any permits I need to pull when doing a fix and flip?

Question

Im in the southern california area about to do my first fix and flip (mainly cosmetic fix up) and was wondering if there are any permits I am going to need when renovating the house.

Bill J Fay · Answer

San Diego - Building Permit Procedures

Lists work that does not need permits:

https://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter12/Ch12Art...

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Rule of thumb from SoCal....If you move location of any fixture (electrical or plumbing) you need permit. Also need one for retiling bathroom (vapor barrier and cement board). You'll probably be redoing the kitchen which means adding a bunch of circuits. Just go get a misc permit....

James Wise · Answer

In California you need a permit to pull a permit.

Paw Nouri · Answer

No, you won't need permits for cosmetic repairs. If you start going into electrical, plumbing, cutting in for new doors, roofing, HVAC, etc. then you would potentially need to pull permits. Also, pulling permits is up to you..

Joel Forsythe · Answer

@Arshiya Taami  Every SoCal municipality will have different levels of permits, so it’s impossible to know what you need without your scope of work and project legal location. There are “puff” permits out there for kitchen and bath improvements even if plumbing and electrical are not involved. Is it the end of the world if you don’t pull them if it is truly cosmetic, non-mechanical/non-structural? Not historically, no.

As you said this is a new flip, if it goes back on the market after July, you need to be aware of the new CA AB968 going into effect at the point of sale. Keep good records of the work performed, the contractor’s information, and copies of any permits pulled; you’ll be required to supply that disclosure after that date.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtm...

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Arshiya Taami, this is best to research with the local building department.  In my market (Cincinnati, OH), technically any fixture replacement requires a permit, so if I just want to replace a bedroom ceiling light with a ceiling fan/light combo, I would technically need to pull a permit.

But in practice, if I am truly doing fairly cosmetic work the does not garner too much attention, I would go without a permit.  As soon as I need a dumpster, and if there are going to be multiple trucks/vans there on a daily basis, I pull permits.  Not only do I need to, but I am also making enough racket in the neighborhood that the chances of someone calling on me are much higher.

Also, for a period of time, Cincinnati started actively cracking down on non-permitted work.  I had a friend that was at the point of tiling his new shower and putting up kitchen backsplash when the inspector knocked on the door to snoop around.  He ended up having to pull down tile and reopen walls to get inspections on the work, since he didn't permit it.

Maxwell Ventura · Answer

@Bill J Fay

Great contribution! Added to my bookmarks

Paw Nouri · Answer

Welcome and yep, we have units in SoCal, and Ohio

Bob S. · Answer

NO if just cosmetic,

any permits I need to pull when doing a fix and flip?

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