BajaNomad

Closing Out a Building Permit

RnR - 12-13-2013 at 10:03 AM

For the La Paz permit office -

1. What's involved in closing out a building permit?

2. The original engineer (DRO - engineer of record) is a "no show" and at this point can not be found. If the engineer has to sign off on the completion .....?

3. Can I do it myself? I'm fluent in Spanish.

4. The permit expired about two years ago. The house is finally done. Now ready to receive an official "occupancy permit", (or whatever it's called).

5. How does this differ from "manifesting" a property?

Any help, insight, or past experiences would be appreciated.

CortezBlue - 12-13-2013 at 10:30 AM

Hmmm
Funny you should ask.

So you said, Building Permit, my issue was for Social Security.

My issue was for a new home construction in San Felipe. When I built the home I wanted to have the shell done and I would finish the inside. Because the builder wouldn't do that for me, I reduced the price from $180k to $120K four our 1800 sf house and 2 car garage. Besides, I knew they would never finish it anyway.

A few months later, while the house was further along than I had expected, the builder told me he need more money. He thought I had already paid him the $120K, but in fact, I had only paid $110K.

I told them that I would finish it. Over the course of several months, while working on the house on long weekends and have some local workers do some of the project, I came down for the weekend to find a BIG official nasty looking official letter from the Mexican Govt.

I had a Mexican friend read it. It basically said that I owed money for Social Security. It was nearly $2800 dollars.

So, I found out there was an office in Mexicali, I didn't know I could have went to a similar office in San Felipe.

None the less, my wife and I stopped in Mexicali on the way home and found the ISS office. We found someone who spoke English that helped us find the correct person to speak with. The person that helped us staid to translate for us.

During the process the agent pulled up our paper work on line and started asking us questions. How big was the house, what materials was it made from, when did we start etc, etc, etc.

The agent asked us to bring a bunch of documents and photos in and made an appointment for a few weeks later.

When we went back a few weeks later we took all of the info in requested. Bottom line, when we were done, the total went from $2800 down to $800 dollars. The folks were very nice and they asked us if we felt we were dealt with fairly etc. We went to the bank and paid the fees and brought the documents back. WIthin a few weeks we were able to stop and get our Letter of Liberation, that is required to show that all taxes have been paid.

I hope this helps.

volcano - 12-13-2013 at 02:36 PM

in my case in the east cape area, retiring the permit was a required step in the manifesting process. u2u me if you would like...I'll dig out the documents and give you additional info.

RnR - 12-13-2013 at 03:24 PM

CortezB,

Thanks for the story.

I've heard some Social Security nightmares but your's seems to have turned out okay.

I was my own Contractor, hired my own workers, and paid all their Social Security myself. Even had an accountant run the payrolls and handle a few other details.

The workers built and finished the shell. I wired, plumbed, painted, and wood-worked. So, there are only SS payments for albanils and ayudantes. Nothing for electricians, plumbers, painters, or carpenters.

Hopefully, Social Security will go along with me. I have lots of photos of me doing the work and the masons are willing to vouch for my work.

Any more thoughts?

bajajudy - 12-13-2013 at 03:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RnR
CortezB,

Thanks for the story.

I've heard some Social Security nightmares but your's seems to have turned out okay.

I was my own Contractor, hired my own workers, and paid all their Social Security myself. Even had an accountant run the payrolls and handle a few other details.

The workers built and finished the shell. I wired, plumbed, painted, and wood-worked. So, there are only SS payments for albanils and ayudantes. Nothing for electricians, plumbers, painters, or carpenters.

Hopefully, Social Security will go along with me. I have lots of photos of me doing the work and the masons are willing to vouch for my work.

Any more thoughts?


Interesting....I have always heard that you cannot work on your own house without a work permit. The whole idea is you cannot take a job away from a Mexican citizen.
So please let us know how this plays.
Just thought of something! Maybe you are a citizen

RnR - 12-13-2013 at 07:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajajudy

Interesting....I have always heard that you cannot work on your own house without a work permit. The whole idea is you cannot take a job away from a Mexican citizen.
So please let us know how this plays.
Just thought of something! Maybe you are a citizen


Not a citizen but Inmigrado.

I wasn't about to let our local electrician/plumber do any work in my house. I wanted "US code" rather than local "good enough".

But, I must qualify that. I've known the two local electricians for years. So much so that they sometimes ask for advice and frequently borrow tools. One would stop in about once a week just to see how things were going. Seeing as these were the guys that would have to file a complaint, that just wasn't going to happen.

Now, let's hope SS will see it the same way ......