Finishing basement...permit or no permit?

[ScrimpAndSave]

I am planning to finish my basement and add an extra half bathroom into an unfinished space in my house. I have consulted a few contractors and they have said that it is up to me whether I want to get a permit or not.

Is it illegal not to do this without a permit? What do people usually do? Are there pros and cons?


TIA!

[graceful]

I think where you might run into trouble is when you sell your house in the future. You may have to get a variance for the work after the fact before a buyer will even consider buying your house. More of an issue now than when the market was burning hot.

Saw a LOT of houses where the CO for the basement or even entire second floor were "pending." Some, say it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission. However, we did see a house that had a wonderful addition over the garage (I think an entire apartment) that was going to ripped out entirely before the sale. Probably didn't comply with zoning and couldn't get a variance. It was an expensive renovation that will cost more to remedy just to sell the house.

I think the reason that a lot of people don't get the permits in the first place is the very real fear that their property taxes will go up substantially. They rather take a one time monetary hit when they have to pay a fine and get the variance later. Also, they may plan to live in the house for a very looooong time where if they have to tear out their work later, they will feel they got their "money's worth" living with the improved space before then.

You should check with your county about the permitting requirements in your area, the potential property tax increases for the improvements, what neighbors typically do and call a realtor about the problems and procedures of selling a house with a finished basement without a permit or updated CO. It might be simple or it might be complicated. Find out in advance if saving $500 will cost you $5000 or vice versa and make an educated decision.

Good luck.

[disneysteve]

If the contractor is telling you it is up to you whether or not to get a permit, I'd get a new contractor. Permits aren't optional. Either you need one or you don't. I'd suspect if you are adding a bathroom, you need one, but it depends on local laws.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Getting a permit can be a chance to have your plans reviewed by an engineer, electrician, fire safety expert, or plumber who has no profit stake in your project.

I have only once done work that required a permit. My plans had been made by an old, no longer in business engineer (my dad!) who was unfamiliar with certain newer hardware, but who suspected there were better things on the market now. So he had me ask the permits engineer. Sure enough, the permits engineer was able to tell me some newer options and wrote that into my plans that he approved. Thus I was not at the mercy of a contractor who wanted to do the job cheap just to make more money. ---In fact, I'd had a repair job done previously on another part of the house using the more old fashioned method, and I can already see after about 8 years that it will have to be redone in the future. The older cheaper, contractor chosen way to solve the problem was not the best. The way the permit engineer told me was better.

[EEinNJ]

It depends on where you live, how long you're staying, whether your town has a continuing CO, insurance.

Towns like to make money on permits, and then charge you more in taxes because you've improved the property. An insurance company may not want to pay a claim, if say, you get flooding from a leak in your new bathroom if no permit was issued.

When I sold my last house, I had to sign off that no work had been done that had not gotten permits- oops- I had filled in the swimming pool. No problems, just had to go pay the township 30 bucks for a retroactive permit.

I had the same quandry this year in partly finishing my basement. I did get a permit for upgrading the heating system, but they were such jerks about not showing up to sign off the completed work I decided not to deal with that again for the insulation, etc. Did I get a permit? Why, yes I did!

[LuxLiving]

What is a CO?

[disneysteve]

What is a CO?

Certificate of Occupancy

[zakity]

I have known of people "improving their basements for storage purposes". For one person, it was really for bedrooms, but when asked, they said that they had storage and craft rooms down there. They had two small bedrooms, a craft room, and a pantry/storage area down there. Her theory was that the next people would probably use it as storage and the insulation and whatever made her craft room more comfortable.

[LuxLiving]

Bedrooms in basements require exit windows.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

From the look of ScrimpnSave's earlier photos, I'm thinking maybe she has a full walkout basement which makes it ideal for finishing to living space.

[momof1in150]

As a Realtor I am telling you to get a permit. When you sell the property without a permit you are asking for trouble. People go back to the town/city and look at the files to see what permits were pulled. If you don't pull a permit you will have disclose it when you sell and the building inspector can make you pull everything a part so that he/she can inspect it. Also, by not pulling a permit you are putting yourself at risk for fines and paying back taxes when you sell.