VIRGINIA BEACH - First, Steve Bishard built a house too wide.

Then he built a house too tall.

Finally, last week, in an unusual outburst at a public meeting, city officials took turns lambasting Bishard.

Their anger was red-hot. One called Bishard's actions "disgusting." Another said he was "appalled."

Ultimately, the chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals sent Bishard a message through an employee: "Tell Mr. Bishard he has a poor reputation with the city, he has a poor reputation as a builder, and we don't want to see him here again."

It was an unusually harsh dressing-down.

On Friday, Bishard answered his critics. He said the mistakes weren't his fault. He blamed engineers and surveyors. He said the board's ire is misplaced.

"Their mind-set is not totally accurate about how this transpired," Bishard said. "I would welcome discussions with them."

How did it happen?

The headaches began with a house built 4 feet too wide.

It's a pretty four-bedroom house at 1016 The Midway, near Lake Holly, just off the Oceanfront. Bishard built it in 2004.

By mistake, a surveyor marked the house's foundation 4 feet too far west. That left only 6 feet between the house and the fence. City zoning law requires at least 10 feet.

That, in turn, caused another problem. With too little room on one side, water wasn't draining properly. On rainy days, water pooled in the backyard.

Bishard got a temporary occupancy permit, but never corrected the mistakes.

A young couple bought the house and moved in.

Ryan McNamara, a Navy Super Hornet pilot, and his wife, Siobhan, an elementary school teacher, needed someplace to live in a hurry. The moving van was on the way. They quickly signed the closing papers because their lawyer said it was OK.

"I didn't really know the whole certificate-of-occupancy thing," Siobhan McNamara recalls. She thought the problems would be resolved quickly.

Two years passed.

Headache No. 2 arrived in 2006.

Half a mile from the McNamara house, Bishard began building a pair of three-story duplexes at Parks Avenue and 13th Street.

Almost immediately, there was trouble.

The houses failed inspection. A framing inspector said the roofs were too tall. Virginia Beach allows 35 feet, the duplexes were 37-1/2 feet tall.

What happened next is in dispute.

City planners say the inspector ordered work stopped until Bishard fixed the roofs. Bishard says the inspector let him keep building. So he did.

On Nov. 22, the houses were completed and inspected - and they failed again, not surprisingly, because they were still too tall.

A man bought one of the duplexes and moved in.

And then the whole mess moved to City Hall, where Bishard hoped to clear up everything by getting zoning variances.

It didn't work out that way.

On Feb. 7, the Board of Zoning Appeals considered the too-tall duplexes. Bishard brought a small entourage: his lawyer, his project manager, his materials supplier and the new owner.

Bishard argued it wasn't his fault. "The architect made an error on the roof design," he said.

City planners disagreed. In matter-of-fact prose, they wrote that Bishard "was notified on several occasions that the structure was over height and the framing inspections had failed.... The applicant's field manager mistakenly used 9-foot studs instead of 8-foot studs."

The board rejected Bishard's application by a 6- 1 vote. Now he must tear off the roofs and replace them.

"It's a massive undertaking," he said.

On Wednesday, the board considered Bishard's too-wide house.

This time, Bishard did not come himself. He sent his project manager.

Board members were incensed.

"I'm just appalled that Bishard is not here himself and sent you," board member Richard Garriott Jr., a lawyer, told the project manager. "And I'm appalled Bishard sold a house to this young couple.... This whole thing stinks to heaven."

Board members became angrier when they learned the homeowners weren't told for two years that they were still living on a temporary occupancy permit - which still hasn't been fixed.

"It's disgusting," board member Joan Wright told Bishard's manager. "You should be ashamed of yourself as builders."

At the hearing, the site surveyor admitted he goofed initially by staking the foundation wrong. He said they were working in the dark with flashlights, and they never followed up.

"I accept the responsibility for it," said John Brunelle of Digital Survey Services in Chesapeake.

Even so, Brunelle and Bishard blame each other for not quickly correcting the problem and informing the homeowners.

Bishard's project manager, Bob Deacon, told the board, "It wasn't malicious."

Board Chairman Jim Wood shot back: "What was malicious was not telling her (the homeowner) for two years.... Tell Mr. Bishard if we ever see him here again, please don't bother to come."

The board approved the variance, but only to help the homeowner.

Last week, Bishard fixed the original drainage problem and has agreed to place sod in the backyard, which turns to mud after every rain.

Now, Siobhan McNamara and her husband, who is leaving the Navy, will sell the house and move away this summer. They're not sure where they will go - someplace where Ryan McNamara can attend business school.

Bishard hopes the board can see it wasn't his fault.

"They didn't know the whole story," he said. "We're the ones who tried to cleanse this whole process."

Wood isn't so sure.

"A builder is responsible for what he builds and what he sells," Wood said after the meeting. "They had two years to handle the problem, and they didn't."