the property owner acknowledges that he/she is aware that the property owner is responsible for the determination that the construction will not violate any Town of Tiverton or State of Rhode Island regulations or laws, and that the property owner shall not hold Tiverton or the State of Rhode Island responsible for any repercussions, legal or financial, that follow the issuance of a building permit or a certificate of occupancy.  

• Whenever a building permit application involves the expansion of the property building footprint, the building inspector's duties must be clearly stated in the Tiverton town regulations, so as to include: 

(1) Verification (by a check of the survey against the physical property) of the proper location of the survey markers by measurement from the survey markers to the building(s) on the survey; and 

(2) Verification of the distances between the marked building perimeter changes (by a check of the building permit against the physical property) and the relevant borders of a property — as verified by inspection and measurement according to the property survey and the building permit application, to be performed and documented prior to the actual start of any construction that alters the building footprint of a property.  

• If any of the above requirements increase the cost of the building inspector's duties, then the costs must be passed on to the cost of the building permit.  

Roger A. Bennis

Tiverton