Permitting

What it is

Permitting is telling the city or county what you’re about to build, paying a fee, and getting an inspector out at each stage to verify the work meets code. The general building permit is the umbrella — sub-permits for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical all attach under it.

I’m not a boy scout. I’ll say that upfront. You do what you want. But there are pros and cons and I’ll tell you how I think about it. If it’s a cosmetic renovation, you don’t need permits. Like legit, you don’t need them for cosmetic work only. If you’re gutting a house, you want them. You want the stuff inside the walls inspected, because whoever buys that house is going to want to see permits done. And honestly, even if they weren’t going to ask — you want the work checked by somebody who isn’t on your payroll. That’s free quality control.

I remember starting out, we’d put black plastic on the windows so they couldn’t see in because we were doing work and we were scared. In Colorado, I’d literally hit the floor like a burpee when I saw a city truck drive by. You don’t need to be that scared of cosmetic work.

Why it matters

Getting caught doing unpermitted work that required permits is way worse than just pulling the permit. My buddy got a stop work order after he finished out a whole basement without pulling permits. They made him pull permits after the fact. And I almost guarantee they made him tear the walls open so the city could see the work he’d already done inside. You think about the cost there.

There’s also six ways cities catch unpermitted work: Google Earth, listing photos, an angry tenant, a real estate agent complaint, a drive-by, and a neighbor with a grudge. Pick a number higher than zero and the math starts going the wrong way. Unpermitted work kills appraisals and loan closings. A savvy buyer’s agent will run the address through the permit portal before the inspection period even opens.

If I’m doing a full renovation and touching electrical, you know, technically speaking you should be pulling permits for those things. There’s a gray area in between. Be the judge, but be honest about where you are on that spectrum.

How it shows up

The inspection sequence when you pull permits: Foundation, then MEP rough, then Framing and Insulation, then Final. MEP rough happens before framing because plumbers routinely damage framing when they cut for drains. Framing gets done after mechanical, electrical, and plumbing roughs — not before. Get the sequence wrong and you redo the work.

How I do it: the GC pulls a general building permit. Underneath that, you need a licensed master electrician and master plumber to pull their own sub-permits. The general contractor can be you if you have your license. I got mine, put in the experience, took the test. The GC test is not that freaking hard. They have practice tests. It’s kind of like an open book test — you have to know where to look for things, not memorize exact numbers.

Pay contractors on the inspection, not just the work. 65% at rough inspection, 35% at trim-out. Never 100% before both inspections clear. The inspector is the authority, not the contractor. A signed-off card from the city is the only proof that phase is done.

Related

code enforcement, inspections, grandfathering, general contractor, the gauntlet, phases