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Permit Me to Discuss... Plumbing Permits

March 11, 2011

All 13 municipalities in the Capital Regional District require irrigation contractors to obtain a plumbing permit before installing an irrigation system.  The process is simple: the contractor goes into the municipal office, requests a permit, pays for the permit (costs range from a low of $30 in Langford up to $75 in Sooke), and arranges a date and time for a plumbing inspector to visit the site.  When the inspector arrives at the site, they will check to see that a backflow preventer has been properly installed and tested, and the connection to the water main has been done correctly.  Once that's all done, they sign off on the inspection, and everyone goes away happy.

Sounds easy, right?  Well, it should be.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of irrigation contractors, including many of the largest local businesses, fail to see things this way.  Instead, they prefer in most cases to play a game of cat-and-mouse with inspectors and municipal employees, running for the backyard or playing dumb if anyone comes by to question whether they have a permit for their work.  In Oak Bay, some contractors got in the habit of taking out a permit in order to carry out an installation hassle-free, but then never "closed" the permit by arranging for an inspection.  Oak Bay ended up with so many permanently "open" permits that in 2010 they started charging a $200 deposit for all irrigation permits, with the $200 not being refunded until the inspector has signed off on the installation (and to my fellow contractors who caused this, I say thanks guys, I love loaning Oak Bay $200 every time we install a system there).

Pretty silly, isn't it.  And unfortunately, it tarnishes the reputation of the irrigation industry in the eyes of the municipalities (and leads to plumbing inspectors sometimes referring to the trade as "irritation").  It can also make things awkward for homeowners, who may find themselves caught up in their contractor's turf war with the municipality.  Homeowners can easily avoid all this, however.  When you are choosing an irrigation contractor, one of the first questions you should be asking is "will you be taking out a plumbing permit for the system?"  And you should get it in writing; talk is cheap, and some contractors have been known to "exaggerate the truth" on occasion.  Getting a permit will cost you a few dollars more, but not only is it the proper way to do things, but it can save you a lot of headaches in the long run.

Needless to say, Island Waterwise Irrigation ALWAYS takes out plumbing permits where required, and we take pride in the good relationships we have built in municipalities throughout the region.  It makes life a lot more enjoyable when you're sharing a laugh with somebody, rather than hiding from them in the backyard.

Note: Municipalities may also require a permit to either add a backflow preventer to or expand an existing system, if the expansion is onto municipal property, such as a boulevard.

 

Best regards,

Mike Isacson, CIC, CID, CIT, CLIA, CIS, CCCT (what do these letters mean? Click here to find out!)

Owner, Island Waterwise Irrigation Inc.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

IIABC CIT Level 2 Course: The CRD is sponsoring an IIABC Certified Irrigation Technician Level 2 Course April 7-8 at the Cedar Hill Golf Course.  Click here for more information.

CRD Irrigation Workshops: Click here to see a full list of CRD irrigation workshops for the spring and summer.  These courses are free, and are targeted at homeowners, with local irrigation professionals providing a wealth of information.

ARCSA 100 and 200 Level Rainwater Harvesting Courses: The American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association is presenting 100 (Introductory) and 200 (Accreditation) Level Courses in Abbotsford March 28-30.  Click here for more information.

 

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Washington -- The Yankees' bullpen may have checked different on a daily basis this past time, but as Dellin Betances was able to learn at the the season, Mariano Rivera's presence and advice were still just a quick meaning away.

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Finishing third behind Bright Sox slugger Jose Abreu and Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker to the American League Jackie Robinson Newbie of the Year Award, as decided on by the hockey Writers' Association of America, Betances said that His picked up pointers that should help him build on of which impressive campaign.

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The 26-year-old Betances as well as Rivera bonded first as teammates and after that in the history books, because Betances shattered Rivera's franchise single-season record intended for strikeouts by a reliever, logging 135 strikeouts in 90 innings.

