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\\nShow Notes:
\\nPermitting and building departments. Working with tough building departments.  How to obtain permits when codes are changing and tightening up. Design and code impact when building in different building conditions. The value of unified plan sets where all the information is uniform and matches.  Green and energy codes and sun analysis to make your home more comfortable and enjoyable.
\\nTranscript:
\\nInterviewer: Hey everybody and welcome to another episode of the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show. As always, I\\u2019m your host Stephen Savage and with me is the President and Founder of Landmark Home and Land Company, a company which has been helping people build the new home that they want where they want it since 1993 and that is my good friend Steve Tuma. Steve, how are you doing?
\\nSteve Landmark: Excellent. It\\u2019s another great day.
\\nInterviewer: So I\\u2019ve been kind of going over what I wanted to run by you in this episode and I think I would really like to start here talking about permitting processes.
\\nNow I\\u2019ve been hearing that building departments are tightening up not just in California where I live but really across the nation. Tougher regulations, more stringent codes, et cetera. I\\u2019m kind of wondering, how can Landmark Home and Land Company help me deal with these tougher regulations?
\\nSteve Landmark: Well, basically, we do it every day and we\\u2019ve been doing it every day since 1993. So through that, we get experience. We have an understanding of the code and we understand the processes that are necessary to achieve all the code requirements. So a lot of people think the code is something there that someone put there to hassle you. But most of these are there for safety reasons.
\\nYou want to make sure that the beams are sized right. So roofs don\\u2019t sag or floor systems don\\u2019t sag. You want to make sure windows are the right size, so that you can get out of them in case of an emergency. Now in some areas, they\\u2019re asking for sprinkler systems just because a sprinkler system will put a fire out very quickly in relation to the time that it takes a fire department to come through.
\\nSo yes, building codes are tightening up and not just the code but the enforcement by the building departments. That\\u2019s the interesting thing because they do get complex and building departments are learning how to enforce the codes better. It\\u2019s not always just a money grab that some people think. Sometimes it\\u2019s just there to enforce it because some builders don\\u2019t know what it is.
\\nSo what we do is we develop a set of plans that\\u2019s complete and detailed to the building department requirements. The customer turns them in and works to obtain it. So the tighter requirements aren\\u2019t a big deal. We\\u2019ve worked all over the country. Some jurisdictions are lenient. Some are extremely tight.
\\nSo we combine all that experience over \\u2013since 1993 and we end up with a knowledge base where we\\u2019re able to take care of it. Whether you\\u2019re building in a city, if you\\u2019re building on an ocean say Key West or along the East Coast where there are hurricanes. If you\\u2019re going into Colorado with high snow loads or expansive soils and high wind conditions or if you\\u2019re going say in the West Coast, specifically California with earthquakes.
\\nCalifornia is unique. You know, it has got beaches. It has got mountains. It has got deserts. So there\\u2019s a whole blend of opportunity to design a house properly there and I think that that\\u2019s an extremely important part that people don\\u2019t understand is the codes are there to make sure that your house is safe and usable and not just that. It maintains its value.
\\nAll of us have driven through communities where there are houses that are a little dilapidated. You know, maybe they just weren\\u2019t built right.
\\nInterviewer: Right.
\\nSteve Landmark: And that\\u2019s why they\\u2019re falling apart and where better built communities retain their value.
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