Major update

Today at work I got a call from the general contractor. When I first saw their name on the caller I.D., I thought, well, here's some good news. Something's happening. It turns out they called to tell me I now need a plumbing permit, and they wanted to fax me an application to fill out and have notarized. That really pissed me off. I asked them why they didn't tell me about this earlier--like three weeks ago when I executed the GC application (or how about in May?). She then said that I didn't tell them I needed it. I said that I know nothing about what permits I need or not (that's their job) and at more than one point throughout the various conversations read off the sentence from Home Depot's kitchen installation paperwork I read and signed on May 4: "Permits may be necessary to obtain and will be the responsibility of The Home Depot Authorized Representative."

Before hanging up with her, I told her that I already had the corporate headquarters involved in this mess. I then immediately called the district manager and left a voice message. Next I called my Home Depot and tried to reach the kitchen expediter. She wasn't available so I managed to reach the other (window?) expediter who had helped me in the past. She said she would call the GC and find out what's going on and call me back. I was beside myself. She was very apologetic. She also said it wasn't my responsibility to tell the GC I needed the plumbing permit.

(I would never have thought I would need a plumbing permit, since the plumbing isn't being changed. All they have to do is hook up the new sink and the faucet to the existing pipes. But apparently the City of North Miami requires this. The GC should have known this and had it taken care of way in advance of demolishing the kitchen, just like with the other two permits (GC's and electric).)

While I was talking to the expediter, the district manager left two voice messages on my phone, so I called him back and went through the whole story with him (this is the first time I'd talked to him). He said he would do whatever it takes to get my project completed ASAP. He also said Home Depot would pay for any permits (I wonder if he meant the other two permits, also). Anyway, I called the expediter back and left a message, then she called back.

To make a long story short, I signed and notarized the plumbing permit application at work, and someone from the GC came by and picked it up here at home less than an hour ago.

So maybe someone will be here next week doing something. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

You can imagine how upset I was when they told me they needed a plumbing permit. You would think they would have sat down a few months ago and figured out which permits they would need and start setting things in motion. It sounds like it might even have been a good idea to call the City of North Miami. Waiting till the last minute, well after the kitchen has already been demolished, to figure out what they need seems like a terrible way of doing business. And the Home Depot store that's handling this is located right in the City of North Miami (right down the street from City Hall, actually), so it shouldn't be difficult to keep on top of what's going on with the permitting here.

At any rate, on the day they demolished the kitchen (July 2), the general contractor saw what would be required in the way of electrical work and plumbing work, and should have known by then that it needed its own permit before any more work could proceed.