Today my company received this notice from American:
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
This message servers as formal update regarding scheduling requirements.
Effective immediately, no customer may be placed on the delivery schedule until one of the following documents has been received and verified:
- A copy of the approved building permit(s), or
- An official letter or written confirmation from the governing authority stating that a permit is not required for the project
This policy is mandatory and applies to all projects without exception. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure regulatory compliance, prevent delays, and avoid costly rescheduling due to missing or denied permits.
Please communicate this clearly to customers at the time of order, during the welcome call, and during any follow-up interactions.
Prior to this we would warn customers that the manufacturer doesn't typically care if they have a permit, but their city might require a permit for their carport/structure and the installers could be ordered to stop building during installation, or the customer could be told to take it down later and incur fines.
My only annoyance with this is that American is my favorite manufacturer, I genuinely believe they are the best in the industry. Does using them cost me sales because they're too expensive? Of course, but I find it makes my life much easier to deal with them instead of the companies out of North Carolina.
Many people quite simply don't want to get a permit. They are either worried it's going to be too expensive, too difficult, they'll get denied, or they think it's un-American to be told what they can/can't put on the land they own and pay taxes on yearly.
