Not pulling permits or using a licensed GC is a short sighted error that can come around to bite you big time. Your neighbors can turn you in. A disgruntled tradesperson who didn't get the job can turn you in. Just the city cruising around looking for dumpsters can make your life hell when you get the stop work order and end up in court with a fine.

Also, when you go to sell, and the new potential buyers checks with the city for the past permits, and doesn't find any, (and walks away) how valuable will all of that new stuff be when it has to be ripped out for the inspections to permit it after the fact? And you still have to pay fines.

Get the permits. Use a licensed and insured contractor. You'll breathe easier.

We are doing that and getting permits for all of the above reasons. We're reconfiguring the kitchen so we'll be moving lines. Plus, we were worried that if something went wrong after the reno our home insurance might not cover an accident if the changes didn't have a permit

However, we were told that for a basement, if it's just a box (vs. putting in a bedroom or kitchen), then you didn't really need a permit. Also, some towns have a grandfather clause in where if they discover it after say, 6 years and it hasn't violated any codes than it is considered OK. This was in the context of the basement box only, not a kitchen or some place where you're moving plumbing, electrical, gas, etc.

You should ask your real estate lawyer a lot of questions about the permits and what was done, what you're planning to do.

On the reno, if you've done some before and are savvy and don't mind all of the coordination, you could hire your own plumber, your own electrician, your own floor guy, etc. and try to coordinate them. But one little mishap can screw up the whole chain. We are using a GC, since we don't have a favorite electrician or plumber and have never done a renovation of this scale. We might use our own floor guy and possibly painter. What I've discovered is some GCs have better design ability than others which could enable you to skip a separate designer/architect.

Good luck! Enjoy the new home

We've watched a neighbor have trouble selling his home because he did some remodeling himself without pulling the permit. So definitely, do not skip the permits. A good GC will pull the permits when needed and tell you when they aren't.

We did a room addition 6 years ago. The permit cost us money and we were inspected every step of the way. They wouldn't even sign the final inspection until we made sure EVERY bedroom had a working smoke alarm. For the kitchen, we weren't moving lines, so a permit was not needed. Everything was done to code anyway.

We are about to embark on Phase II of the remodeling. Since we are upgrading from a 100 amp electrical box to a 200 amp box, a permit will be needed. (!) However, we should be okay with the bathrooms, since once again, no lines will be moved -- it's simply updating the fixtures.

YES. Get your Permits. And if you're not familiar with contracting, get a GC. My Bro-in-law learned the latter, the hard way!

Donna

We are remodeling a house as well. Basically everything except floors came out to be replaced. The only plumbing that will be done is hooking up the new facets, showers, toilets. We are not moving any lines in the kitchen, moving any walls, or changing anything structurally. We didn't didn't pull permits for any of t hat. We will however need to pull permits for the new heating and ac.

I was once asked by a homeowner to document old renovation work so they could get a permit so they could sell their house so it can be a case of paying now or paying later and it is always more expensive later.