Can You Call Your Building Permit Office...Anonymously?

Around a year ago, one of my fellow About.com guides related to me a story of Building Permit Officer Gone Wild in her home. If you have ever seen the movie Brazil (1984) by insanely talented Terry Gilliam, you will get a good sense of what it is like to have a petty, power-hungry city-level bureaucrat create havoc in your life...for no good reason at all.

Which leads many homeowners to wonder: Can I just make a query to the permit office...anonymously? Sure you can. While it will not help you further down the road (i.e., after they have been officially apprised of what you are doing), you most certainly can make blind calls to your local permit office. In fact, I encourage you to do this.

One topical note: lately, due to economic conditions, many building permit offices have been so quiet that cobwebs are practically growing over them. This is not necessarily a good thing for you. While it means that someone will answer your call, it also means that they have more time and leisure to potentially track you down for that fence you built without permitting. It probably will not happen, but the potential is there.

Image Public Domain: City of Rochester NY