If you haven’t done a home remodel before you might not be familiar with city building inspections. Are they like the inspection you get when you buy a house? Whose benefit are they done for?
Home inspections
When a house is sold a home inspection is done to disclose to the buyer what defects there might be. The goal is to let you know what condition the product you’re buying is in.
Building department inspections
The inspections done during a remodel project are an entirely different animal. These inspections are:
- to check that the work is done to building code standards
- done by city (or county) employees
- mandatory
- periodic (during key phases of construction)
- scheduled by the contractor (you don’t have to be present)
- only for the remodeled portion of the house
The true reason for building inspections
So, the local building department who issues your building permit runs these inspections. The idea is to make sure work is done up to building codes and the project being built is the same as what the drawings show.
But don’t assume this is a guarantee that every little thing is properly done to code. The city reserves the right to inspect, but makes no promises that their inspector will look at or catch everything.
And if they miss something significant, it can be difficult to win a lawsuit against a building department.
Your best bet
The moral to the story is: get a reputable, conscientious contractor who can’t sleep at night if work done in their name isn’t top quality.
photo by BoneDaddy
Hi Doug,
Great article! I wanted to add that most building codes exist to protect life safety, or to make buildings more habitable and user-friendly. We occasionally see public frustration in dealing with the bureaucratic nature of building departments, but often when we explain the reason behind various codes, our clients learn to appreciate the protection that they’re getting.
Jill—It’s good to hear from you here on the blog! Of course, you are entirely correct. Building codes are a great way to provide protection for the public.
While occasionally a code requirement makes it difficult to design the way we want, on the whole the codes safeguard the people who spend their time in them.
I have always avoided getting permits as much as possible. The problem with inspectors is that there is too much discretion. Some inspectors barely glance at the work, but other appear to take great delight in flagging areas where they take issue.
Another issue, is that in California, the codes are strongly influenced by industry lobbyists.
All over America Arc-Fault breakers are tripping…
David—You make some valid points. Inspectors do have a lot of discretion, and vary in their level of effort.
It’s hard to fight city hall though, as the expression goes. So I recommend to my clients to play along, even if occasionally it gets frustrating.