This is why I live outside the city limits, and avoid areas with HOAs. I shouldn't have to ask permission to put in an extra plug that makes vacuuming the hallway easier, or to put a specific species of tree in my yard. I understand the reasoning behind permits and such, but d@mn some places are just ridiculous....
All of my work is done with higher standards than people who do the job to "code". I shouldn't have to pay for permission to modify my house, or pay someone with less of an education &/or experience than I to come make sure I didn't put my plug in 1/2" too low.
Regardless what city you're in, I personally wouldn't have even thought about pulling a permit for what you're talking about doing. I'm not recommending you do the same, just sharing my thoughts. Either way, best of luck to you.
Then again, if you've seen some of the kludge work on the interwebs, you know that some kind of control is needed.
One thing AHJ's like to see is that a garage of shop space is not being made into living quarters. So, improvements of many natures fall into permit territory.
As mentioned, the OP will most likely do some electrical work. Unless he really knows what he is doing, inspections are beneficial.
The lady next door to me wants to replace a tired wood fence with block. She's cheap when it comes to hiring anyone, I've seen the ones she hires. Here, we have to have very substantial footings for block. A 6'6" wall needs a lot of steel and a 12" x
36" deep footing. Or it can be shallower and 24" wide. Any way you cut it, it's a LOT OF dirt to excavate and several yards of concrete to do 40'. The AHJ doesn't allow vertical steel to be shoved in after the block is laid. It has to be tied and the masons have to lift each block up and over the vertical rebar.
She won't want to pay for a permitted job and I won't want to have a substandard fence as a liability.
Maybe not quite on topic, but permits often times eliminate bogus short cuts.
