• Adding rooms or other structural additions to your home. One example might be building an attached garage onto your house. Homes are required to have a certain amount of space between them. Your home may be too close to the neighbors to build a garage.
• Installing any electrical or wiring. Doing electrical in your home is tricky, which is why you must have a permit to do it.
• Installation of any appliance, fan, or ventilation system. If you want to put a new furnace in and add an air conditioner too you must have a permit to do so.
• Replacing water or sewer lines, and installing irrigation or sprinkler systems. Most people won't obtain a permit to install sprinkler systems but most cities require it. They also expect you to obtain permits if you're doing any type of work with the water or sewer lines. This also includes changing any type of plumbing or moving existing plumbing.

Of course this is just a short list of what remodels would require permits. The easiest way to figure out what requires a permit and what does not is to go down to your local city hall and talk with the city planner and permits person. Each cit and county has different requirements, and if you do something without the permit and it fails an inspection it could cost you a lot of money.

What to look for in a building permit
When you obtain a permit for a remodel there are a couple of things you want to make sure you do:

1. Make sure you get the permit in your own name. Sometimes the hired contractor will get the permit in their name and this can be potentially problematic if the contractor quits the job, or you end up changing contractors half way in between jobs. If the permit is in the "ex-contractor's" name you will have to pay for another one.


2. Permits come with very specific instructions. Make sure you follow those instructions carefully or you could be in a load of trouble when it comes time for inspections. For example if you remodel a bathroom and change the plumbing yourself, it will need to be inspected. You will be out more money if it fails and you have to change it.

Building permits are required and set in place to help ensure that the remodeling projects meet the codes and requirements needed to pass inspections. They are not required during every remodel you do in your home, so it's important to check with the city before you do anything. Failure to properly adhere to building codes can be extremely costly to you. Many individuals get excited about remodeling their home and forget or neglect to get the needed permits. Only to find out when they try to sell that the inspections fail and now they have to spend more money to fix everything. Don't sell yourself short, look into it so you know you're getting the right permits for remodels.