Inspection Question

[onthefence777]

So, say I pull a permit for work in the backyard. can they legally require entrance in to my house to inspect a totally unrelated item? Could they inspect an unrelated item in the backyard?Not that there is any issues in the house that I know of, really just concerned with privacy. This is in CA if that matters.

Oh, and also, if say my house was built in 1940 to codes at that time, and I have this backyard inspection done tomorrow, can they require me to update the entire house to today's codes?

 

[GarageEnvy]

There is a push in CA to make people bring things up to code but so far it's pretty limited if you haven't disturbed that area or aren't transferring the property. Examples would be smoke and CO detectors. I just got out of a meeting with a city planner from Madera County who said the state is pushing hard for energy efficiency retrofits.

To answer your question, yes, they can inspect the whole property. Whether they do so or not is anyone's guess. I had the same fear on my garage build as prior owners had added on w/o permits. It could have been ugly but I dodged a bullet and got lucky on some things. My house was built prior to the date they kept records on file. Yours might also be. Go get the file and find out what they know is in existence. I shut all the blinds and windows and walled off the house area from the garage with a fence of 9' tall house wrap. I let the contractors handle the inspections whenever possible. Probably the only reason my illegal 14'x18' shed is still standing is that my dog scared the inspector.

 

[Outlawmws]

Generally they won't go elsewhere on the property unless there is a reason. (Like obvious hazards or explicit code violations like trash piles or toxic waste storage)

As to requiring updates, generally that would depend on how much you are doing to the structure in question. As an example, my house was built before smoke detectors were required, code says they must be hard wired into a new structure. I was allowed to just use battery operated detectors under grandfathering, as I was making an addition with two bedrooms, if the addition hadn't had bedrooms I probably wouldn't have needed even that.

Of course this is CA, and every city has their own requirements. I can build almost anything in my back yard and if its under 120 sq ft, and no power or plumbing, no permit required.(but I do need to meet codes for height etc.) New fence? No permit as long as it meets code. Decks? under 18" and no permit...

Across the freeway and an invisible line in another city, and those muthers require a permit if you want to put up a trellis for a rose. I'm not joking...

 

[MrMark]

No, they have no right to enter your home. They still would need a warrant (administrative here) for that if you didn't consent. Note that you consent when you get the permit to allow them inside access IF the work to be performed is in the house. The work is in the backyard, not the home.

No, they can't make you do anything to update your house unless you do new work there with a permit.

Yes, if they see something in the backyard that is not legit they can come back with a code violation on that.