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amir
Senior Nomad
Posts: 559
Registered: 5-4-2007
Location: Todos Santos, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: chiropractic
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Lencho,
My 2 sets of Hungarian grandparents migrated to Argentina in the 1920-1930's.
My parents met in Buenos Aires, Argentina, got married there and had a family.
I was raised in Buenos Aires until I was 13 years old. Then we migrated to New York City. I was naturalized as an American citizen after I joined the
US Air Force at 17; served for 4 years in Germany. Then for thirty some years I lived in Eugene, Oregon.
In July of 2006 I migrated to Baja California Sur to resume my Spanish (Castillian) speaking.
It's the gypsy blood running through my veins... Why do you ask?
--Amir
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amir
Senior Nomad
Posts: 559
Registered: 5-4-2007
Location: Todos Santos, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: chiropractic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lencho
| Quote: | Originally posted by amir
Just a little mordida, a little bite, a gift. But NOT "to look the other way," as you say, but to facilitate the process and grease the wheels, so to
speak... |
An important differentiation that probably merits a thread of its own... 
--Larry |
...so what is your suggestion for the new thread? What's the premise? What question? I too think it is an interesting topic.
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13048
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Here far from the madding crowds there is NO engineer to go to...hmmmm..and heaven forbid we wouldn't want to feed the mordida machine but I gotta
tell ya all....a case of beer goes a LOOONGGG way and certainly speeds things up in a friendly manner...with a few cold ones you can get alot
done...like grading your lot...fresh fish brought to you...good advice...garbage pick up (my garbage guy doesn't drink but soda and cookies make sure
they come around alot.) Let's just say that on the long lists of things the officials have to do...with some booty your job gets put near the top of
the list which works for everyone...after all, it's all about priorities. I hate the mordida idea but it is how things have been done here for a very
long time and if you don't "cooperate" you are seen as muy codo (cheapskate) and ignorant or kinda rude and obviously arent in a hurry for your
project. So a little palm greasing is really just the price of doing business...kinda like a tax in a way...maybe we should call it the expediant
tax...definately warrants it's own forum and a worthy discussion for everyone. Yesterday, I needed a lot measured and our land guy was very busy but
for a hundred pesos, he drops everything and comes and does it...you do the math. Oh yeah, never heard of building codes here but probably has
something to do with gringos???
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islandmusicteach
Junior Nomad
Posts: 78
Registered: 4-30-2007
Location: catalina island
Member Is Offline
Mood: almost in baja
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Thanks to everyone who contributed!
To LongLegs: Who prepared your EIS and how much did it cost?
To BajaJudy: Thanks for the invite and I'll definitely come by to see the bookstore.
To All: Keen to know your recommendations for engineers/architects living in the SanJose or Los Barriles area, or who work around here. Got a good
one you know about??
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toneart
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline
Mood: Skeptical
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lencho
| Quote: | Originally posted by amir
In July of 2006 I migrated to Baja California Sur to resume my Spanish (Castillian) speaking.
It's the gypsy blood running through my veins... Why do you ask?
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Language acquisition interests me.
So were you using Spanish in Oregon? 30 years away is a loong time, even for a native speaker who's been submerged till adulthood.
--Larry |
I am drawn into the inquiries by Lencho, and before by Dennis, as to the real identity of Amir. He is probably who he say he is. But as I search my
faulty memory database, the name
b. traven keeps invading my otherwise secure and difficult-to-influence sense of what's what and who's who. Could he be the son of.... 
Hint: "Badches? BADCHES? I don't got to show you no stinkin' badches!"
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
Posts: 1685
Registered: 11-18-2005
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by islandmusicteach
Thanks to everyone who contributed!
To LongLegs: Who prepared your EIS and how much did it cost?
To BajaJudy: Thanks for the invite and I'll definitely come by to see the bookstore.
To All: Keen to know your recommendations for engineers/architects living in the SanJose or Los Barriles area, or who work around here. Got a good
one you know about?? |
"k....what I found out is that there are basis "everywhere" codes, and then different areas can add tighter or more area-specific codes, i.e., Cabo
& La Paz would have tighter hurricane-proof structural requirements than say, oh...Hermosillo. They are NOT posted online. I'm supposed to be
getting a copy of them scanned & sent to me Monday/Tuesday...once I see what I receive, I'll figure out the best way to get them to you. However,
the Ayuntamiento for your area should be able to give you a copy...probably for a fee! Not sure where you're physically located at the moment...North
or South of the border.
islandmusicteach, it ain't cheap! Total cost (including the $2,500 peso charge they tossed at me today...for "reforesting cardons somewhere"  ) is roughly $50,000 pesos...I can see why a lot of people choose to take
their chances & ignore the EIS requirement!) My builder & I shopped around & found some people who are certified to submit EIS & the
Manifestation (two separate people, two separate qualifications) to SEMERNAT. My cost was roughly 50% of what SEMERNAT quoted to do the same work.
