Does a building inspector nail you for unpermitted work?

[Hobby_Man22]

Say he's there to inspect a driveway or give a permit for a driveway and sees you have an a.c. unit that wasn't permitted. Is he going to make you get a permit for it?

 

[The Cobbler]

Im certain it's a regional thing as well as the mood the inspector is in

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Like with my building nobody wanted to retrofit it with insulation, so I just put it up myself and hung it with metal straps. I still need to cover it up though. People only wanted to spray foam it at a cost of like 10k.

 

[Copymutt]

Their prerogative. Had them pass if no neighbors complain. Also had them request simple plan submission for past work which helps when its time to sell. Elec. & plumbing are state level prrmits here & you do want them.

 

[txvwnut]

Unless the a/c company is still there doing the install I doubt the inspector will notice a new a/c unit.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

They don't print off a list of existing permits for the property before they even show up?

 

[manwithtools]

They don't print off a list of existing permits for the property before they even show up?

Who "prints" anything today? Most are pretty busy people, they are there to do the inspection and move on.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Who "prints" anything today? Most are pretty busy people, they are there to do the inspection and move on.

So most don't care it seems....

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Let me rephrase that then. Don't they look at existing permits on their tablet when they're there to see what has a permit and what doesn't?

 

[PCustoms]

Probably not, within reason.

An AC unit on the side of a building that had the permit closed out years ago? Likely won't notice that as he is checking a driveway.

Brand new 1000 sqft deck? He might check on that.

 

[manwithtools]

Highly dependent on your location, some areas have specialized inspectors, others have one guy for everything.

I think you are asking "will he see my unpermitted work?" Possibly, but unlikely unless it's a **** job and is right in front of him.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Why do contractors skirt permits anyways? What's the process of getting one? If it's a situation of he has to come out once to see where we're putting it then again to see it after the install or to say oh no you can't put the ac above the office, that's not safe and throwing out the whole job. Or you can't put an ac in a building like this etc. I'm sure there was a good reason why a well known contractor did what he did. At the time I just didn't think you know one day you may have someone here to permit an add on to the building and they can tell me to take it all down. I'd throw a fit if he made me take down my insulation I did little by little over a period of like 2 months.

 

[engineer2]

Varies by location. Around here the inspector is mainly concerned with the work on the current permit. He may mention something like "hey you should repaint that trim!" People skirt permits around here whenever possible because it makes our already high property taxes go up even more. Unpermitted work is seldom an issue if you sell your house because we all know to avoid permits, plus permits do not guarantee quality work.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I think just as long as you disclose that a permit wasn't pulled. They new owners can turn around and sue you if they find out later. For what though I have no idea. This badass fancy $8k A/C system they installed wasn't permitted. But yes that's exactly what the contractor said. He's like they're just going to raise your taxes. lol

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I didn't know this was a common thing.

 

[Marc Voorhees]

I had an inspector come and do a permitted roof inspection. I got a letter 2 weeks later saying the deck work I was doing was unpermitted (Complete tear off of decking AND RAILINGS which is apparently what I needed the permit for) and I needed to get it signed off. Went down to the township, paid my $45, Corona hit, got it inspected like a year later once it was done. 30 second cursory inspection.

bit of a money grab all in all, but I understand the purpose. All in all, I avoid local government as much as possible

 

[quickfarms]

Depends on the jurisdiction around here

some want every little thing permitted and others will only issue a permit if it is a life safety issue

generally there is a lot of leeway on doing maintenance work without a permit

I am starting a new shop and all they want is the original permit for the house and garage

so if it looks like it was built per the code of the time and you don’t have any obvious new work it will probably nit be noticed

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I had an inspector come and do a permitted roof inspection. I got a letter 2 weeks later saying the deck work I was doing was unpermitted (Complete tear off of decking AND RAILINGS which is apparently what I needed the permit for) and I needed to get it signed off. Went down to the township, paid my $45, Corona hit, got it inspected like a year later once it was done. 30 second cursory inspection.

bit of a money grab all in all, but I understand the purpose. All in all, I avoid local government as much as possible

Where was the deck located? Front of the house or back? Was it like a front porch type of thing?