Rivera set the old mark in 1996, eye-catching out 130 men throughout 107 2/3 innings as an elite setup male for John Wetteland en route to your global Series championship. With Jesse Robertson's next move uncertain, Betances continues to be mentioned as a possible future nearer, and it would be no surprise in case Rivera offered more guidance with the role.

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A Washington City product who still treasures their ticket stub from David Wells' Before 2000 perfect game, Betances went 5-0 using one save and a 1.40 ERA in 75 appearances overall after being named to his initial Opening Day roster.

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'It's the very best feeling ever,' Betances mentioned. 'I grew up a Yankees supporter, I went to David Wells' great game. For me to have this coming year wearing the pinstripes, it's actually a dream come true.'

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The adjustments became predominant this spring, as Betances delivered his way onto the team and eventually moved into the build role in front of Robertson, showcasing a fastball in the high 90s together with a nasty slurve that prompted many swings and misses. Any time Betances was ahead in the rely, opponents batted just .076 against him.

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Betances led all AL prescriptions in innings pitched, holding foes to a .149 batting normal and ringing up the many strikeouts by a rookie reliever due to the fact Mark Eichhorn of the Blue Jays fanned 166 adult men in 1986.

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'I felt like my own program that I had in the actual offseason leading into Spring Coaching helped me a lot,' Betances mentioned. '[Manager] Joe [Girardi] was big in communicating with us guys inside bullpen, just making sure everything was all right and felt wonderful. If we needed a day, His was always there to give you that.'

Washington, Fla. -- The Twins changed a slow start Sunday in addition to rallied to defeat the Marlins, 4-2, within a Grapefruit League game on Hammond Stadium.

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Minnesota fell into a young 2-0 hole, but scored the actual game's final four extends -- including two in the bottom in the seventh -- to secure the victory. With runners about second and third, a couple outs and the game deadlocked at 2, Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar roped a line drive into left field that will scored both runners on what proved to be the game's important play. Escobar was caught in the rundown and was sooner or later tagged out between third and fourth on the play, but the damage had been done by that point.

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The game started with a battle involving two starting pitchers each going through his former team, because Twins sent Ricky Nolasco to the mound and Miami turned to Kevin Slowey, though neither factored into the decision. Each pitcher tossed five innings and departed with the game tied at A couple of.

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In his five innings, Slowey limited his former club to two operates with four hits, while eye-catching out one and jogging another. Nolasco, meanwhile, allowed a couple of runs on seven hits along with struck out three as part of his first start since being referred to as Minnesota's Opening Day starter.

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The Marlins jumped out to an early guide when they pieced together three direct hits to start the second inning, the last of which was an RBI bunt single by simply Reed Johnson that put New mexico ahead, 1-0. Nolasco, however, then compelled designated hitter Viosergy Rosa to soil into a double play, and secondly baseman Justin Bohn grounded out a single batter later to end the threat.

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'I thought it was good over-all,' Nolasco said. 'I didn't stroll anybody and it was good to work out of the stretch. Definitely, you don't want to work that much out of your stretch, but that's where you intend to make your most important pitches, so that it was good.'

Miami added a different run one inning later when catcher Rob Brantly reached on a fielder's selection, moved to second on a crazy pitch then scored over a Jeff Baker single to center field to force the lead to two.

The Twins responded to back in the bottom of the inning, having right fielder Oswaldo Arcia leading off with some sort of towering fly ball of which carried to the warning course in left field for a triple. His scored just one batter later on a groundout simply by catcher Kurt Suzuki.

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Two innings later, Minnesota put together an additional rally to even the ranking at 2. Veteran selected hitter Jason Kubel worked the leadoff walk from Slowey and later arrived around to score on an Arcia give up fly to center field.

The play temporarily evened the report and ultimately set up Escobar's game-winning hit as the Twins improved to 7-7-3 inside Grapefruit League play, and also the Marlins fell to 11-6-2.

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