Permit not pulled for add'l Sqr Footage Colorado

mrbizee · 11-03-2006, 10:24 PM

This is my first post and I hope this question isn't a silly one, but I figured there's a lot of DIYers that have run into this problem:

I have a friend (and no, it's not me) who wants to sell his house. He had a bigger kitchen added on in 1982 that adds an additional 400 square feet to the original square footage of his home. He never pulled permits and the county records still show the square footage of the house before the bigger kitchen was added on.

Now he wants to know what he should do so that he may sell the house for a value that considers the additional 400 square feet. We live in Aurora, Colorado. Will the city permit office send somone out to inspect and fine him? Does he then need to have the county come out and remeasure the square footage?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

By the way, I've done DIY drywall, tile and fencing.

all vinyl · 11-04-2006, 12:18 PM

hi mrbizee
I'M FROM NJ in NJ you have to permits for everything . I no here thy would have to apply for the permit and then have all the inspections done but it also depends on the town / inspector . good luck hopefully you can talk to the town inspector and plead ignorance .

Darylh · 11-04-2006, 12:55 PM

Here in Canada If your house is 400 sqft bigger then your house is 400 sqft bigger regardless of who built it. Lots of people have renovated garages and sold the house as a bigger sqft and yet you should have had a permit. Now if the inspectors office finds out then thats a different story. Personaly I would just sell it at its present sqft. Another thing I have had a few appraisals over the years and they have added the sqftage I added and never asked about permits. I think he should talk to his realtor about this first.
Just my opoinon

Big Dave · 11-04-2006, 01:19 PM

I would think you could just notify the county assesor and be done with it. They are the ones who need to know for tax reasons and appraisal. I don't think they will notify the city.

mrbizee · 11-04-2006, 05:07 PM

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate it.

LanterDan · 11-04-2006, 05:24 PM

Maybe other places are much stricter than where I live, but I can't see the city going after you for something that was done 24 years ago. If for any reason they did say anything, I would play dumb ("I thought the contractor pulled the permits").

Now if there are substainal code problems, esp. those that would present a real threat to safety, that is a seperate issue.

MLO · 11-04-2006, 11:24 PM

You may very well get the local jurisdiction to give you a pass, but...Depending on the dates of the homes previous transactions and subsequent data, inspections, etc. it may not be the best route.

For the sake of future owners and the current owners liability I would want an inspection by your munincipality to be a matter of record. Hopefully they will just take the required permit money that would have been thiers and be easy with a visual inspection.

If this does not happen and a event should happen that involves an insurance claim, they many times will use this type of scenario as a reason to wash thier hands of any liability. This will create a trail back to the current owners that will involve attorneys and courts.

My munincipality would never be easy with a scenario such as this, knowing full well they may be the ones defending themselves against liability. It is a sign of the times and society in general I'm afraid, yours may be different.

the man · 11-05-2006, 08:46 PM

MLO Your right on with all your reasons to take care of the problem now. In N.Y., If you can prove to the inspector, ( with paper work, like electrical insp. or plans dated 24 years ago ) the inspecter can use the code that was enforced at that time. most important take care asap

al

birman builders · 11-13-2006, 09:08 PM

Say nothing and just put it up for sale. If all the work was done to code then there shouldn't be any problems. It's not like the new homeowners inspector is going to come into the house with an old set of blue prints. Plus, for something that happened 24 years ago, it's a bit late to be applying for permits. If you do go in for permits will the additional increase in sq. ft. increase the property tax, and how far can they back date that? Wouldn't risk it, keep monk like and stay quiet!

ncor · 11-18-2006, 10:59 PM

boulders no growth era put a kabaush on pretty much all permitting for a time. Of course with a growing student population and sky rocketing tax apprasils alot of additions and apartments ended up diy which can account for alot of the shoddy work there.
my point being if your addition is done right its to code. get a reputable contractor to review the kitchen. check for gfic and other electrical circuts run. check plumbing dwv and copper routing. have him/her do a check on any structural above or below which is accessable if its to code let it ride if not fix it.