Teacher Was Architect Of Own Problems Head Of WSU Program Ignored Pullman Building Codes

For five years, the man who runs the architecture school at Washington State University has been flouting Pullman city building codes.

Rafi Samizay says it’s no big deal. It’s nobody’s business what he does to his Pullman home, he said.

Never mind that the program he runs requires students to learn the same Uniform Building Code he ignored. Or that when he signed two building permits in 1989 he agreed that “all laws and ordinances that govern this type of work will be complied with.”

The National Architecture Accrediting Board says the incidents look bad. “If anyone should follow the law it’s architects,” said John Maudlin-Jeronimo, NAAB executive director. “We do have kind of a higher responsibility.”

Samizay dismissed concerns over the issue. “People should respect my right of privacy as a citizen.”

The problems began when Samizay got a permit to add a bathroom to a garage in his back yard. He told the building department he was converting it into a studio and a guest room. Samizay went further. He added a kitchen, turning it into an apartment - something the building permit didn’t cover.

Under the Uniform Building Code and Pullman ordinances, he also should have asked the Pullman building department to inspect the addition several times - as the foundation was poured, the plumbing piped in, the electrical wires strung, and the insulation laid.

All of that is supposed to be done before a project is finished. Otherwise most of what inspectors need to see is covered by walls and floors.

Samizay never called and not a single inspection was made, according to city of Pullman records.

After not hearing from Samizay for some time, the building department assumed Samizay had given up the project. It eventually threw out his plans.

Last year, however, the state electrical inspector was asked to give the power company approval to turn on the electricity at Samizay’s addition. Rex Burns refused after discovering the remodeling had never been checked.

When Burns finally looked over the property he found “multiple violations to the national electrical code…(that were) questionable enough you wouldn’t want people sleeping in there or occupying it.”

Samizay, meanwhile, had temporary power running to the addition, from the main house. It’s not clear if anyone ever lived in the apartment. he wrote the architecture school director a letter detailing nine inspections Samizay had skipped. The letter also talks about defects, from the unsafe wiring, to foundation problems to problems with the roof rafters and beams in the carport.

It’s unusual for people not to call for inspections, Colvig said. “I’ve worked for the city for nine years and only one time before have people not called for inspections for an entire project,” he said.

After more than a year of work on the apartment, there’s new wiring, beams were added to strengthen the carport roof, and other improvements have been made. There still are questions about the plumbing, carport footings and water sealing, Colvig said.

But when building inspectors finish with the back yard addition, they will turn to a greenhouse addition on the front of the house. Samizay also got a building permit for this project in 1989.

Not only has Samizay again skipped all of the required inspections, he got the building permit without submitting plans for the project. That’s normally required. In this case, the then-director of public works ordered Colvig to make an exception and issue the building permit.

Samizay came to WSU 12 years ago. For four years he has overseen the architecture and construction management programs and teaches a few classes at WSU. Despite his lapses, this is not the sort of thing that will cost WSU its accreditation, said the NAAB director.

Samizay said not all of the problems were his doing. In the case of the unsafe wiring, “part of it was already there.”

It’s a small renovation project and all of the problems have been fixed, Samizay said.

He fears this fuss will discourage people from upgrading their homes.

“You are doing it for the improvement of the neighborhood,” Samizay said. “If you create an enormous bureaucracy, you discourage people from doing that.”

, DataTimes