Reasons Why You Want a Contractor to Pull Permits
If given the choice, many homeowners would never have permits pulled for their projects because they view them as an unnecessary cost.
What they don’t realize is the main purpose behind pulling permits, which is to ensure homes are safe from fire hazards, structural issues and health risks. Plus, permits provide a permanent record of the work performed on your home, as well as the inspections conducted and passed.
Homeowners often don’t realize that an addition to your home that wasn’t permitted and therefore not inspected and documented doesn’t officially exist. It’s a phantom room. While this may seem like no big deal–you got the extra space you wanted–it becomes a huge problem when you sell your home. You’ll be required to either pull permits and have the area inspected, hoping it passes inspection, or worse forced to tear the non-permitted area down/out. Either way, you’ll end up paying for it. So, you might as well do it right the first time and pull permits from the get go.
Sometimes you can minimize the need for permits. For example, building codes require a permit for a fence over a certain height. If securing the appropriate permit is cost prohibitive, time consuming, or otherwise a pain, ask yourself if you are willing to live with a shorter fence that wouldn’t require a permit.
Permits are not really something you should apply for because when you sign a building permit application as an owner-builder, you assume full responsibility for all phases of your project and its integrity. You are responsible for ordering materials, making sure all suppliers are paid, the work meets code and it passes inspection. As an owner-builder you are the general contractor of record responsible for supervising, scheduling, and paying subcontractors. If you use anyone other than a licensed subcontractor for work, you may be considered an “employer.” Employers must register with the state and federal government and are obligated to participate in state and federal income tax withholding, federal Social Security taxes, workers’ compensation insurance, disability insurance costs, and unemployment compensation contributions.
This is most likely something you don’t want to get involved with. So, leave the pulling of the permits to the contractor. A reputable contractor is more qualified than most homeowners to navigate the permit process and respond to building department questions.
Pulling permits signals the need for an inspection which confirms that the work is completed according to code and the approved plans. This gives you peace of mind which is priceless, just like my book Remodel Success. Sign up here for a free preview.
Dana Cortada
November 15, 2020 11:41 amHi Monica!!
Question?
My contractor put my permits under owner builder
He said if he puts in his name
Hell charge 30% more
Sounds shady right?
Monica D. Higgins
November 15, 2020 9:54 pmHi Dana,
I don’t have enough information to determine whether or not the situation you described is shady or not. It would be helpful to know if:
The contractor is a licensed contractor
Whether he carries liability and/or workman’s compensation insurance
Tom Hollingsworth
September 3, 2021 7:57 pmContractor building new deck was told he would have to wait a number of days for the frame inspection. He chose to go ahead with construction and elected to hire an engineer to do an inspection of the framing at a cost of $453 so construction could be resumed without delay. The invoice for the engineers report was brought to the owner for payment even though the owner had had no involvement in the decision. Who should pay the engineer fees?
Monica D. Higgins
September 3, 2021 8:39 pmHi Tom,
Permit fees typically cover the cost of a having a City-affiliated inspector inspect the progress of the work.
It appears the contractor may have hired the engineer as a Deputy Inspector. Deputy Inspectors provide a service to contractors who require inspection for time periods that Building and Safety Inspectors cannot otherwise fulfill, in order to keep the project moving forward. Building and Safety certifies Deputy Inspectors. If the engineer was certified by the City as a Deputy Inspector, then the related work could be approved by Building and Safety.
It would have been ideal for the contractor to inform you that he was going to hire an engineer to do the framing inspection and there would be an extra cost involved. Since the contractor opted to move forward with hiring the engineer without letting you know the cost of doing so in advance, it seems fair to ask him to pay the difference between the inspection amount included in the permit fee and what the engineer charged him.