St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-15
THE BUILDING REVIE
The System of Permits and sum"
mary of Building for the Year.

mary OF Building for the Year.
The amount of money expended in st.
Paul for building improvements during
1856 is far in excess of any preceding year.
The law requires that every one erecting a
building shall first obtain permit FROM the
building inspector. to whom plans must be
submitted. and must state the Anticipated
cost of the structure. For these permits
fees are charged. based on the cost of the
building. as follows: For a building cost
ing 500 or less, soc; from 500 to $1,000.
81: from 81, 600 TO $1,000. $3.50; from
81. 500 to 81, 500. 81: from 81. 500
to 5000. s., and for each additional
81 GOO or fraction thereof. so cents. The
result Of this graduated fee system is that
owners, contractors and architects who
take out permits underestimate the cost of
buildings. This may be either unintentiOnal
or otherwise. for in a large majority of
cases buildings cost more when completed
than was anticipated at the Stalt. An
actual canvass among owners has demon
strated that to arrive at the actual cost OF
building, Oh the average. 40 per cent. must
be added to the amount stated on the
building inspector s books. In many cases
the cost has been found to be double. triple
and even quadruple the amount given the
building inspector. The cost attached to
these permits leads many to erect buildings
without them Especially is this true Of a
the outskirts of the city. where they are
not likely to be detected. The building in
spector has but one outside man to watch
this class of builders. and even he is not
supplied with a horse. so it is utterly i'm
possible for the frauds to be found out
Although this man compelS many permits
to be taken out during the year, it is i'm
possible for him to closely watch the vast
area of nearly thirty-SiX squire miles in
Guided in the city.
A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
In compiling a comprehensive review
OF building improvements for the year there
is a vast amount of work, and many factors
must be considered. The building inspect
Or's books for the first eleven months of the
year are taken for the basis. The amount
of the estimate for December includes a
permit for building the court house, no per-
NIT having hitherto been obtained on &C
count of a difference of opinion between
the commissioners and the building in
spector. 1t also includes many permits for
smaller amounts for buildings erected
months ago without permits but which
have been found by the inspector and per-
mits required. To this, apart from
the court house, a certain per-
centage must be added to arrive at
the actual cost. Building Inspector
johnson estimates this at 40 per cent. of
the amount on his books. Last year, in his
annual rapport. he used so per cent. The
canvaSSing done among owners. architects
and contractors has demonstrated that this
ratio is none too large. For certain class
of Improvements on old buildings and for
foundations for buildings to be erected next
year no permits are necessary, but work Of
this class properly belongs in a building
summary. The cost of buildings for which
no permits will be secured is carefully
estimated after talking with Mr.. Fisher, the
outside man of the inspectors office, who
has done his present work for several years.
In addition to these factors plumbing must
be considered. Permits are required for
this work. as it forms part of a building,
but Building Inspector Johnson has already
found $780, 600 worth of plumbing done
during this year for which no permits have
been issued, and that there is much
more of this same class of work no one
doubts. Then there is the work done on
buildings begun last year. In canvassing
this city large number of expensive blocks
were found to have been erected this year
which were begun in 1885, but which
properly belong to
THE BUILDING RECORD OF 1856,
at least the SupeTstructure. On the new
building of the Bank of Minnesota, which
was begun in the spring of 1885, no less
than $50, 600 has been expended this year.
the total cost being $500. 600. The other
blocks and houses belonging to this item do
not enter into the general summary except
in estimated amount of $780, 600, but those
blocks costing IS. 900 or more are included
in the appended list of such buildings by
wards. After all these component parts
have been considered come the improve
ments Just outside the city limits, which
are made by st. Paul capital and enterprise.
OF these only the stock yards and South
Park buildings have been included. and
they properly belong in the city improve
ments. being simply growth of city bust
ness beyond the imaginary line of demarca-
ton known as the city limits.
THE BUILDING BY WARDS.
The Fourth Ward Acquires Resi-
dences and the Sixth Has a BUSH
ness Boom.
The subjoined table shows the cost of the
bindings erected in each of the different
wards of the city. according to permits
issued each month bv the building inspec-
tor. Here again is an interesting index of
the direction of the cltyS growth. 1t will
be seen that the Fourth ward leads with
S. 479. O73. while the fifth has SSl4, OH, the
Second S7S3. $50. the Sixth S56S, 500, the
Third $685.. 165. with the Seventh and First
following,in the order named. The amount
in the Second ward is largely increased by