Not all renovations require inspections if they are just cosmetic but if you are building a new house or tackling any sort of large scale renovation, a building permit and city inspections will be required. Your contractor should never advise you that it is a good idea to move forward without a building permit if the project would require one in the eyes of your local building officials.

City Inspections:

This process should give you confidence that your contractor has built things correctly and to code. In a lot of cases, if renovations are done without permits, then the homeowner would be obligated to disclose this fact, should they decide to ever sell their home. This can be a red flag for a lot of potential buyers as it may come with a whole other set of headaches for them. Different municipalities have different processes in which they perform their inspections. Everything from booking inspections to the process of what is required on site before inspection, varies from district to district. Different inspectors may interpret building codes differently than others and ultimately have the final say on how things are required to be completed. The contractor cannot necessarily predict when inspectors will arrive. This will typically be up to the inspectors, based on their current work load which can occasionally add time to the schedule. Certain things or special requests may be made by inspectors that are outside of the original scope of work and, occasionally, costs will be incurred due to these requests. This is a reality of renovations and construction.

We hope that this has been helpful and given you some insight. Next week we get a bit more personal on our topic, Engaging with employees and sub-contractors. See you then!