Permit or Not
Every project we cover
34 so far, grouped by where the work happens. Each one carries the typical rule, the thresholds that flip it, and what it costs you to skip the permit.
Inside the house
Walls, kitchens and bathrooms, and the systems behind them
- Remove or open up an interior wallIf the wall is load-bearing, a permit and engineered drawings are required. If you are not certain whether it is load-bearing, assume it is.
- Remodel a kitchen or bathroomCosmetic work is normally exempt. The moment plumbing or wiring moves, it is not.
- Finish a basementFinishing a basement is permitted work nearly everywhere, and two requirements decide whether the plan is even possible: ceiling height, and an emergency escape opening for any sleeping room.
- Replace flooring, cabinets or countertopsThis is the clearest no-permit category in residential work — the code names painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and countertops as exempt by description rather than by threshold.
- Replace a water heaterReplacing a water heater almost always requires a permit, even though it is routinely done without one.
- Upgrade or replace an electrical panelPanel and service work always requires a permit, and in most places must be done by a licensed electrician.
- Add a subpanelA subpanel means a new feeder and new distribution, not a repair — that is permit work essentially everywhere, and the inspection exists to catch one specific mistake.
- Add an electrical outletSwapping a receptacle that already exists is maintenance. Putting a new one where there was not one means new wiring, and new wiring is usually permit work.
- Replace a furnace, AC or heat pumpMechanical replacement typically requires a permit, including straight like-for-like swaps.
- Add a mini split or window unitA window or portable unit is exempt because it is a self-contained appliance you could carry out. A mini split is a fixed refrigerant system wired into the house, and that is permitted mechanical and electrical work.
- Replace a toilet or a faucetTaking a toilet out and putting one back is specifically named as exempt — provided the work does not involve replacing or rearranging the valves, pipes or fixtures it connects to.
- Run a gas lineFuel gas piping is permitted work in essentially every jurisdiction, and the inspection exists for one specific step: the pressure test that proves the finished line does not leak.
- Install an EV chargerPlugging a car into an existing outlet needs nothing. Adding the 240 volt circuit a Level 2 charger runs on is electrical work, and it is permitted in essentially every jurisdiction.
On the house
The roof, the windows, and anything bolted to the structure
- Replace a roofRe-roofing normally requires a permit, and the number of existing layers is what usually decides whether you can go over the top.
- Replace windows or exterior doorsLike-for-like replacement in the same opening is sometimes exempt. Changing the opening size is structural and is not.
- Build a deckA permit is usually required once a deck is more than 200 square feet, more than 30 inches above grade, serves an exit door, or is attached to the house.
- Replace sidingPractice varies more here than almost anywhere: some jurisdictions treat re-siding as maintenance and ask for nothing, others permit it so the water-resistive barrier underneath gets inspected while it is visible.
- Add a skylightCutting an opening in a roof is structural work on the framing plus a new penetration in the weather layer, which is why this is typically permitted even though the unit itself arrives ready to install.
- Put solar panels on the roofSolar is permitted essentially everywhere, and there are two approvals rather than one — the building department's, and the utility's interconnection agreement, which is what actually lets the system export.
- Enclose a porch or add a sunroomEnclosing an existing porch is an addition in the code's eyes, and how heavily it is regulated turns on one question: whether the new space is heated and cooled like the rest of the house.
- Put up a ham radio antenna or towerThe radio itself is outside the building code, but the tower or mast holding the antenna is a structure — and the binding limit is almost always zoning height, not the building permit.
- Repair storm or water damageMaking it safe can usually start immediately — permits for emergency work are commonly filed after the fact. What follows is a permit question, and if the damage is bad enough it can trigger a rule that governs the whole building rather than the damaged part.
Out on the lot
Fences, sheds, driveways and anything standing on its own
- Put up a fenceFences under 7 feet are typically exempt from a building permit — but height limits, corner-visibility rules and pool-barrier requirements are set locally and catch people constantly.
- Add a shed or small outbuildingOne-story detached sheds are typically exempt up to 200 square feet under the residential code — but the number people quote is 120, and both are right depending on which code your jurisdiction adopted.
- Build an ADU or convert a garageAlways requires permits, and this is the project where zoning approval — not the building permit — is usually the real obstacle.
- Pour or widen a drivewayFlatwork on your own lot is often exempt, but anything touching the street or the sidewalk needs a separate approval from the road authority.
- Put in a swimming poolDepth is what decides it, not whether the pool is in the ground: the residential code exempts only prefabricated pools less than 24 inches deep, and past that a pool brings a barrier requirement and electrical bonding with it.
- Install a hot tub or spaMost of the permit is electrical rather than structural — a portable spa is still a 240 volt appliance sitting in water — and a listed safety cover is what commonly relieves it of the pool barrier requirement.
- Build a fire pit or outdoor fireplaceA portable wood fire pit is generally not a building-permit item at all — it is governed by fire and open-burning rules instead. Plumb gas to it and the gas line is regulated work in nearly every jurisdiction.
- Put up a pergola or gazeboAttachment is what changes this: a freestanding pergola under the accessory-structure size ceiling is often exempt, while anything bolted to the house is an alteration to the dwelling and typically permitted.
- Build a retaining wallFour feet is the line in the model code, and it is measured from the bottom of the footing rather than from the ground you can see — so a wall that looks like three feet is often already past it.
- Take down a treeThis is not a building-code question at all — no building department issues a permit for it. It is decided by a local tree ordinance, and in the cities that have one the fines are unusually large.
- Install a standby generatorA permanently installed generator is two permitted trades at once — the electrical connection and the fuel supply — and the transfer switch is the part that is never optional.
- Replace a sewer or water lineClearing a blockage is exempt; replacing the pipe is not. And the line normally crosses into the public right-of-way, which is a second permit from a different authority.