I rewired, insulated, and drywalled my garage without pulling any permits beforehand. I realize that may have been a mistake, especially after an inspector mentioned that my insurance likely wouldn't cover issues caused by work done without a permit. Now that everything is finished, I'm wondering if I need to tear it all down to get the necessary permits, or could it possibly just be up to the inspector's discretion? What's the potential fallout here? I'm located in Anaheim, California.
3 Answers
If the inspector does come out, be prepared for them to want to check a few things. They may require you to open up some sections to see the wiring and how it's installed. I've seen some people have to redo their work if it wasn't done right, but if your stuff looks solid, you might get lucky! Just remember, if a fire happens due to something unpermitted, you could run into issues with your insurance.
Honestly, this isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. Most homeowners skip permits for small projects like this. Just keep in mind that if your unpermitted work comes up during a sale or if there’s damage later, it could complicate things with insurance. If you feel confident in the wiring you did, you might be fine leaving it as is!
Totally agree! As long as you're sure about the safety of your work, you can probably just move on.
You might not need to worry too much! If your changes aren't obvious from the outside and everything looks and functions okay, you could get lucky with the inspector. Some inspectors are pretty chill and might sign it off without requiring you to rip everything apart.
That makes sense! If they can't see any major changes, it's worth a shot to just let them check it out.
That's good advice! Always best to be prepared for the worst, just in case.