Working without a permit?

Question

What are the consequences of doing electrical/plumbing/etc. without a permit?

After the house is sold, how long is any such work a liability?

Answer 1

There is no liability unless there is a provision to this effect in the sale deed. There may be problem for insurance of the house appliances if the insurance company insists on it.

Answer 2

Not likely to be a problem as long as the work is done correctly. Any used home doesn't meet current codes because the codes are always changing. If the local building dept. finds out it is $50 fine or so, plus permit fees. Many, many homeowners do work on their own home. This does not nullify insurance. The truth is that most fire claims are caused by owners or occupants. This does not mean insurance wont pay. Just find out the correct methods and do the work right. Then you have peace of mind.

Answer 3

In our area it's the buyers concern legally, morally ? several homes have burned down. Inspection has found one with a previous fire, one was flooding and one was wind damage. Non of the buyers paid for a building inspection and most did their own non code work, non were libel.
An inspection from a legal inspector would have saved the buyer a lot of problems.
The new insurance refused to pay the owners due to no inspection from a legal inspector. The insurance was not responsible for inspecting the building, only on owners responsibility.

Answer 4

When you go to sell and the buyer has an inspector look it over they will pick up on any amatuer electric work and you'll have to fix it. You may not need a permit to repair electric and plumbing but will need one to add a new bathroom etc.

Answer 5

if you own the home there is nothing stopping you from making repairs to the plumbing/electrical.codes will vary widely from state to state and even town to town,so make sure what you do is at or above local codes.the buyer will probably ask for a home inspection prior to purchase and anything sub-par will be subject to upgrade at that time(if not it's at least off you)in some areas home inspection is required by real estate law in others it is not.in either case once the property is closed on your liability ends unless it is determined that you have purposely concealed something that you knew to be faulty.

Answer 6

the liabilty is usally not there,unless the new owners decide to sue you for having new work done and passing it off as being done by a licensed pro and up to code. (people usually take their lives pretty seriously).There is definetly a moral issue to:electrical is not to be taken lightly, do you really want to be responsible for someones life because you wanted to skimp on the work? just because its working now ,if not properly installed ,dosent mean it won't start a fire later. People get away and caught everyday,but is it a risk worth taking now knowing the consequences?

Answer 7

If you don't have the permit you don't get it inspected then if there is any problems your insurance won't cover it. For the little bit of money it costs it is always better in the end if you don't want to be stuck with the bill if something were to go wrong.

Answer 8

first off the liability can be FOREVER....especially if someone gets hurt...and no permit or license, can mean fines, or more,along with ripping out the work donw and having to pay someone to do it properly.......and while a homeowner can do work(IF QUALIFIED AND FOLLOW CODE) they also MUST take out a permit to have it inspected for code compliance.(I am 30 + yr master electrician and part time inspector)

Answer 9

If the work done is not to building code you could have to bring up to code when you sell the house.

Answer 10

If the work done is not to building code you could have to bring up to code when you sell the house.