While all municipalities vary to some degree, even though you are working inside your home and are not doing structural changes, a permit is usually called for. Building, plumbing or electrical permits, or some combination of those, are what is?most often?required.?They are?normally a few hundred dollars but getting caught with out one could be an unpleasant experience, causing delays?and extra expenses and then who pays for those expenses. The home owner can certainly say they do not want permits and then everyone proceeds from there. The inspectors normally focus on the task at hand and do?not go looking for other things that were done previously. If?a code violation?is pretty obvious, that could be a issue, however. Sometimes they involve a safety situation, so some good things can happen as result from having a permit as well. It is also good to be able to show that?work was done to your home with the?proper permits?when it comes?time to sell.
On our jobs that require a permit, I will secure the permit myself so the home owner doesn’t have to deal with any of that.