I'm having a new roof put on my single-family home, and a city inspector will be coming to check it out. In my neighborhood, it's against the rules to have an HVAC unit on your roof. My next-door neighbor's house has one, which they added without permits, and while it's not really visible from the street, it's pretty obvious from my roof. There are also other houses nearby with HVAC units up there. My neighbor is worried that the inspector will spot their unit when they're on my roof, and they're considering covering it with a tarp during the inspection. I'm not sure if that's a good move or if it might draw more attention instead. Should I suggest they just leave it or cover it? What do you all think?
3 Answers
Honestly, I wouldn't stress about it. It's not your responsibility if your neighbor has unpermitted work done. They took that risk when they put the unit up there. Just let the inspector do their job and hope for the best!
I think putting a tarp on it might make it more obvious! The best plan could just be to keep your heads down and hope the inspector is focused on your roof. Depending on the inspector, they might not even care about that old unit. Good luck!
Is the ban on rooftop HVACs a city law or something from an HOA? If it's just a city rule, then the inspector likely won't give it a second thought since there's no HOA involved to enforce that. They probably have bigger fish to fry. Just a thought!
It's a city rule. Luckily, we're not under an HOA!