Damage to Your Property?

Sumter, SC (September 11, 2018) – The Sumter County Building Department is requesting that all residents who may experience damage to any structure in the city or county to please call their offices, once the storm is over. 

Steve Campbell, Director of the Building Department, stated that there are several permitting systems that affect recovery efforts: business licenses; building permits; and contractors’ licenses. “Depending on the work you need to do, there may be a need for one or more permits,” stated Campbell. 

A general guide, for Sumter, when accessing how and when to get a building permit for work on your property, includes:

• You can do cleanup or minor repair work yourself – for example; removing water from your carpet or your floors; removing soaked drywell; repainting; replacing wallpaper; or replacing tile, flooring, and carpeting – without a business license, a building permit, or a contractors’ license.
• If you hire someone else to do cleanup or minor repair work, including the items listed above, your contractor will need a business license but not a building permit or a contractors’ license.
• If you do nonstructural repair work on the house in which you live – for example, installing new shingles or other roofing materials; replacing windows; replacing siding; or replacing or installing sheetrock – you will need a building permit, but not a business license.
• If you hire someone else to do nonstructural repair work, including the items listed above, your contractor will need a business license and a building permit.
• Any other work – including major repairs, structural work, and repairs on buildings in which you do not live – require all three permits.

“Some general advice when dealing with damage is to always take pictures of the damage before you start your clean-up or repair, shop around for contractors, always check your contractor’s credentials, ask for quotes and take extra precaution when money is requested upfront,” state Campbell. “Please call our office anytime to check on various contractors and definitely before any work begins to repair or rebuild. Additionally, you can report any suspicious activity to our office.”

If you have questions or concerns, please contract the Sumter City/County Building Inspections Department at (803) 774-1617, or you can visit us online, http://sumtersc.gov/building-permits.aspx, or at our office 12 W. Liberty Street, Sumer, SC 29150.

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