The Expert Podcast

One of the most common questions we get is how to go about getting a building permit and if you even need one. Some types of work do not need a permit, so how do you determine that, and how do you get one if it's needed? Well, first let's take a look at an example of a permit application. This one happens to be from Oregon, from one of the cities in Oregon, and it’s an example of a building permit. You notice it’s only one page. Most counties and cities try to make it simple to get a building permit started, and it'll tell you what type of work you're doing. Are you doing new construction, an addition, or alterations? This is what most people do—alterations or demolition. The category of construction is important: Is it a single-family house, an accessory building like a shed, a commercial building, or multi-family? Then you’ll need the job site information. You have to put the address of the work you're doing and a cross street, so that they can find it. If you're doing work on a property, inspectors are going to have to come out, and this helps them find it. If there’s a subdivision name, like “Shady Oaks” or whatever it is, you put that there. They also need the tax number, the parcel number. Here’s why: a street address is good for delivering mail and sometimes driving directions, but to make sure the work is on a certain legal parcel within the boundaries, they need the tax number.

Here’s your description of work: What are you doing? Are you replacing an air conditioner, putting on a new roof, doing sheetrock, or something else like electrical work? And then, here’s the key: property owner, tenant, builder, or contractor. The reason this is important is that, if you are a property owner, you may be allowed to do some things without a license. For example, you may be able to do simple electrical or plumbing in some cities without being a licensed electrician, but you can’t hire someone else to do it unless they’re licensed. So, if you’re the property owner and are putting in a new ceiling fan, you may be allowed to do that, but you can’t pay a handyman to do it. You have to either do it yourself or hire an electrician. If the applicant is an engineer, architect, or contractor, you put that information here—name of the contractor and their CCB license (contractor licensing board). Then you have to sign it. Over here, it gets into finances: What is the amount of work you’re doing in terms of dollars? What is the amount of work you’re doing in terms of square footage? This is necessary to calculate the building permit fees. They’re going to charge you a fee for this, and the more complicated the job, the more fees you’ll pay.

Now, how do you determine if your work needs a permit? Well, we’re not attorneys, and we’re not giving legal advice, but here are some general guidelines that will give you an idea. Anytime you’re breaching the envelope of the house—meaning you’re cracking open the seal of the house—you probably need a permit. If you’re replacing maybe a shingle on the house or trimming work around a window, you probably don’t need a permit. But if you’re taking out the window casing and putting in a new one, you’re breaching the case of that house. If you’re putting in a new door, it’s one thing to take the door off its hinge and put a new door on the hinge, but if you’re taking out the whole door frame, cracking open the envelope of the house, you probably need a permit.

What about new construction? In most jurisdictions, if you want to build a little shed, lean-to, or wood storage bin, you probably don’t need a permit. However, if your shed is bigger than a certain size—some states and counties say 100 square feet or 200 square feet—you now need a permit. If it’s above a certain height, like 12 or 15 feet, you need a permit. Permits are required to make sure you’re not putting it too close to your boundary. Some states have a setback of 5 or 10 feet. You’re also not putting it too close to a septic system or water line, or too close to your existing house. You may also need more engineering if it’s bigger. If it’s a 10-foot little storage shed, you probably don’t need engineering, but if it’s 20 by 80 feet, that’s not a shed anymore—you might need better foundations, engineering for the floor plan, and roof design. You might need some tie-downs. This will be determined by jurisdiction. There are 3,611 counties in the country, plus thousands of cities, and every city and county may be different. In fact, one county might have different rules for their general area than for outside the city limits.

So, you have to look at where you're located to see what the rules are. Make sure that if you need a permit, you get one. If you don’t, cities are now using aerial views, advanced mapping, and artificial intelligence to see if an addition has been put on a house or a shed without a permit. They can come back, inspect it, and make you tear it down, pay penalties, or pay fees. If you really do something egregious, most of the time, skilled trades like electrical and plumbing almost always need a permit. If you’re changing around electrical, putting in conductors or devices, or doing plumbing, you need a permit. Anytime you’re breaching that system, you need a permit. If you’re doing plumbing, that’s normally something that requires a permit. Now, if you’re changing out a faucet and not breaching the pipes, that may not need a permit. But if you’re adding a dishwasher that isn’t hardwired and just screws on a hose, that may not need a permit. But if you’re rerouting plumbing or adding an outlet or a switch, that’s probably a permitted type of work.

Also, remember that grading sometimes needs a permit. In most jurisdictions, if you’re moving earth or dirt more than a certain number of cubic yards, it may need a permit. This is to make sure you’re not changing the flow of water, digging into pipes, or causing erosion. If you’re just digging a hole for something, that might not be a big deal, but if you’re grading large amounts of earth or adding fill, that could be a permitted process. The easy answer is that major changes that pose a risk to residents or neighbors should get a permit. If it’s something simple, like adding moldings or putting up a shelf, you probably don’t need a permit. But you want to make sure you understand what your jurisdiction requires.

The other reason you want to be aware is that if you make some of these changes and something goes wrong, causing damage to your house, you may be voiding your insurance policy if you have substandard work that wasn’t permitted.