Code Enforcement

What it is

Code enforcement is the city coming to check your work. Every municipality handles it a little differently — there’s the state level, the county level, and then the actual city. They’re all going to have different rules. Usually they’re all pretty aligned, though.

For a flipper it touches you in two places. First is pulling permits before you start any work that requires them — electrical, plumbing, mechanical, structural, building. Second is calling in inspections at specific milestones and having someone sign off: rough-in, framing and insulation, and final.

There’s also the code enforcement side that has nothing to do with your renovation — neighbor complaints, overgrown lots, nuisance conditions, violation notices from prior owners. If you’re buying a distressed house, check if there’s a code enforcement lien on it. Those run with the property.

Why it matters

A stop work order shuts your whole project down. I had a guy call me who’d just gotten a stop work order from the city and they shut down his whole project. With hard money ticking, that is a brutal situation.

Here’s the honest thing though: inspectors catch stuff your contractors try to slip past you. The inspector walks your rough-in and finds work that wasn’t done right. That is a free QC check on your electrician or your plumber. Treat them that way and the relationship gets a lot easier.

I’ve bought houses where the inspection tags looked like everything passed, then found out afterward the work never actually passed any inspection. The prior owner had DIY-flipped it. Everything looked fine until we opened things up and realized it was all wrong. That is the professional DIY problem — the work is inside the walls and you don’t find it until later.

The other thing that gets investors is grandfathering loss. A house built to 1960s code is allowed to keep its old wiring as long as you don’t open the walls. Open a wall, and everything behind it has to come up to current code. That’s why the rule in my shop is: the contractor who opens a wall outside the scope is on the hook for everything behind it.

How it shows up

Different states have different rules for who can pull permits. Early in my career, I found a licensed GC, hired him, and worked underneath him. I was doing all the contracting, bringing in electricians and plumbers I had met. He pulled the permits and would come check the work before inspections were called in. He was technically hiring me. It was all legit.

There are also lower-grade licenses — limited licenses, handyman licenses — that are easier to get. Homeowner permits are another option if you’re doing a live-in flip. Those aren’t designed for scale, but they’ll get you your first one.

The GC test, by the way, is not that hard. You go in with 15 books and take it open-book. You need to know where to look in the code tables, not memorize every number. Practice tests teach you to find stuff. Study hard, go take it.

Related

permitting, general contractor, miy method, pro diy, scope of work, grandfathering, inspections