As previously discussed on some of the items above, there is no clear cut and dry answer on when you need to pull a building permit to improve your home. The best way to find out is to pick up the phone and call the local building department or stop in for face-to-face. The building inspector should quickly tell you if you will need a permit for your project or not. It is safe to assume that anything safety-related will require a permit. You can also expect that a permit will be necessary when doing something that will significantly alter your home.
When all the work has been completed, one important reminder is not to forget to have a final inspection and get the permit closed out! Over the years, I have had several clients who have done the right thing and pulled a building permit but never closed it out once all the work was completed.
Closing out a permit is often called getting a certificate of occupancy. Recently while selling a home in Bellingham, Massachusetts , I ran into this exact situation. The owner pulled an original building permit but never asked for a final inspection, so the project was never filed as completed.
Luckily, the building department did not make them do anything special other than getting a final review. However, you could find yourself in a situation where you are not so lucky if there are code changes between the time the permit is pulled and when you are selling your home. Make sure when the project is completed, a final inspection is done, and a certificate of occupancy is issued. Your city or town wants you to get permits for all the work you do in your house, just like buyers do.
The permit process is probably not as complicated or as costly as you first imagine. You need to bring in the city building inspector to examine the work and get them to approve it, then pay your fee for the permit.
In many locations, including Massachusetts, you will pay permits for various construction phases like electrical and plumbing, for example. In other words, you may pay a fee for the general building inspection along with costs for a plumbing and electrical inspection if applicable. As long as the work is up to par, the only real inconvenience will be the fee. But even the costs are not terribly high in most cases. Doing this will ensure that the work is up to standard — something both you and anyone thinking of buying your house will appreciate.
When you do go to sell, you will have one less thing to worry about. In summary, if anyone tells you that getting a building permit is something you should skip and not worry about, they are flat-out wrong! Do yourself a favor and get building permits for any work that is legally required to do so. When it comes time to sell, you will be glad you did. Never underestimate the importance of pulling the required building permits.
Unpermitted work can cause a home sale to fall through or put you through needless stress and aggravation. Hopefully, you now have a much better understanding of the permitting process and the steps you need to take to get a permit. Use these additional resources to make smart decisions surrounding your home. Above all else, remember that the lack of permits can and does stop home sales from happening! About the author: The above Real Estate information on do you need a building permit and how to get one was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field.
Bill can be reached via email at billgassett remaxexec. Are you thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise! Bill Gassett is a nationally recognized Real Estate leader who has been helping people move in and out of the Metrowest Massachusetts area for the past thirty-four plus years. Bill, Great article. As you know, this one hits home for me. I will say that the vast majority of home inspectors do not check permit records unless explicitly asked to do so by the buyer or real estate agent.
Thanks for bringing it to the surface so a few more real estate professionals can be aware of the hidden issues. If you want to learn more about how permits can affect your real estate deals, check out my profile and HomeTrackr.
We perform this task for you in about 5 seconds. Tell your buyers and inspectors that tools like ours exist and can help keep everyone out of harms way. All sales of homes in Florida now involve doing a permit check. I gutted the kitchen and could not start until the permits were pulled.
It is smart! One huge issue in my area, is not only getting permits, but getting an in-law apartment permitted and approved. Of course a permitted and approved in-law can add significant value to a home. I recently had a home where the town revoked an occupancy on a home with an unapproved in-law after a fire inspection. While the fix was ultimately simple remove stove and plumbing for the kitchen and get rid of a closet in a bedroom it was last minute and my client had to give up some money to keep my client in the deal.
Thanks Kevin. We see the same issue from time to time here not only with in-law apartments but with unfinished basements. There are a lot of homeowners who would rather save a couple hundred backs than to deal with getting a permit for work. Of course when it comes time to sell not having a permit can create huge issues! Share Tweet Pin Buffer Getting building permits is vital when doing additions or improvements.
In large scope projects that you hire someone else to complete it for you, then they are the ones responsible for pulling the permit.
If you pull the permit yourself and then compensate someone else to supervise the project for you, then you are breaking the law in most jurisdictions. A common scheme that homeowners do is pull their own permit so that they can hire a low-priced contractor that does not have the authorization to pull the permits due to lack of validity.
Contractors that work on projects need to be licensed by the state and carry insurance. If you are working with a contractor who suggests skipping this step, consider moving on to another contractor. As cumbersome as the process can be, it will be better than dealing with the city if it finds out you should, but don't have a permit. The city might force you to obtain a permit and could double or triple the permitting fees.
It may also shut down your project or require you to tear down your work for example, remove a wall to see what's behind it if there is a question as to whether the work was done according to code. The worst thing would be if this were to happen when you're in the middle of trying to sell your house, which is when such issues often come to light. Unpermitted construction can lower your home's value, and you might even need to bring it up to code as a condition of the sale. In short, it is not worth the risk.
See "Discovering Unpermitted Construction When Selling Your Home" for more information on obtaining a permit after construction is complete. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site.
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Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. Even minor home improvement projects frequently require a permit; a step you skip at your peril. For example, you will likely need a building permit to: add or remove walls change the use of a room such as by converting a garage to a living room change the piping in your house re-roof your house, or demolish a portion of your house.
Projects that don't usually need a permit include: repainting your house adding kitchen cabinets replacing certain kitchen appliances repaving your driveway installing floor coverings, or erecting a small fence. The typical steps to obtaining a building permit are: Completing a permit application. I want to discuss this with you because I so often run into projects being performed around the house where permits are required, but have not been pulled.
You, the homeowner-occupant-tenant need to understand the potential problems and negative ramifications that can occur if required permits are just ignored or erroneously pulled. The permit process is in place to protect residents while maintaining an attractive and safe community overall. Recently, while performing an inspection on a construction project, I had a homeowner, who has taken out a substantial bank loan to do major renovation to a house, present me with copies of all of the required city permits for the renovation.
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