Dealing with the City can be tough, annoying, and expensive. However, it is a necessary perceived evil that most homeowners must face. Often, I see homes extensively remodeled without permits. This can partly be because the homeowner doesn’t know what work on a home requires permits, or they are just trying to shave off time and money.
We have had clients ask us what to do with and without permits. And we always say permits. Here’s three reasons why:
- Codes change, and that could cost you: If, for some reason you pull permits retroactively or the City catches wind of the work that happened in the past, you may be in for a rude and expensive awakening. Generally, building codes get more strict year after year. This means if you try to get an already completed project permitted, then you are subject to building codes at the time you pull the permit, not when the work was completed. This means it could cost you more than if you had done it right in the first place.
- The City holds your contractor accountable: Part of the role of the City is to double check the work. This means making sure things like the plumbing was installed correctly, rather than you are finding out after the fact when it is already behind the wall and problems arise. Honest mistakes happen, so it doesn’t hurt to have a second pair of eyes looking at it.
- Takes the liability from you when it comes time to sell: It is an unfortunate reality that we live in a lawsuit society. This means that if something goes wrong when you sell, someone may go after you (even if you are in the right, that still means wasted time and money defending yourself). By doing things with permits, it alleviates the pressure off you as you prove everything was completed to code at the time.
For any project you do, your best bet is to speak to qualified professionals as to what requires a permit and what doesn’t. Every City and project require different conditions and it is important to know what is needed for any job on any household project.
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