And I'll tell ya up front, it IS a long process!!
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amir
Senior Nomad
Posts: 559
Registered: 5-4-2007
Location: Todos Santos, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: chiropractic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lencho
Language acquisition interests me.
So were you using Spanish in Oregon? 30 years away is a loong time, even for a native speaker who's been submerged till adulthood.
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Lencho,
For 42 years I didn't speak much Spanish. At 13 I started speaking English, and during the 4-year USAF stint in Germany I picked up quite a bit of
German, but this last one I've mostly forgotten for lack of practice, but it did affect my pronunciation. When I moved to Todos Santos last year
started speaking Spanish again, but because I was 13 when I moved away from Argentina, I speak like a 13 year old, a childish Spanish, but I know the
syntax and the verb conjugations and the gender of things and all the rules and nuances. The names of many things are different in Castillian than in
Mexican, and here they use a lot of slang and a lot of native Mexican Indian words, but I'm learning fast. I studied chiropractic in English, so
patients are now teaching me how to explain all these anatomical and physiological things in Spanish.
I was always interested in languages, and because of my international family, there were many languages spoken at home and family reunions: Hungarian,
Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, German, Polish... During high school and college I studied French, Italian, Hebrew, Sanskrit, and Chinese. For 11 years I
was a Sikh (a major religion of India) and learned to read the original scriptures in Gurmukhi. But I really don't have a command of any of these
languages; I'm only fluent in Spanish and English.
My accent is "interesting." Every language I speak has an accent from somewhere else, and the more I speak of one, the more I distort the other - I
think this is due to how we control and develop the tongue and mouth muscles when we speak. My joke about this is that I couldn't be a spy anywhere,
because no matter what I say in any language, I sound like a foreigner and not like a native from any original country, and it's always been fun to
see people try to guess where I'm from; and I get asked a lot: "Where are you from?" And I don't speak "normally", just like I don't "write" normally,
and I am a small person (about 5') and sport a big red beard (although now it's getting a lot of white), so I don't look like any native of any
dialect I speak.
Some people on this Board have picked up on my "strangeness" and mysteriousness. If you'd like more details we can U2U so we don't bore the regular
audience of these threads...
Thank you for your interest,
--Amir
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
Posts: 1685
Registered: 11-18-2005
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by islandmusicteach
Well, I finally have another question one of you may be able to help with. Anyone know if Baja Sur building codes are available online? If not, know
where to buy em? Or got a code book lying around I can copy and send back to you?
Thanks,
Marko. |
Marko, I'm supposed to be getting the building codes on a floppy later today...it's a...uhhhh...rather large file; roughly a 700-page
document...do you still want it?? If so, U2U me your e-mail address & I'll be happy to send the file to you.
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
Posts: 1685
Registered: 11-18-2005
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
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Larry, you techie gurus are waaaaay too exacting! I've been out in the hot sun all morning
working with my builder on getting my property marked for what goes where...I plead sunstroke!!! Yeah, it's probably a CD, but I hate to give my
initials in my posts!  I prefer to maintain my anonymity!
Once I get it in my hot little hand, I'll get back to you! That's a nice offer you made to host it if it's not copyrighted!
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
Posts: 1685
Registered: 11-18-2005
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
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Larry.....U2U to U! 
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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Boy! You folk scared the %$&*( out of me with this one.
Granted it was in Baja Norte, but I have built three houses in Baja if you don't count the one I remodeled for my father-in-law and I have never seen
a building 'code.' I have seen setback and street widths and signing, green space requirement, restrictions on usage of well water, lot lay outs and
the need to convert plans from English to Spanish..........and I have found that hiring a professional to get plans approved worked rather well
because part of the fee that you pay him IS passed on 'as a gift' to get the plans approved.
I have even seen inspectors but the only thing they care about is that you have paid your social security........I have used a Mexican Contractor and
in the first case he charged me for Social Security but failed to pay---learned a lesson here because the fine was 100%.
But I have never seen anything like a building code as we know it in the States
That said, things may be far advanced in Baja Sur and they may actually have a code for the actual building........but I rather doubt it because they
are rather restricting things for everyone concerned.
Plans always get changed with no concern shown by the authorities.
And with that I will wait patiently for de judge with de long legs to weigh in.
Yes! As you can see I am very bored and I might attempt to get another life but I rather doubt it. That is my disclaimer and I am sticking to it.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
Posts: 1685
Registered: 11-18-2005
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
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Bernie....of yea of little faith! It's a rather large document & Lencho is
looking it over to make sure there is no problem to putting it on-line somewhere. Unless it's SUPPOSED to be secret so they can collect fines from us
gringos, it appears to be a public consumable document....allllll the pieces of it! So hang in there for Lencho's final determination. He's really
impressed with my "find"!
