Does a building inspector nail you for unpermitted work?

[Doug]

In the late '70s I built a garage, with all necessary permits. Nobody ever inspected the construction process, even though I called for an inspection after framing. I was told to rough in the electrical and they'd come and inspect that, too. I called either twice or three times for an inspection, and nobody ever showed up. In went the outlets, switches and lights and the building is still standing with no final inspections done on anything.

Also, I decided the garage would work better if I moved it back 10', so I just pulled up the stakes and moved it without telling anybody.

At another house I decided to build a small deck (without a permit). I started it on a Thursday and worked on it all day Friday. I wasn't aware that the town building inspector lived across the hayfield in my back yard. Guess what? Saturday I took a cease-and-desist order out of mailbox. I went to the inspector's office and pleaded ignorance of the law, bought the permit and finished the deck.

 

[engineer2]

Around here most people don't care about permits unless they are a government employee or a ****. Selling your house doesn't trigger a permit search, but an ******* buyer might try to use unpermitted work as a bargaining chip. The buyer's home inspector will dictate what is acceptable and as a seller you must disclose unpermitted work that you (hopefully) did to code. Last house I sold, no one cared or asked about permits and it was a gut rehab. Building inspectors can't legally come onto your property without permission in our area, but laws vary by region.

Next town over has a lot of ramshackle homes often occupied by lower income immigrants. Their building inspectors are very strict, which makes sense because of the older housing stock, many of which once were summer cottages. They want to improve the town's appearance make sure they are safe for families.

 

[Tman]

Around here most people don't care about permits unless they are a government employee or a ****. Selling your house doesn't trigger a permit search, but an ******* buyer might try to use unpermitted work as a bargaining chip. The buyer's home inspector will dictate what is acceptable and as a seller you must disclose unpermitted work that you (hopefully) did to code. Last house I sold, no one cared or asked about permits and it was a gut rehab. Building inspectors can't legally come onto your property without permission in our area, but laws vary by region.

Next town over has a lot of ramshackle homes often occupied by lower income immigrants. Their building inspectors are very strict, which makes sense because of the older housing stock, many of which once were summer cottages. They want to improve the town's appearance make sure they are safe for families.

Yeah, I have never had a permit search done while buying or selling. And around here very few folks use home inspections when selling. VA Loans are the only time I have run into picky inspections/appraisals.

 

[HPRifleman]

Around here most people don't care about permits unless they are a government employee or a ****. Selling your house doesn't trigger a permit search, but an ******* buyer might try to use unpermitted work as a bargaining chip. The buyer's home inspector will dictate what is acceptable and as a seller you must disclose unpermitted work that you (hopefully) did to code. Last house I sold, no one cared or asked about permits and it was a gut rehab. Building inspectors can't legally come onto your property without permission in our area, but laws vary by region.

Next town over has a lot of ramshackle homes often occupied by lower income immigrants. Their building inspectors are very strict, which makes sense because of the older housing stock, many of which once were summer cottages. They want to improve the town's appearance make sure they are safe for families.

When my in-laws were selling their house in Melrose Park they had to have it inspected per the town. Any deficiencies had to be addressed before sale.

 

[csp]

So will they care about the ac when the electrical guy comes to inspect the power for the second steel building I want to build? Since it's like right there by the box. I really got the shaft by the contractors I used not pulling permits.

How do you think they will know if the AC is permitted or not? Do you think the inspector has intimate knowledge of every permitted alteration to every home in his jurisdiction?

I think I said it once already, you're looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. If ultimately an inspector does notice you do what needs to be done to correct it and you're done. It's certainly less effort than what has gone into this thread about a hypothetical and getting answers from people who have zero control over the outcome. It's baffling actually to see so much worry about something that the potential outcome is what could be a fix it ticket.

 

[engineer2]

When my in-laws were selling their house in Melrose Park they had to have it inspected per the town. Any deficiencies had to be addressed before sale.

I was surprised by how many towns require it. https://www.illinoisrealtors.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Inspections.pdf

 

[vavet]

I called the county before installing replacement windows several years ago. They told me no permit required as long as I wasn't changing the size of the windows. For the deck - as long as I was just redecking it, not increasing the size of it.

 

[Gitter]

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?

