By Amelia Nielson-Stowell
Major remodeling at College Terrace apartments is causing more than just noise.
The complex, located at 643 W. 1200 South in Orem, is being remodeled without a permit and houses BYU and UVSC students who could be forced to move out if the city finds out no permit was obtained and must inspect.
Student status for BYU students living at the complex could be affected, since College Terrace is violating the BYU-Off Campus Housing Handbook and could lose BYU approval.
Building Safety Division Manager for Orem, Bill Bell, said there are major consequences for a building that does not obtain a permit to remodel.
'If done a lot of work and we haven''t seen it, they''ll have to uncover work so we can see it,' Bell said. 'If they''ve done it without a permit, we''d have to see it and double fee it. We could take them to court if they don''t get a permit.'
Bell said all students would have to move out of the apartment complex if major remodeling was done so inspectors could come in and look at the remodeling.
The permit for College Terrace apartments is from 1986, when College Terrace was built. The permit is so old, it is located in the Orem city archives.
Janice Parcell, development services technician for Orem, said the 1986 permit is the initial building permit.
'Any after that, they would have take out a new permit,' Parcell said.
Parcell said a building must obtain a permit if they are changing anything structurally, or with heating, framing and/or plumbing.
A new permit must be obtained for anything as little as getting a new water heater or major changes such as taking out walls.
Bell said College Terrace owners might have decided not to get a permit because it costs money and they would have to comply with building safety regulations and codes.
Bell said how much an owner would have to pay for remodeling 'depends on square footage, what doing what installing.' Bell said the charge is per fixture and there is a fee for each new water heater and a charge for ripping out walls.
However, the manager of College Terrace apartments, Heather Grant, said the owners were only doing painting, changing carpet and getting new furniture. Grant said no construction is being done structurally, or with heating, electric, or plumbing.
Grant said no walls are being taken out and that the construction workers are merely 'texturing' or patching holes up in the walls.
Yet corridors of the un-remodeled apartments are littered with stacks of dry wall and wood panels.
Grant confirmed the apartments are getting new water heaters, only after The Daily Universe pointed out about eight water heaters sitting in the parking lot.
However, some of the construction workers working on the apartments told The Daily Universe that they were putting in new plumbing, new electric and they were taking out vanity walls.
One construction worker said he knew apartment complexes have to take out permits for remodeling and as of Friday, he said, the owner made the decision not to get a permit.
College Terrace owners declined to comment about obtaining a permit and remodeling.
One of the minimum specifications described in the BYU Off-Campus Housing Handbook states, 'Every modification of an existing building shall be performed pursuant to applicable building codes and procedures with building permits and inspections.'
College Terrace, which is BYU approved, could lose BYU approval, as stated in the handbook.
'University approval may be immediately withdrawn when the BYU Off-Campus Housing Office determines that an owner is violating the conditions for approval as set forth in this handbook,' the handbook reads. 'Single students living in an unapproved housing facility will be in violation of this policy and may have university sanctions taken against them. These sanctions may affect their student status.'
Teela Ware, a freshman and resident at College Terrace, said, 'They''re always ripping things up.'
Ware, who lives in one of the remodeled apartments, said she was told everything would be brand new in the remodeled apartments.
'The lights are different , so obviously they had to do something different with the electricity,' Ware said.
Tyler Loomis, a junior at UVSC majoring in information systems and accounting, lives in an un-remodeled apartment, directly across from the apartments that are being remodeled.
Loomis said there is 'lots of noise,' so they are obviously doing more than putting in new carpet and painting.
'They do plumbing all the time,' Loomis said. 'They are always ripping pipes out.'
The old and new apartments look completely different, said Katie Stankiewicz, a freshman at UVSC majoring in psychology.