What is the law re fixing your house and getting a permit?

Question

Why do you have to get a permit from the city when you are fixing the house you own.. We pay our taxes, all our bills and still get harrassed. I have lived in my house for 25 yrs. We had windows put in from a reputable company. They look very nice.. Now the city is harrassing us about a permit....which means someone would have to miss work about 3 times waste money to have someone come over and inspect them..It's my house..I own it...How can it be my house if the government is controlling what I do with it.....Is the government really here to help us or is it here to harrass us and make us sick...This is so ridiculous.. If someone can give me a Really good reason why you have to have a permit..please tel me...AND DON'T JUST SAY IT'S A LAW. My daughter works for a reputable construction company who has experience with many contractors...We don't need some controlling government freak to come around and give us permission...waste our time and precious money.. They are literally making me sick...They are so nosy...

Answer 1

It really depends on where you live but unless your new windows required a change to the structure of the house, I'm not sure what they're worried about.

Answer 2

Sounds like you've already made up your mind that no matter what is said, you still do not agree with why the city requires a permit.

Well, the reason is partially because if your neighbor decides to paint his house Orange and put in a Pit Bull puppy farm, you will be protected from him getting away with trying that.  It is to help maintain property values, not just to harrass you.

Yes, you have the right to do pretty much whatever you choose on your property, but you must remember that all rights have restrictions.  So your right to do anything is restricted to complying with local codes.

Most people wouldn't have it any other way, because it protects their investment.

If putting in windows was the reason the city is upset, that sounds trivial.  It was an improvement to the property and not causing an eyesore, even if they require a permit.  Such permits for minor improvements like that should not cost anything.  To me, it seems the city should not charge a fee in order to encourage miscellaneous improvements.

If they can not show you, in written form, where they have the right to charge you for replacement of windows, I think I'd tell them to buzz off.

Good luck

Answer 3

Just another way for the Government to get money... where we live they want permits for everything as well, however it is a more rural area, and no one comes by or notices the changes.. the permits are costly, and time consuming... we can barely afford to do the upgrades, much less pay an additional fee to the county.

Answer 4

The main reason for a building permit is so the municipality can take note of the improvements and factor that in to your increased property-tax assessment. They may tell you it's to ensure everything's done to code, but I don't think that's the primary reason.