It might seem as if a home remodeling project is too irrelevant a venture to warrant permits, especially if you are doing the work yourself, however, the risks associated with avoiding allowing are high.
Permits Protect You
In many ways, residential construction permits in Washington, DC really safeguard you, the house owner. By requiring your regional building official to examine the final work, permits guarantee a contractor does not get by with shoddy work, or that DIY-ers do not overlook important elements of numerous projects.
Here are a couple of reasons permits are a good concept:
- DCRA Homeowners Permits are developed to assist homeowners to avoid building code infractions, most of which lead to risky craftsmanship.
- Insurance providers require records of permits prior to paying damages for occasions such as home fires triggered by electrical wiring.
- If you ever decide to put your home on the marketplace and a potential buyer discovers there has been work done without permits, she or he might choose not to purchase the home. Again, everything comes down to liability and cost if something goes awry with the operation in the future.
- If your local municipality finds you had remodeling work done on your house without a permit, it may examine retroactive home improvement taxes on your property, resulting in a sudden, large bill.
Ask Concerns
To make sure you remain in compliance with regional allowing regulations, question your contractor completely. If he states a permit is not required, contact your local building official and double-check.
An excellent guideline for whether a permit is required is that if the project is simply cosmetic, such as replacing all your bathroom faucets, it may not require a permit. Anything involving electrical work, intricate plumbing work, or tearing into the drywall, on the other hand, is most likely to require a permit.
Some municipalities need permits for projects that affect trees or utilities as well.
If you are in doubt about whether your project requires a permit, constantly ask your local building official or examine your city government website for more details.
Permits can range in expense from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Nevertheless, as discussed above, the expense of stopping working to acquire a permit when one is required can run significantly higher than that.
The best way to take a look at the permitting process is that it is a normal aspect of almost any remodeling project and not an extra expense.