I thought I would elaborate a little on the requirements for building permits.  Many people think, if I am not doing something structural to my building, then I don’t need a permit.  This is not true.

The best way to look at this issue is to ask yourself this question.  “If I was doing this as part of a larger permit, would the inspector need to look at it”  If the answer is “Yes”, then you need to take a permit to perform the small renovation.

It doesn’t need to be structural.  If you decide to re-insulate your cottage because the mice have made highways through it, then you require a permit.

But the building code does not require me to insulate my cottage?  This is true, but if you do insulate it, you must do it to code and it must be inspected.  I will cover the cottage bit in another blog.

If you are changing windows, does it require a permit?  “If it was part of a permit would the inspector need to look at the windows?  The answer is “yes”, so you need to take a permit to change your windows.

It seems like overkill.  Why do we need to get a permit for all these things.  But the intention of the law is that you perform the work correctly not only for your own good, but for the good of the next owner of the building?

Let’s say you purchased a cottage and the previous owner took it upon themselves to replace the windows, but did not take a permit to do so.  You are now at the mercy of that owners knowledge of the code requirements.  If they did not know to caulk the windows to the siding, then you may find yourself with a significant rot issue after years of water leaking into the walls, not to mention wet and ineffective insulation.  So I’m sure you can agree that getting a permit for something as simple as changing windows is a good idea.  Not everyone has a good knowledge of the building code, so everyone needs to take a permit.