What permits to pull

Question

Hello all!

Just a quick question about permits.

I plan on buying my first house to rehab real soon and I want to do most everything on the up & up. However, I don't want to get bogged down with "needless" permits.

In your opinion what are the most important permits?

TO me it seems that major repair/replacement is the most important: 
1) water heater/plumbing
2) HVAC
3)Roofing
4)Electrical
5)foundation(I'm in Texas, terrible foundation problems)

Does that sound about right to you?

Thanks :beer:

Tom C · Answer

"I sell the house, a year later it burns down the house due to faulty installation? Am I screwed?"

If you are going to install a water heater that is going to catch fire and burn down the house, then yes, you better hire a professional to install it.

My town even has a $25.00 permit for installing a new torilet and if I was afraid that I later on it would break and cut someones ass because of how I installed it, I would get that permit and hire a license plumber to install it. At the same time you can apply this logic to everything you do during a rehab and you can spend your life at the planning department drawing up plans on a scratch paper to show them how you are going to remove or build a wall. Only so they can come out and tell you to tear it down and start over.

Or you can buy homes that has had all these things done prior to you owning it.

Charles Whitaker · Answer

If the propert permits are pulled and the work is done by qualified/licensed people then yes, you are in the clear.

I recently had an issue with a water heater that i installed at a rehab more than a year ago. The owner called and wanted a replacement as well as fix the outside siding where the pop-off drained off to. I remarked that the inspector who officiated over this issue allowed me to run a pop-off (TPV) drain line through the attic since the crawl space is considered non-accessible. The incident went without further action.

Things can come back on you if done improperly, work by the book.

In Amarillo all of the mentioned items are required to have a permit pulled. Don't forget major structural changes, ie, removing load bearing walls. Removing a non-load bearing wall is ok.

good luck

Adam Stone-dare · Answer

all_cash & beachbum,

thanks for your replies, they're always appreciated.

Since I have yet to do a rehab I guess I'm just fearful of liability issues as well as any issues I might face when trying to sell the house. With many lenders tightening up and me being on title for less than a year I just want to  be able to justify the increase in price from what I paid for it.

I don't want some hard-ass inspector who pretends to be a code inspector pointing things out that might not meet code but are still safe and scaring a potential buyer.

How big of a liability is it  if I get a new water heater without permits, it's not up to code, I sell the house, a year later it burns down the house due to faulty installation? Am I screwed? If I have records of permits and inspections I'm in the clear, right?

Thanks :beer:

Richard F. · Answer

Depends on why you think you "need" them.  If you are "just" concerned with not being shut down by P&I, then local custom dictates. If you are concerned with liability issues, then I wouldn't by-pass any requirements. In some jurisdictions you can always apply for a permit after-the-fact, usually paying a fine of double the usual permit cost, so if time is your only issue that may work for you. Usually however, the Big Problem comes when it is time to Sell, and you are found to be in violation. Now it will cost you time and money, potentially a great deal of lost value. Long term, it just is not worth cutting corners in most cases- the exception being if you know you are going to teardown in the foreseeable future.

Frank Adams · Answer

Since you're in TX you could just buy in an unincorporated area (only cities can enforce building codes in TX) and not have any problems. However, the real answer is; every city/HOA is different

Water heater replacement, I think in Houston this may need a permit, but if you DIY and haul off the old one none is needed. Plumbing repairs are among the easiest repairs on a house BTW.

HVAC, I've never seen a requirement for permits on HVAC, although the repair folks are LICENSED. The licensing has to do with use/disposal of refrigerants. If it's just electrical repairs on the system anyone can do that.

Roofing. I'm not sure a permit is needed in most TX cities for a roof. However, most/many HOAs have a requirement about type (3 tab or dimensional) and/or material used. I once did a roof in a place that didn't care about the roof as far as a permit, but I did have to get a permission letter to have the 10 yard dumpster in the yard, it had to be gone in 30 days.

Foundation. Other than parts of Houston and east of there I'm not sure TX has a higher proportion of foundation problems than any other state, at least not ones NOT caused by poor construction to begin. Houston may require a permit for this, but AFAIK all repair guys are licensed by the state and have to pay into a "risk" pool to cover boo-boos if they go out of business. Get several quotes on this, the "big name" guys, the ones with the full page ads in the phone book are often 3 or 4 times as much as the "no name" guys.

Good luck.

all cash