I thought you might like that one.
Cleveland building dept. What a joke, at least from a homeowner perspective.
Their whole system is designed to force you into using contractors - little information online, open 8-5 weekdays, everything done in person or by mail, no credit cards - only checks or cash.
Sadly, they could dramatically improve both revenue and compliance by simply setting up shop in HD or Lowe’s where you could submit plans and get code summaries, and approval on the spot while buying materials. HD and Lowe’s sell more stuff, consumers do things right, the city gets increased permit revenue - everybody’s happy.
Instead, we have an antiquated system for consumers augmented by a system of bribery and corruption.
Consumers/homeowners and most contractors ignore the codes since they’re too difficult to lookup and interpret, and going through the permit/approval/inspection process is so cumbersome and time-consuming that most just pretend it doesn’t exist.