Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell Does Not Apply to Building Permits

In Oakland, anyone can check whether building permits have been issued for any building, by going to:
https://aca-prod.accela.com/OAKLAND/Default.aspx
and entering the address and a date range. It is that easy. Most local cities have such platforms.

A family member was recently in the market to buy a home. Every time she found one she was interested in making an offer on, I would read the description of recent work and upgrades, and review the photos for evidence of remodeling, and then check the website link above for building permits. At least half the time, no building permits had been issued.

I almost always have work clients must pay me for, over claims that a seller has failed to disclose work on the building performed without required building permits. When applying for a new building permit, the plans submitted with the application will often disclose previously completed work done without permits. When the building inspector responds to a request for a building inspection, the inspector may find previous work done without required permits. It does not matter that the illegal work has nothing to do with the new work. The building inspector will not approve the new work until the old work is made legal.

What it will take to make the house legal will depend on the specific circumstances, city-by-city and case-by-case. Work covered over with sheetrock might require opening some portion of the wall to allow the building inspector to see inside. Depending on the situation, this could be a small opening to allow viewing with a small camera, or a large opening to see seismic bolts and electrical and plumbing connections, buried in wall insulation. Replacing work determined not to comply with the code, could require significant demolition, correction and then rebuilding. Defects in framing, seismic support, waterproofing and windows, can require a lot of work.

Some jurisdictions impose double permit fees or other surcharges for work without permits. Another informal punishment is that applications and inspections for correction of work without permits are sometimes passed over for review in favor of other applications which do not suffer from this taint.

Another problem a new owner sometimes faces is that their preferred and the better contractors might refuse to work on such a home. The fact that some work has been found to have been done without permits can sometimes raise a question about the skill and integrity of the prior contractor who performed the work without permits. After the new contractor corrects the defective work done without permits by the prior contractor, then if there is subsequent damage caused by other defects in the work by the first contractor, the second contractor can count on being dragged into that new dispute. The first contractor will try to blame the second contractor.
The owner will want to know why the second contractor did not discover and repair these other defects.

As stated in the CAR standard disclosures regarding zoning and permitting, some illegal improvements cannot be made legal. Most zoning districts have limits on how many square feet of building. Often such limits are quantified as floor-area-ratios (FAR). If your house already max’d out its FAR, and someone added another room or even just expanded and extended an existing room, then the building became illegal. Nothing can be added. The city might even require the excess square footage to be torn down. One might apply for a variance, but variances are supposed to be limited to when the rest of the nearby buildings enjoy the greater height, square footage or reduced setbacks, and for some reason this lot is not allowed the same. The application of setbacks is a common example. A smaller house on a smaller lot than the larger houses on larger lots is another common example. Variances are discretionary. If a house exceeds its FAR because of work done without permits, the jurisdiction might choose not to exercise such discretion to allow that expansion.

I get that most houses need a little sprucing up before going on the market. Upgrading a kitchen or bathroom, low-flow plumbing fixtures, gfi safety plugs, repairing leaks, or a little painting. All such work requires building permits. All such permit applications require plans. Getting plans drawn can take too long. The summer sales season is also vacation season for architects, designers and engineers. Some contractors do not like to draw plans. Finding a qualified contractor can also cause delays. They would rather do much larger jobs, and might only fit this kind of work in between larger ones. Thus, one might be tempted to employ a contractor who is less concerned about permits and might be less skilled. (Don’t even think about using an unlicensed handyman for anything more than $500.00, in the aggregate. No, you cannot divide up the job into separate $500.00 pieces,)

It is not worth it. Wait and get the work done with permits and done right. Do expect a substantial price reduction for a house with unpermitted work If you hide or fail to disclose unpermitted work, do expect a demand for a rebate and money spent on lawyers.