New Fee for Ignoring Plan Approval for Construction

A new fee on plan approvals aims to discourage those performing commercial construction without approval from the county.

A plan approval is necessary for anyone in commercial construction and Chief Building Official for Muskingum County Jason Baughman said there are some that begin construction without a plan approval, he said the fee will guide them in the right direction.

“There are certain people that are repeat offenders that continually do work without a plan approval,” said Baughman. “What this will do I hope is discourage them from doing that and encourage them to come to us up front. So that we don’t have to fine them in the middle of doing their work. ”

The fee is $500.00 if it’s discovered that construction occurs without the plan approval. Baughman said he doesn’t aim to penalize those who aren’t aware of the plan approval necessity but to deter repeat offenders who are aware of the law.

“Well it’s the law,” said Baughman. “Higher Advised Code adopts the Ohio Building Code to regulate all construction for commercial work. So to be within the limits of the law they need to fill out the plan approval application and have their work inspected as it progresses.”

You can access the plan approval application online. You should contact the Muskingum County Building Department before commercial construction begins with your application and plans. The department has 30 days to approve plans but Baughman said they try to approve plans within two weeks of the application submission.