Contractors took a verbal beating before a Sunny Isles Beach special master, but in the end, it was the homeowners who paid the price.

In hearing a string of code compliance cases July 20, Special Master Maurice Donsky provided a sympathetic ear for citizens challenging citations. For most, he’d heard the story before – ‘the contractor didn’t tell me I needed a permit’. Legally, it doesn’t matter – it’s the homeowner’s obligation to know and obey the law.

But even Donsky, a gray-haired Coral Gables attorney in practice since 1972, ended up shaking his head at the scope of two cases in particular.

Maria Lian of 210 172^nd St. had been cited for having an air conditioner installed without a permit. Lian explained that she’d had an emergency. The A/C had quit on her and she called a dealer out of the Yellow Pages who had installed a new unit. That was in 2005.

So why was she standing here in 2009 facing a $500 fine?

Code enforcement officers explained that a mechanical inspector was on the roof of the building on another matter and spotted a forest of A/C units that hadn’t been there before. When he checked the permits, he found none. About 40 unit owners had been given seven days to get a retroactive permit and most had complied. But Lian hadn’t met the deadline. She had no idea whether a permit had been obtained initially or even that one was needed. She’d spent too much time trying to track down the contractor. There she stood, a folder full of the required paperwork in her hand, ready to be filed.

Donsky couldn’t bring himself to levy the fine. She got a 30-day extension to get the paperwork straight.

Then there was the case of Nancy and Pablo Pytowany of 17050 North Bay Road, who had been cited for having a satellite TV dish installed outside their area of ‘exclusive use’. A code enforcement officer explained that he’d spotted as many as 25 dishes installed illegally along the sidewall of the structure. All owners were warned to have the dishes moved onto their balconies. And most quickly had the problem fixed in what appeared to be another case of a contractor gone wrong.

The Pytowanys complied too, but missed the deadline and were cited. They sought a hearing, then didn’t appear to make their case, a rudeness that Donsky punished by levying the full $250 fine plus $75 in court costs.

The litany of contractor tales continued through the morning and into the afternoon.

There was the man from France whose contractor started ripping out kitchen cabinets before getting a permit. The argument was that since the new cabinets were coming from Europe, they had plenty of time to get permits before they installed anything. They produced evidence they’d started the permit process. But that wasn’t good enough.

There was the woman whose first contractor took her money and ran. The second contractor did the work, which involved some changes in lighting and plumbing. Neither told her she needed permits.

And there was the father who had turned his dining room into a bedroom for a child who’d come to live with him after a custody decision. The court had required a separate bedroom and the partition he’d erected filled the bill. Nobody had said anything about needing permits.

In each case, Donsky wrestled with his limited powers and reduced the fines. Each was guilty, but in each case there were extenuating circumstances.

The moral of the day’s testimony: If you’re having work done that changes the structure, touches the electrical or plumbing systems or costs more than $500, you likely need a permit. And if you’re in doubt, ask, don’t just start work. It’ll save time and money in the long run.

Sunny Isles Beach has a special master hearing roughly once a month to deal with code compliance cases.