Need to put a fence, shed permit (Boston: real estate, lawyer)

[omegasri]

I'm planning to install a fence at my house which i bought an year ago, recently while looking through the town documents online & town-hall, i found that there is no mention / record of the shed which i have in my property, also the rear side of the shed doesn't have enough setback distance from my neighbors property. ( Town guidelines says its should be at-least 10 feet away, but mines is less than a foot away from neighbors line). According to my previous owner who lived there for 13 years, shed has been there before he purchased the property. I'm not sure whether this shed has got a permit / town has lost the record / rules came into existence after the shed is constructed.

Coming back to the question, if i erect a fence and building inspector comes for fence inspection, will he ask me to take the shed down as it doesn't follow the guidelines / no permit ?

[robr2]

The answer is Maybe.

You won't know until the inspector comes. BTW, you're pulling a permit for a fence? Even fence companies don't do that.

[omegasri]

Thanks for your reply @robr2,
I live in a metro-west town, the town needs a permit for any kind of fences, not sure whether all homeowners went that way.

[bugelrex]

If the shed looks brand-new, the inspector would likely conclude its placed illegally. If it looks like it dates back to 'pre-regulation', I would doubt the inspector would want you to 'prove' its age!

Make sure you are on friendly terms with the nearest neighbor, they are ones who could 'force' the issue...

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by omegasri

Thanks for your reply @robr2,
I live in a metro-west town, the town needs a permit for any kind of fences, not sure whether all homeowners went that way.

Most towns require a permit for a fence. I believe in my hometown if you're putting up a length of fence more than 8 ft in length you need to pull a permit. The town wants to make sure you're keeping within the requirements for fences (some towns have height restrictions) and they want to make sure you've had the property surveyed to make sure the fence is actually installed on your property.

I'm sure there are fences out there that were installed without permits. I see unpermitted work everyday, but the law does require the pulling of permits.

[Cape Cod Todd]

Building Permits seem to vary town by town and inspector by inspector. I have heard all types of horror stories working in the Real Estate Biz over the years.

In my town a 8x10 shed is as large as you can go without a permit but adding plumbing or electrical triggers the permit.

Each town also has its version of setbacks to the property line which will often be determined to when the land was subdivided.

Permits are a pain in the butt but they are necessary in order to comply with the law.

Make sure that you close it out when you are done or there will be questions to answer and potential problems when you sell the house.

[Boston_Burbs]

I had this issue at a closing, shed was on the property line with town land. Lawyer for the bank let it go because it didn't have a foundation.

[omegasri]

Thanks for your inputs Boston_Burbs, bugelrex,Cape Cod Todd, MikePRU