This depends.
It depends on the type of work you’re doing, and which city or county your project is located.
As a default, many building departments automatically assume you need a permit for all work that you do. Without even giving you the chance to describe your scope of work, building departments often assume a permit is required, and they often overlook their own criteria that determines when a permit is required. They are quick to request payments for permit fees.
Below, I have included the criteria from the Seattle Residential Code (which is adopted from the International Residential Code), and these rules are similar in many locations. In summary, the code stipulates that you don’t need to get a building permit for non-structural work such as replacing surface finish materials like flooring or drywall, cabinetry, countertops, tiling, ceilings, siding, and even installing patios, abatement of hazardous materials, and adding insulation. The code also allows you to repair, and even replace, deteriorated structural components like beams, columns, joists, etc. without a building permit. The exact or “in-kind” replacement of pretty much everything is allowed by code without a permit as long as you are not making changes and the new components are better than the existing ones. “Better” means: newer, safer, and structurally sound. Furthermore, the code also allows you to make changes to the existing conditions as long as these alterations do not cost any more than $6000 for each 6 months for the fair market value of labor and materials, but these alterations cannot include changes to the structure or reduction to the exits, fire-ratings, lighting, or ventilation. You can even build a shed or similar structure without a building permit as long as its roof is under 120SF (200SF in some cities). Without a building permit, you can basically add or replace any material you want, and $6000 can be spent on changes to the existing conditions (except for the items noted).
Although a building permit may not be required, electrical, plumbing, or even land use/zoning permits may still be required in some situations. For example, you might not need a building permit to build a small shed, BUT, you might need to get special environmentally critical area permit approvals if you are building that tiny shed within a steep slope area, wetland, landslide area, liquefaction area, or peat settlement area, for example. Additionally, although a permit may not be required for certain work, ALL WORK MUST STILL BE BUILT ACCORDING TO THE CODES. You can’t just build a shed along the property line without complying with the required setbacks from the property line which must remain open, and certain items must still have a fire-rating applied to them.
The most common thing I hear when someone tells me a permit isn’t required is: “all my sheds are under 120SF, so I don’t need a permit.” And nearly always, I must inform that person that the 120SF exception is for the roof, and not just for the interior floor, so their roof overhangs take it over the maximum. Also their roof overhangs (or even the entire shed) commonly do not comply with the side yard setback requirements, and those roofs often need to have a fire rating on the underside of them. Many of these unpermitted sheds in Seattle are also built within environmentally critical areas where no work at all is allowed (but people still think they are allowed to build them without a permit anyway… there’s a lot of assuming going on).
Another common misconception is converting a garage to living space. There’s 2 problems here. When you convert one “building use” to another “use”, a permit is always required for this change of use. The building department needs to verify that the old structure is built to the safety level required for the new use since the new use usually requires a higher safety factor. For example, a garage doesn’t have all the safety components that a living space has, so changing a use to a living space does require a permit. Additionally, when you remove a parking space, there’s a chance that your property no longer complies with the parking requirements mandated by the zoning code. In many areas, at least 1 parking space is required, and the parking space is not allowed to be in the street, it’s not allowed to be in the part of the driveway that overhangs into your front yard setback that is supposed to be clear, and sometimes cars must be a specific distance from the front property line. By changing a previously approved parking space in a garage to a living space, you might be shooting yourself in the foot because there’s sometimes nowhere else on the property that can fit the legally required parking space.
As an architect, I know where to find all these rules, I know how to interpret them, and I know how to phrase your scope of work, so you can comply. I also know how to hold the building department accountable in situations where they tell you that you need a building permit, but you actually do not. This happens much more than you would think.
This doesn’t mean the building department will back down so easily if we call their bluff though. The building department is a government agency that has a budget and relies on payment of fees to operate. They are reluctant to let you off too easily. They want your money.
In one situation, we removed old paneling in a basement to be able to pull new/safer wiring through the old walls. In doing so, we REPLACED the 2x4 studs that were old and deteriorated. This is completely allowed by code - especially since they were non-structural - but even if they were structural, in-kind replacement is STILL ALLOWED without a building permit. We got an electrical permit since the new electrical work requires it. The electrical inspector went maverick and decided to file a complaint that work was being done without a building permit. I quickly showed him that the building code does not require a building permit, and the only permit needed is an electrical permit. We were clearly not trying to pull a fast one on anyone since we did what we were supposed to do by getting an electrical permit as required. The electrical inspector would not stay in his lane, and he would not back down. It became a formal violation, and the building department also played tough. They wanted their fees. We argued a little, but then we decided it was pointless to argue with people that couldn’t be reasonable in light of reading their own codes and not complying with them. Instead, there was an easier way out. Since we already had a separate building permit in the works for a backyard cottage at that same address, we just lumped the basement work onto that permit. It was eventually approved, and all was fine. Unfortunately, it did not go by the book because the building department did not follow their own book. I would have enjoyed the opportunity to fight them further on it, but we won by not fighting their unreasonable fight - and they got no more fees from our client.
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