Let’s face it, one of least favorite things to deal with in a home renovation project is the permit and inspection process! Most homeowners I deal with are in favor of having the security of construction work that is inspected and meets local building codes, and thus approved by town inspectors. But, they are concerned about the impact on their budget and time frame.

It’s not uncommon for me to see previous renovations that were done without either permits and/or qualified workmanship. A perfect example was the existing kitchen in our 150-year-old fixer-upper that we purchased in downtown historic Bethlehem. Upon the initial home inspection, the bones looked solid and the electrical and plumbing sound. But once we began taking down the old acoustic tiles and metal grid, and demolished the ceilings to install lighting, we found that previous renovations had been done below code requirements and obviously had never been inspected.

Much to our dismay, many of the ceiling joist in the kitchen had been cut through in order to run plumbing for the upstairs bathrooms. If the lawyers (previous renters) on the second floor had ever decided take a bath, they would have ended up in the kitchen sink! Even though the problems we found cost us more to fix then we had planned (we “sistered” the joist to restore structural strength), we now feel so much more confident about the integrity of our home.

What most people don’t realize is that in most cases they have the option, as homeowners, to “pull” their own permits. This means that they can do the work themselves but also have the benefit of having any work done inspected by the township to make sure the work is done to code.

If you are considering applying for your own permits, I recommend doing your homework! We knew from the beginning that we had major work to do in order to make our renovation happen. Of course this option does make more work for the homeowner, but what a relief to know the work you are doing is up to acceptable building standards.

Sadly, there is the preconceived notion that town officials are only there to make life more difficult, but you have to understand that they are taking the responsibility of approving whether a home renovation project is done to code, and safe for the residents.

Having survived more than my share of home renovations (both my clients’ and my own) here are some suggestions for making the permit process easier, especially if you are going to apply for the permits yourself.

1. Be courteous, diligent and thorough. Make sure you have a list of questions prepared before you go speak with officials.
2. Take notes at the meetings and make sure you have someone there with you to confirm that you understood the answers. (John and I had many debates on what the answers were to our myriad questions).
3. If you are charting a course in unfamiliar territory, make sure to research, interview, and hire a local real estate attorney who is familiar with local codes. Our particular renovation required an easement and a zoning variance, which is definitely not your typical situation. But, there is no way John and I would have done this transaction without an attorney.
4. Especially if you are planning on doing the work yourselves and are not sure of the tasks involved in the renovation, consider hiring a professional contractor as a consultant. They can look at the property to help estimate the budget on renovations, and offer guidelines and suggestions.
This is not to say you should bring in multiple contractors under the guise of hiring them if you don’t intend on doing just that. Be mindful that a contractor’s time is money, too!
5. Hire an interior designer as a consultant to help provide a realistic viewpoint of your properties potential, and if it makes sense for your lifestyle and functional goals. It’s so easy to get caught inside your own head and not see better alternatives to the bigger picture! It was invaluable to our zoning variance and permit application proposals that I was able to make accurate plans of our property.
6. These last two suggestions are especially true if you plan to do renovations on a property that you are about to purchase. In our case, the sale would not have gone through if we were not able to confirm all of our proposed plans BEFORE we had our closing.

Our experience with the officials in Bethlehem was professional and cordial. For our part, we were totally prepared with every drawing, detail and specification they requested. And they were very helpful answering all our questions. I will admit I probably over-prepared each time we went to ask our next set of questions, but I wanted to be sure they knew that I had done my homework and I was respectful of the code standards.

As I’ve started to chronicle our renovation journey, I look back on this past year in amazement – not only that we pulled it off, but also by all the wonderful people that God sent our way to help us transform this property into our home and my studio. Once we had zoning approvals in hand and our permits securely taped to the front door, the wild ride was about to begin…