ToH - Central Air Permit (house, purchase, inspector)

[valethor]

The previous owner of my house had central air ducts done and never finished the job (and also never applied for a permit). I knew this when we bought the house, so I wasn't duped or anything.

Anyway, I am now in the process of finishing the job --- found out the ducts weren't done correctly (weren't insulated) so I'm getting all of that straightened out. My question is, what is involved with the permit process for this? Do they have to come inside the house to inspect, or do they just look outside?

I just converted oil-to-gas and that inspector (who came into the house) didn't flag anything in the home when they came and approved it -- so does that mean I should be okay if I go through the permit process for the CAC? Or would you just take your chances and not get the permit and just worry about it if the town ever picks it up?

[nuts2uiam]

I can tell you my experience but it was TNH and years ago. Home was purchased in 97 w central air. Apparently through two permit processes after purchase with submission of survey each time it was not picked up. 16 years later, I wanted to replace a fence and filed the permit and was turned down due to unpermitted a/c. They did come into my basement to check the electrical panel and found the breaker needed to be changed. While this is indeed different than yours, I would guess they would also want to check the panel to be sure the correct size breaker was installed. Many will tell you not to get the permit and I understand why, but since you need an outdoor compressor, if you get found out, you could be asking for more trouble down the road. It cost us a boatload to get this permitted with penalties for it and the bad part is they can prevent you from doing some other permitted work as we found out.

[valethor]

Originally Posted by nuts2uiam

I can tell you my experience but it was TNH and years ago. Home was purchased in 97 w central air. Apparently through two permit processes after purchase with submission of survey each time it was not picked up. 16 years later, I wanted to replace a fence and filed the permit and was turned down due to unpermitted a/c. They did come into my basement to check the electrical panel and found the breaker needed to be changed. While this is indeed different than yours, I would guess they would also want to check the panel to be sure the correct size breaker was installed. Many will tell you not to get the permit and I understand why, but since you need an outdoor compressor, if you get found out, you could be asking for more trouble down the road. It cost us a boatload to get this permitted with penalties for it and the bad part is they can prevent you from doing some other permitted work as we found out.

My breaker is brand new because we redid the electric when we first moved into the house (but we never had anything for that inspected after -- would the central air permit guy know that?).

My basement is "finished"in that it has a linoleum floor and wood paneled walls from the 70s. The ceiling is going to be removed for the ductwork though.

[nuts2uiam]

Originally Posted by valethor

My breaker is brand new because we redid the electric when we first moved into the house (but we never had anything for that inspected after -- would the central air permit guy know that?).

My basement is "finished"in that it has a linoleum floor and wood paneled walls from the 70s. The ceiling is going to be removed for the ductwork though.

Again my experience is as a former live long TNH resident over 50 years. The a/c was flagged when we applied for the fence permit. We used the identical survey as had been used on two other permits and no-one said boo.

Obviously when you apply for a permit the town will inspect. I would ASSUME, that as part of an install an inspector would want to see that the correct circuit breaker is installed for the unit, so I would think they would check your panel.

FWIW, I had a fully finished basement and had no problem. Bar, carpet, wainscoting, furniture and large screen TV. They didn't care. I had no basement kitchen or bath, so it is not considered livable space. That is not to say you won't get an inspector who is a stickle,r but generally speaking they are not looking to rat you out in my experience.