 

[firebirdparts]

Generally speaking, it's way too much detail. He has to know somehow that the air conditioner, in his opinion, doesn't exist, and he doesn't easily come by that opinion.

it's a million times easier to observe work in progress and come to an opinion that there isn't a current permit for that.

 

[rayra]

They don't print off a list of existing permits for the property before they even show up?

Yeah, No. They are there to look at the new thing.

/OCD people should be kept away from work as inspectors

 

[Mikeske]

I have just always had permits for what ever I had done or was working on. Much easier for everyone involved and no questions later. When I replaced my back deck there was a question by the permit office worker whether I was doing a deck repair as I had a 8 X 12 foot deck and I said 8 X 60 covered deck I thought it was needed. she called her supervisor over and he said full replacement a permit is required. If the customer is doing a top side replacement of the deck no permit required but your local area may require a permit it varies all over. Once I paid the fees required a permit was issued I was called and I got the permit and then called the contractor to let him know I had the permit. I was closer to the permit office or the contractor would got the permit later in the week.

 

[jmiller_2308]

I think it really depends on the inspector and how hungry the city/county/state is for money.

When I lived in St. Paul I didn't pull permits for a furnace replacement, partial roof replacement, remodeled bath, electrical, etc. and had no issues when I sold the house. House was inspected per city requirements when I sold and nobody cared that there were no permits.

My brother lives across the park from where I lived and contracted to have a new roof and addition added to his house. The inspectors, as well as the contractor, were a royal pain but the worst was that the inspector saw a wired smoke alarm per city code and went back to see if a permit was pulled to install it. The smoke alarm was already wired in when he bought the house but apparently wasn't done under permit by the previous owner. The city made my brother pull a permit to wire in the smoke alarm. He did nothing other then call for the inspection, they came out again and said yup, it is there and closed the permit.

 

[MushCreek]

It really varies all over the place. There are still parts of the country that have no building departments, and thus, no permits at all. Other places are really fussy. Where I lived in central FL, they were all over everything. It was probably a reaction to all of the fly-by-night hacks that were prevalent in FL. Here in rural SC, they wouldn't notice or care.

 

[Marc Voorhees]

Where was the deck located? Front of the house or back? Was it like a front porch type of thing?

Was in the back. It was in progress, completely skeletonized at that point, just the joists were left. You could see it from 3 sidesif the house.

Don't begrudge them for looking into it,just sort of rolled my eyes all in all

 

[Innovate1]

I would say most places aren't going to be digging to find non-permitted stuff but may look for obvious things. If you add something obvious like finish a basement or add a bathroom that's stuff that is usually easily checked and may be an issue at sale time or when they inspect for something else. Some places I have been require a sticker on a replacement water heater to show it was inspected which seems a bit over the top to me but it makes it easy to see if it was permitted - most places aren't that strict. If you are in the middle of a project like the deck rebuild that someone else posted then that is obvious and they are likely to catch that. But if it is complete and looks reasonably well done then they aren't likely to catch it.

This is going to vary hugely by area. Maybe talk to others in the area to find out how nit picky they are.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Like others have said, depends on the inspector and AHJ. Some have the thought, it's not what they are there for nor do they want the extra paperwork.

 

[bbbarracuda]

Permit? What's a permit?
Totally depends on location. Years ago, I got a building permit for a garage. The permit people were surprised I bothered. They did take my money, though.

 

[welder4956]

As others have said, permit requirements vary by location. Best route is to get online and look up the permit requirements for your city/county. In my county, a homeowner doing their own work is not required to have a permit but they are supposed to sign and submit a waiver form. I've had contractors replace my deck, reroof the house, replace windows, replace ac system, replace doors. Only one contractor pulled a permit for an ac/furnace and the inspector eyeballed my gas water heater install and leak checked the gas line because it was right beside the furnace. I had replaced a 30 year old 40 gallon heater with a 50 gallon the year before and he could tell it was new. But it was done right and he did not say a word about it. I learned plumbing in the Navy and usually do my own.

 

[Innovate1]

One place I was thinking of building they are real sticklers for plans and inspections. Was talking to someone who did their own engineering for their office building (small, single story building). Inspector came back to reinspect some plumbing drain that had some issue on initial inspection. After they looked at the plumbing issue they said they wanted to look around at the rest of the building which had already been inspected. He showed them the door! They also wanted to not give him final sign off for the front counter being unfinished as he had used some previously used wood - I think the term would be distressed wood. He told them it was exactly the look he wanted and that it was finished. They grumbled a bit but went on their way.

