Water heaters and permitting

[Curt Bixel]

I have recently purchased a duplex in Columbus, OH.  It came with a list of code violations that I am working on addressing.  I wonder if anyone has been down this road before and has enough of an understanding of the process to provide some advice.

The tenants would like to stay, and I think I can honor that request while addressing the issues.  There are some different ways I could solve some of the problems, and I don't know enough yet to make the choice. 

One example is the bathroom.  The bathroom has several code issues that I could fix without too much trouble.  At the same time, a better solution would be to simply do a complete tear out of the bathroom and replace with all new.  Then tenants would be on board with this and are perfectly happy to stay with a friend for a week while we get this done.  At the same time, as the city is involved, I would probably have to pull permits to do a full rework of the bathroom.  I am worried that the inspection process would add so much delay to the job that I would not be able to complete it within a week.  

If there were not tenants, it would be easy.  I would just pull the permits and do the full tear out. 

I wonder if anyone has any advice.