When You Need Permission for This DIY Project (and When You Don’t)
Private property is a fascinating concept. On the one hand, ownership is just a collective agreement. On the other hand, the protection of private property rights is the key to a stable society. However, there are actually many restrictions on what you can do with your property, although in most cases you can do just about anything if you get permission first.
The approval process can be frustrating. While the best way to find out if a permit is required for your next home improvement or renovation project is to call your local building code department and ask, anyone who has actually done it knows that this is often a problem. Building bureaus tend to cater to contractors and local businesses, but treat homeowners with varying degrees of annoyance and disdain. The good news is that, in most cases, you can probably guess whether or not you need permission to do your scheduled work.
Why do you need permission?
Before we get into projects that typically require permissions, let’s look at why this is important. Your local community requires permits, not because they are power-obsessed tyrants, but to ensure people don’t violate each other’s property rights, violate zoning laws, or engage in unsafe construction . Permission not only gives you permission to do work, but it also initiates a review of that work to make sure it’s safe and done according to the code.
Even if you get away with that crappy amateur wiring job that you figured out from a five minute YouTube video without burning your entire neighborhood down, there’s a good chance it’ll be discovered and you’ll have to rip it all out and do it. again by paying double or triple the fee for the permit you should have received in the first place. Also, doing work without the required permit can bite you in the ass if you ever try to sell your home. Any potential buyer may discover unauthorized work that could derail a sale or otherwise make life difficult for you.
To allow or not to allow?
However, not all work requires a permit. If you’re planning on doing a little DIY work in your home, pulling permission can turn a weekend project into a week-long odyssey into the dank nooks and crannies of local bureaucracy, so if you can avoid it, you should. Permit rules vary from location to location, so you’ll need to research the specific requirements of your area, but there are some general assumptions you can make.
Generally, the following types of work will require you to obtain a permit:
- Removing the load-bearing wall
- Anything that changes the roofline
- Additions (including garages or sheds)
- New wiring
- New plumbing or relocation of existing pipes and drains, and most outdoor plumbing (such as new hose nozzles)
- New guardrail (usually at a certain height, usually around 6 feet)
- Any demolition requiring an outdoor dumpster
- Top class decks
- Sewer works
- New windows or doors cut into existing structures
- New fireplaces or chimneys
- New climate equipment
- Water heaters
- Pools
- Major landscaping: anything that involves cutting down trees or building retaining walls.
- Siding or plaster on the outside of the house
You can usually do the following jobs without bothering with permission:
- Surface Renovation: Unless you’re moving plumbing or electrical wiring and tearing down walls, you can usually proceed without a permit (some local building bureaus require a permit to showcase any wall, even a non-load-bearing wall, so double check). This means you can replace everything in your bathroom or kitchen without permission, as long as you don’t fiddle with plumbing or electricity.
- Replacing existing doors or windows
- Replacing an Existing Roof
- Insulation replacement
- Floor replacement
- Painting (inside or outside)
- Plumbing and electrical work that doesn’t include new lines, move drains, or add sinks and fixtures, including simply replacing the circuit breaker on your panel (although you shouldn’t do this unless you know what you’re doing)
- Ground level decks or replacement of deck material (but not structural material) on existing decks.
You can see the main trend here: every time you add something new to your property, you probably need a permit. Any time you’re just replacing what’s already there, you probably aren’t. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it’s a good rule of thumb you can follow.
One final note: when you hire a contractor, they usually draw permits for you. If your contractor tells you that a permit is not required, check with them. It will be your problem if they are wrong.
Permissions are a necessary evil. Without them, your neighbors will definitely try to build a tower on their site, which will collapse and destroy several houses. However, if you can legally operate without it, why not?