We decided not to build in that area. Really depends on the area.

 

[Terry D]

Like everyone says, it depends on the inspector and your area. I live in a area where permits are required for everything, but I have seen whole houses get rehabbed with no permits and the building inspector comes and approves the occupancy permit. I also have seen work get done without permits and when they sell the house, they get nailed. We have some strict inspectors here. We have separate electrical, plumbing, mechanical and building inspectors in our larger jurisdictions, the smaller municipalities usually has one guy that does it all. I have seen them look at new Romex, which has a manufactures date on it, and check to see if a permit was pulled. I know permits can be a PITA, but I recommend them.

 

[Jinks]

20 Years ago I bought a little beach cottage near where I live now. It needed major repairs, but most were on the inside so I never even thought of permits. A few months in, & I decided to replace a chain link fence on one side of the house with a wood one. Too busy to do it myself I hired a local fence company. The popped the new fence up in about a half day.... A week or two later I got a nasty gram from the county...No permit! I went to the office, paid the permit fee, & waited. I just happened to be at the cottage when an inspector arrived. She gave the fence a 3 minute glance, scribbled on the permit, & was about to leave when I asked her "did it pass?" She turned & gave me a healthy ration of **** about getting permits, then said "yes it passed". She was the only one involved that had any kind of attitude.... Later I decided to re-roof the place. I was going to do it myself so I pulled a permit. Only after I applied, waited for approval, & picked up the permit did they give me a sheet stating that if I was going to rent the place, or sell within two years, I could not do the work myself.. I decided not to fight the county & just hired a roofing company. It appears here that it's just another tax, & a benefit for contractors.

 

[greenskeeper]

most permits are money grabs for the municipality

 

[johninct]

My cousin took out a roof repair permit for his apartment house. Instead, he took 2 years to do a complete roof/ plywood reroof. Every day the building inspector would go for a walk on his lunch hour and wave to my cousin working on the roof........

 

[Sumboodie]

I'm glad we don't have that here. I do what I want.

 

[mike93lx]

Why do contractors skirt permits anyways? What's the process of getting one? If it's a situation of he has to come out once to see where we're putting it then again to see it after the install or to say oh no you can't put the ac above the office, that's not safe and throwing out the whole job. Or you can't put an ac in a building like this etc. I'm sure there was a good reason why a well known contractor did what he did. At the time I just didn't think you know one day you may have someone here to permit an add on to the building and they can tell me to take it all down. I'd throw a fit if he made me take down my insulation I did little by little over a period of like 2 months.

Depends on the town/county. Took my contractor 6 weeks to get a permit for windows and siding. The town was holding me hostage over a roofing permit pulled 8 years before and never communicated that with me

 

[flat350]

Some areas now have a disclaimer on real estate contracts that all and any additions or alterations to the property have been permitted. Yes you can check it off as yes even if they were not. All it takes is the purchaser to do a FOIA search on the property and saying yes can backfire on you.
But even someone doing a FOIA search isn't foolproof. I did a search on my property twice to see what showed up and the same things didn't show up each time. I called the village and talked to a higher up in the building dept. and questioned him about the search results and all he had to say was " hmm that's interesting ".
In my town they won't chase you around if you don't pull a permit on basic things, they put a real estate transfer stamp tax hold on the property. They give you a choice of removing the non permitted work or maybe getting a permit and inspection after the fact when you go to sell the property.

 

[ItsNemo]

What inspector is ever going to know what was and wasn't done over the years on a house? They're not going to go back and study the plans of the original building and compare to what is there now. Hell, half the stuff isn't even fully documented on plans that are submitted.

Permit the major stuff (decks, basements, etc.) and t'heck with anything else. At least if DIY and you're competent and don't cut corners because of lack of permit that is.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

It's hard not to notice an ac unit imo.

 

[mike93lx]

It's hard not to notice an ac unit imo.

You are worrying too much

 

[CombatNinja]

The response here should make it clear that this is location-dependent. There are municipalities that will bust you for every little thing under the sun and there are those that will let you put an addition on your house with no paperwork.