Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If I could piggy back on this topic we bought a house and had a fireplace installed. The contractor did not pull permits and I didn't think it was an issue. We have had zero problems and have kept maintained as we use it nearly every night in the winter. So is this a problem when we eventually sell? Do we need to disclose this info?
If I could piggy back on this topic we bought a house and had a fireplace installed. The contractor did not pull permits and I didn't think it was an issue. We have had zero problems and have kept maintained as we use it nearly every night in the winter. So is this a problem when we eventually sell? Do we need to disclose this info?
In many places, it's a code violation and could invalidate your homeowners insurance, especially your fire insurance rider!
I didnt pull permits when i remodeled my personal residence. But i know what I am doing and its pretty much cosmetic.
If you see shoddy work then assume its all shoddy. not pulling permits isn't necessarily a bad thing because a lot of times it isnt needed. but if the guy had a fire then he should of had the insurance company repair it.
Wait what???? What do I do about it now? Do I contact my insurance company?
Umm... no. The insurance company will cancel your insurance on the spot. Go to city hall talk to code enforcement, tell them what happened, pay for the permit, maybe pay a small fine, get it inspected and your done. Happens all the time.
Umm... no. The insurance company will cancel your insurance on the spot. Go to city hall talk to code enforcement, tell them what happened, pay for the permit, maybe pay a small fine, get it inspected and your done. Happens all the time.
Yes. Do not tell your insurance company (and I work for one). Get the problem fixed, get it inspected...no harm, no foul.
There's a $10,000 dollar fine in our jurisdiction......
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk
I'm in the process of purchasing a house that had been bought as a forclosure and flipped. Some health and safety defects turned up in our inspection, including safety problems with the rebuilt chimney and miswiring in the replaced electrical panel.
During the course of requesting the seller to get them fixed, I checked with the city to see if permits had been pulled. A permit had been pulled two months ago to rebuild the chimney because of a fire(Fire? Wait, what? Nothing about a fire in the seller's disclosure) but no inspection had ever been scheduled, and there was never a permit pulled to replace the electrical panel.
The city official said, "Tell the seller he needs to get permits and inspections on that work."
Well, okay, I've passed that through my agent, who seemed somewhat miffed that I'd spoken to the city: "Why were you checking on permits?" Well, because there were health and safety issues uncovered by my inspector that should have been found by the city inspector if the work had been issued a permit as I knew it should have been. If the work had been done properly, my inspector would not have found it wrong and I'd never have suspected anything.
We haven't heard yet if the seller is going to do anything with this information, and I'm not sure if I should push it as a contract addendum: "Get chimney and panel work permitted and inspected by the city" in addition to the requirement just to get them fixed. I can verify myself whether the panel is right, I'm not so confident in my ability to make sure of the chimney.
But regardless of whether the work is technically done right at this point, I'm still worried about my liability accepting the house with work the city knows was done but never inspected (the chimney, which has an open permit waiting for inspection).
and that fine of ten grand applies to the listing agent!! I'm not sure how other jurisdictions are coming up to speed, but I'm dealing right now with a correctly installed hot tub, small storage shop, and patio that ran conduit. All done correctly, but without a permit or inspection. All three listing agents that previewed indicated the property couldn't even be listed without this being corrected.
Electrical just leads to too many nightmares and there seems to be a trend to finally get on this.
We're dealing with a By-Law officer here, very helpful, that provided documentation and steps to
completion.
What you seem to be getting is a flipper, a miffed agent, and a gitter done city employee, all making it yuor problem. So, ......my favourite rant...........where are you??
Yes. Do not tell your insurance company (and I work for one). Get the problem fixed, get it inspected...no harm, no foul.
Called the county, it's all of $50 for the permit and that includes the inspection. Obviously I don't want them to find a problem but if they do I'd be very happy as this problem could have killed us.
Can't thank you folks enough for pointing this out, I had no idea.
Update on my fireplace without a permit problem: Applied for the permit, then was told I needed to hire a company as the county guys will not get on a ladder and go up 30 feet to inspect. Did that, and got the chimney swept at the same time. County guy came today and gave me the approval.
I can't thank you guys enough for possibly saving me from financial ruin had a fire started in our chimney.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There's a $10,000 dollar fine in our jurisdiction......
