[LazyPup]

I have been following this discussion of permits with great interest and it comes to me that heretofore it has been fringing on a very gray area of the law.

In most jurisdictions a property owner or his/her delegates may perform “maintenance” without a permit or inspection subject to some limitations. By example, in my jurisdiction, with the exception of installing a water heater, a homeowner may perform plumbing maintenance on the potable water distribution system and all related fixtures and appurtenances and the DWV (drain, waste & vent) system, however all maintenance on the house sewer, septic tank and leach field requires a permit and a subsequent inspection. On the house gas distribution system the homeowner or his/her delegates may install a gas appliance and may make the final gas connection from the appliance gas shutoff valve to the appliance gas control, but they may not perform any maintenance on the house gas piping system.

All “New Work” requires a permit.

The question then becomes, what is maintenance and what is new work?

By code definition the act of maintenance is servicing or maintaining the existing system in its original design and layout. This mean you can remove a defective pipe, valve or fixture and replace it in the same location with a like kind pipe, valve or fixture however, any alteration to the original design or layout is classified as “new work”. This means if you take out a tub you must replace it with a tub in the same location. Removing a tub and replacing it with a shower stall would be classified as new work. The same is true if you change the location of a fixture, which results in altering the length of any pipe would be technically classified as “New Work”.

In most jurisdictions a homeowner may pull a “Self Help Permit” if the structure that he/she intends to work on is a “single-family dwelling” and is occupied solely by the homeowner and members of his/her immediate family. (Don’t take this point lightly, if you so much as rent a room to an individual who is not a member of your immediate family you cannot qualify for a self-help permit.)

A Licensed General Contractor or a Licensed Tradesman must pull all other permits for new work.

Once the permit is pulled it is the obligation of the individual whose name is on the permit to specify the type and quality of all materials and insure all code compliance during the construction phase.

Under no circumstance may an unlicensed “Handyman” pull a permit for new work and taking this to the next level, an unlicensed handyman must follow the expressed instructions of the permit holder. Under no circumstances may a handyman specify any materials or construction methods. By code definition if a handyman specifies the layout, type of materials or construction methods that said handyman might be arrested and convicted of contracting without a license.