When we had our electrical permit inspection, the inspector who was known for being a grouch, saw the phone line that ran along the rafters and made a note on our inspection paper (which we aced) about the phone line and that having one installed would require a permit - which had not been filed. It was a clear warning shot over the bow. It was an old line, we never use it and took it down incase the insurance company decided to use that as an out, should the place ever burn down.

 

[mikedodge]

Inspectors are usually busy enough the way it is and don't want to spend more time then they have to on a project. They would probably only notice the a.c. If there was something obviously wrong with the way it was installed.

 

[FMB4]

You roll the dice and take your chances imo. As a new subdivision roofer in the early '80s I learned that new construction 'building inspectors' only checked 1 of 10 or 12 houses in any one sub (if that).

 

[WinMod21]

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?

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

Their prerogative. Had them pass if no neighbors complain. ~

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

Highly dependent on your location, ~

Varies by location. ~

Depends on the jurisdiction around here ~

That ^ and totally agree with all similar replies; completely depends on location.

When I was a Project Manager building 30 to 50 homes concurrently, often in 3 or 4 separate plats, I'd regularly get 20~30 building permits dropped on my desk at the same time - often for the same plat. The building inspectors were over-worked and running around ragged and all worn-out.
One of my painting contractors wanted a 1900 sqft kitchen, din rm & fam rm addition + new porch w/rustic lodge-type timbers & columns & arches + new entry foyer &c. Anyway, he didn't want to permit it. So we didn't. And after a buddy and I did the demo one weekend, (whilst sadly missing a great Grouse & early Chukar hunting weekend), I had one of my big LinkBelt excavators in there and a Dresser TD7 for several days; then my foundation crew; then a framing crew; plumber; roofer, etc, etc.
The very same county inspectors —that inspected all our new homes, in the same general area— never slowed or stopped or came up the drive, even though they could see the huge prowled, two-story-high dining & fam rm addition with it's tall raked windows and new western red cedar siding & timbers & new metal roof &c, standing high and prominently on the other side of no more than approx 100 yds of woods, as the autumn leaves started to fall and then all fell. But not a single inspector ever stopped. I guess they were all too busy.

 

[CJM8515]

reminds me.

my parents recently sold their home they were in for the past 25 years. my dad insisted on finishing the basement (no one wanted to but him but whatever) and he did it himself. They are selling the house and the realtor of the other person called the town and sicc'd the inspector on them. real **** move since their client ended up not wanting the house in the end.

anyways inspector came, told my dad to fix some outlets he forgot to ground properly and put sheet rock under the stairs as a fire barrier. my dads lucky thats all it was. he didnt take out any permits for anything ever

 

[65ranchero]

In selling my other house we had to get a certificate from the Town fire inspector.
And pay a fee of I think $75 It could have been smaller amount.
The current home owner (me) had to schedule a visit from the inspector and he would make sure the smoke detectors were within date and use a smoke stick to make sure they worked. Also made sure there was one in the hallways and in the BRs
And the kitchen had to have a current fire extinguisher by the exit from the kitchen mounted on a wall .
We had just redid the kitchen and had maple custom cabinets and the way the cabinets were configured we would of had to screw the bracket to the cabinet.
There was a lively discussion about that.
I was able to be able to mount it on a hall way wall which is a better place to see it.

 

[jetnow1]

My better half had her brother in law build a small deck and stairs on the front of her house when she bought it. The town garage is
at the end of the street, the building inspectors park the town cars there, as well as gas up there. They drive by at least twice a day.
He was not licensed in CT, never pulled permits, they never even stopped by.
When I moved in with her I built a 24 by 30 garage in the back yard. Yes it was permitted, when I called for the framing inspection
I waited all day, no inspector. Flagged him down as he was returning to turn in the car. Seems he got the address mixed up went to
the house next door who was doing an addition, no one answered the door so he just left. Said it just never thought there would be two projects next to each other. Guess he could not see a two story building 150 feet from the street.

 

[vrinner]

I was in the process of building an outdoor kitchen and putting in a jacuzzi. I also needed to put in a new 200amp panel which I figured needed to be permitted.

When they came out to inspect the panel he said looks like you are putting electrical into your outdoor kitchen, you need a permit for that.

 

[FMB4]

In many cases non-permitted work only causes problems when you try to sell the place. Or, if something law-suit ish happens that puts you on the hook for non-permitted changes.