When Do You Need a Permit for Your Remodeling Project?

Determining if you need a building permit for your home remodeling project can be difficult, because permitting departments often frustrate homeowners’ attempts to sort out rules. Departments traditionally have prioritized commercial interests over those of homeowners doing their own work. Often it is a bias borne from necessity: contractors, builders, and the trades represent an overwhelmingly large majority of applicants.

While all cities and counties are different, certain themes do emerge to clarify permitting requirements. These themes can be generalized as public and personal safety, plumbing, electrical, and natural gas. Projects touching on those areas will require permits. With changing safety codes and a need for greater revenue, cities and counties shift more projects to the “Permit Required” list.

Permit Usually Required

Most localities will require a permit for these home projects:

Topic	Project
Walls	Demolishing a load-bearing wall
Roof	Changing house’s roofline
Layout	Whenever you expand the house in any way or alter the house’s envelope, you will need a permit.
Electrical	Installing any new electrical wiring or adding circuits
Fences	Installing a fence over a certain height, such as 6 feet, triggers a permit. Most municipalities will consider an add-on such as shrubbery to be part of the fence.
Demolition	Parking your roll-off dumpster on a public street will require a permit. This is one of the rare permitting instances where your own property is not involved.
Decks	Building decks over a certain height, such as 30 inches above grade.
Sewer	Doing anything with a sewer line typically requires a permit. This permit action concerns not just your personal safety, but the health of those serviced by the main sewer line down from your house.
Addition	Building an addition will always require a permit.
Driveway or Garage	Building a garage or even a carport
Windows and Doors	Exterior doors, windows, and skylights that require a new opening
Fireplace and Chimney	Fireplaces, wood-burning stoves, and inserts nearly always require a permit because of the potential for fires. Chimney cleaning will be an exception, though.
Garages	Garage conversions
HVAC	Installing a new furnace or air conditioner
Water Heaters	Installation of a new water heater
Plumbing	New hose bibs for the outside of your house
Roofing	Re-roofing involving structural elements, including but not limited to sheathing, skylights, change of roof pitch and change of roof material where the total weight exceeds 10 pounds per square foot.
Swimming Pool	Installing either an in-ground or an above-ground pool requires multiple permits.

Permit Might Be Required

Topic	Project
Plumbing	Moving a sink, as this entails running new plumbing supply and drain lines
Walls	Demolishing a non-load-bearing wall usually requires a permit. Even though this type of work does not structurally compromise your home, some permitting agencies want to be overly cautious and make certain that do-it-yourself homeowners do not undertake dangerous repairs.
Doors and Windows	Replacing doors or windows on a one-for-one basis
Landscaping	Cutting down a tree on your property
Landscaping	Retaining walls more than 4 feet tall tend to require permits, as retaining walls have a tendency to topple above this height.

Permit Often Not Required

As time goes by, more non-permitted actions become permit-required. In some municipalities, the following actions may still steer clear of permit requirements.

Topic	Project
Roof	Laying in a new roof of similar materials.
Demolition	Parking your roll-off dumpster on your own property. However, if you happen to live in an association-controlled neighborhood, make sure you do not run afoul of your own housing association’s rules.
Flooring	Putting in any kind of hard flooring (wood, laminate, vinyl, etc.) or carpeting
Plumbing	Replacing an existing sink
Painting	Interior or exterior painting
Kitchen	Replacing your countertops
Siding	Freshening up the exterior with new siding, as long as it is non-structural
Electrical	Minor electrical work, such as replacing a light fixture or an electrical outlet, often does not require a permit. Replacing a circuit breaker in-kind will not require a permit either.
Decks	Decks below a certain height (such as 30 inches) are not considered to be a safety hazard and therefore do not require permits.
Exteriors	One-story detached buildings like workshops and storage sheds as long as they do not receive electrical or plumbing services
Landscaping	Building tree houses under a certain size and height may not require a permit. However, habitable or live-in tree houses will need a permit.
Fences	Fences below a certain height, such as 6 feet
Property Boundaries	Permitting departments are not concerned with matters involving your boundary with your neighbor. Disputes are civil matters for the courts.
Landscaping	Retaining walls below 4 feet tall
Decks	Decking surface replacement, as long as you are not replacing structural materials
Bathrooms and Kitchens	Bathroom and kitchen fixture replacements without plumbing line modifications such as sinks and toilets
Appliances	Appliance replacement in the same location as long as you are not modifying gas, plumbing lines, or electrical circuits such as dishwashers, ranges, ovens, gas logs, washers, and dryers.

For Definitive Answers

A phone call to your local permitting office is the best way to determine if you need a permit. Many permit officers are happy to discuss permitting issues with anonymous callers as a way to avoid future code violations. Even then, the only definitive way to know if a permit is required is often to apply for a permit.

Play It Safe

It is always best to check (and double-check) whether you need a permit. Most counties and cities have websites for the building department. They usually have a FAQ section for permitting requirements. If inspectors find out that a project was done without a permit, they could require the removal of drywall or other surfaces to inspect the newly installed wiring or plumbing, for example. They could then require that the project be permitted, which could include a fine.

Also consider whether you’ll be selling your home in the future. Home real estate inspectors often check public records to make sure new work has been permitted, and if you did work on your home without any necessary permits, it could hurt your prospects.