690 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 383

who issue such permits, the town permits as aforesaid shall be
issued, and only issued, after the County permits herein pro-
vided for shall have been issued and paid for; and the County
Commissioners through their Clerk shall furnish to said town
officials sufficient blanks to carry out the provisions of this
Act. It shall be the duty of such incorporated town or its
officials to issue said permits in quadruplicate, one copy to be
retained by the applicant, one to be sent to the Clerk to the
County Commissioners, one to be sent to the Supervisor of
Assessments, and one to be retained by the officials issuing the
permit, and it shall be and become the duty of the officials of
any incorporated town who have issued said permits as herein
required, to make return within three days after the issuance
of the same to the proper parties, of the copies of the permits
herein required, as well as the sum collected and herein re-
quired to be returned to the County Commissioners. One-half
the permit fee shall be retained by the officials of the town
or municipality issuing the permit, the other one-half to be
paid over to the County Commissioners as herein provided for.
Provided however that permit blanks shall be mailed on request
by the Clerk to the County Commissioners to any person, firm
or corporation who desires to erect, contract, remodel or repair
any building or buildings as herein provided, but no such per-
son, firm or corporation shall actually begin the erection, con-
struction, remodeling or repair of any building or buildings
until the permit blanks have been returned to the Clerk to the
County Commissioners, and approved by him, and the permit
actually issued and paid for. Failure to mail or receive the
blank or permits herein provided for shall in no way affect
prosecutions under the provisions of this Act. It is the purpose
and intention of this section to require all persons, firms or
corporations who contemplate erecting or constructing, or re-
modeling or repairing any and all buildings of any nature,
kind or description, before doing so, to obtain a permit as in
this Act provided. And if any person, firm or corporation
shall proceed to erect, construct, remodel or repair any building
where the value of the same, as to new buildings, shall be two
hundred dollars or more at the time of completion, or the cost
of remodeling or repairing any building, the value of which
after completion shall exceed five hundred dollars ($500),
without first having made application for and obtained the
permit as herein provided, it shall then be and become the
duty of the County Commissioners through their Clerk, or the