So you got hit with a builder not paying Seguro Social, TOO! I did on my first casa, but I skated free because he'd been dumb enough
to put it in writing in my contract that he was responsible to pay! I found out when I went to sell it & just went into SS to verify payment had
been made. They (SS) didn't have any record of my job, but happily took the info I provided, gave me a letter staring I was in the clear & could
sell my place & went after him!! There is occasional justice in
life!
Edit: And yeah...they got codes up Norte too! So lock the door & keep a low profile!
[Edited on 7-5-2007 by longlegsinlapaz]
[Edited on 7-5-2007 by longlegsinlapaz]
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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So Sad!
Legs! I doubt that you will ever be able to think like a true Mexican............you clutter your mind with such trivia.........like you could be a
lawyer or something..........No, they don't clutter.........they learn where the sources are.......and dig them out whenever they wish to complicate
the lives of poor peons like me.
Yes, I guess I will run and hide
Hope you had a great 4th
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mellow
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I recently chaired a task group of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) which developed the first official Spanish language translation of the ACI
Building Code (ACI 318S-05). This document, since its publication, has been widely sold and distributed throughout Mexico, Central America, and South
America. It is available through ACI (www.aci-int.org), along with the English version. I don't know what legal status it has throughout Mexico, particularly in Baja California. I
suspect, as others have opined, that permitting is done largely through the licensed design professional (engineer, architect, surveyor). I am
relatively sure that Mexico licenses design professionals but I don't know if that is done locally (state by state, like it is done in the USA) or
whether it is done on a national level. I will check with some of my engineer friends in Mexico City and get back with a report to the Nomads.
++Ken++
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islandmusicteach
Junior Nomad
Posts: 78
Registered: 4-30-2007
Location: catalina island
Member Is Offline
Mood: almost in baja
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how about a little grass shack?
Had some fun looking through those codes !
Here's something creative... it seems to be legal to build a 40 sq. meter dwelling without the need of an architect or engineer to sign off as long
as it's the first construction on a bare lot. Could get cramped though :
Articulo 62.- Construcciones que no requieren responsiva de “DRO” :
a).- Reparacion, remodelacion o rehabilitacion de techos o entrepisos con areas menores de 40.00 metros cuadrados y siempre que los claros sean
menores de 3.00 metros, y no se afecten elementos estructurales importantes a juicio de “La Autoridad”.
b).- Construccion de bardas de colindancia con altura maxima de 2.00 metros, construidas con especificaciones de seguridad minima proporcionadas por
“La Autoridad”.
c).- Edificacion en un predio baldio, por unica vez, de una primera planta de una vivienda unifamiliar no mayor de 40.00 metros cuadrados, altura y
claros que no excedan de 3.00 metros.
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mellow
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I talked with a friend who is a highly respected and experienced structural engineer in Mexico City. He told me that the typical process on any
significant structure is that plans (architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, whatever is needed) are developed by a licensed design
professional, typically an architect who is hired by the owner, and who then hires the other design professionals as needed. The plans are submitted
to a "municipality", the governing agency in the city/county/etc where the new building is located. Depending on the size of the jurisdiction, the
"municipality" could consist of only one or two government officials (individuals), or in larger jurisdictions, the municipality could have an entire
"Building Department" responsible for public works. The municipalities rarely do any serious review of the plans prepared by licensed design
professionals, they simply collect some fees, file a copy of the plans and calculations, and stamp one set of plans with an "approved" stamp. This
stamped set represents the "building permit". Construction can then begin. He said some larger Mexican cities have building inspectors who inspect
the work in progress, most do not. Inspection, if any is done, is provided by the owner privately.
Does this bear any resemblance to what you Nomads have seen in Baja?
++Ken++
PS he also said that each city or jurisdiction adopts its own code. For concrete design and construction, the ACI code is used almost universally
throughout Mexico.
[Edited on 7-5-2007 by Ken Bondy]
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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Ken
40+ years of this and what he has told you has proven true for me in both Tijuana and Ensenada County's............Once you pay and get the stamp
almost anything goes.
I know of at least one very large development (no I will not say names) who had no sewer treatment plant on site even though the "plans" call for a
total treatment systems.
Most of the stuff I have learned in Baja 'is' that it should stay in Baja.
Just looking at the mix of commericial and residential should tell a bit of the story.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
Posts: 1685
Registered: 11-18-2005
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
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Thank you Larry!!! You DID translate them, didn't ya?
Bernie....DON'T LOOK!!!!! It'll just make you curl up into a fetal position! Trying real hard to be  !!!
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