All the All Pro Home Inspectors here at All Pro Home Inspectors Inc. get questioned by our Ponte Vedra Beach, FL house buyers from time to time if certain improvements or additions identified (or disclosed by the home sellers) have to be or should have been permitted. Our answer generally depends on precisely what was modified, improved or added to the home in question. Throughout the years and right after doing thousands of pre-purchase home All Pro Home Inspections, we have found out that most house buyers, house sellers, and homeowners have no idea of what must be permitted vs what may not have to be permitted. The following list will help as a great place to begin in determining if your addition or modification needs to be permitted in accordance with the latest International Residential Code (IRC) manual.
According to the IRC, permits are not required for the following:
* Detached one-story accessory structures (tool sheds) less than or equal to 200 sq.ft.?* Fences lower than or of about six ft., sidewalks, driveways, swings as well as play ground tools?* Maintaining walls less than or of about 4 feet. coming from the bottom of the footing to the very top of the wall & with no surcharge?* Water tanks on grade lower than or of about 5,000 gallons & height/width ratio less than or of about 2:1?* Tiling, painting, carpeting, cabinets, counter & equivalent finish work?* Awnings showing lower than or equal to 54 inches coming from outside wall & supported from wall?* Decks under or of about two hundred sq. ft. & lower than or of about thirty inches above grade and not attached to home or serving a mandatory exit door
We wanted to provide this list of what commonly can be done to your house without a permit according to the latest IRC to help you clear up a number of the confusion for our house buyers, owners, and sellers. If perhaps what you are planning to build falls outside the list above it’s safe to believe that the permit is needed. However, the local city/county building official has got the final say concerning what needs to be permitted. So before you decide to build be sure to call your local building department to avoid problems and large fines down the road.
To find out more about building permits on Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, speak to All Pro Home Inspectors Inc. at 904-807-0939 right now!