Building permits are required whenever a person is making a new construction or when they are altering property to a certain degree. Check your local building department for potential unique rules, but according to the Oregon Building Codes Division, there are some distinct scenarios where a permit is required, and some distinct scenarios where permits are not required:
- Permit required
- installing/altering permanent wiring or electrical devices
- Running additional wires; installing new electrical outlets or light fixtures, installing garage door opener receptacles, converting from a fuse box to circuit breakers
- Repairing broken outlets with a ground fault circuit interrupter
- Installing/altering low-voltage systems like security alarms, stereo systems, or computer systems
- Installing/changing any part of a heating/cooling system that is vented into a chimney
- Installing unvented decorative appliances like gas logs or Amish fireplaces
- Installing wood stoves, fireplace inserts, pellet stoves, or related venting
- Installing/repairing/altering gas pipes between the meter or petroleum tank and an appliance
- Installing bath fans, dryer exhausts, kitchen range exhausts, and appliances that are required to be vented.
- Replacing pressure vessel water heaters
- Altering piping inside a wall, ceiling, or under a floor
- Any new plumbing installation
- Remodeling or adding to a property in a way that requires relocation of existing plumbing
- Creating plumbed water features
- Adding a room to the house
- Building or moving a carport, shed, or garage if it is more than 200 sq. ft. in size
- Adding/moving/removing walls
- Finishing an attic, garage, or basement to make an additional living space
- Cutting a new window or door opening, or changing the dimensions of existing openings
- Applying roofing when all of the old roofing is removed, and the new roof sheathing is installed
- Building/installing/altering a stairway to the primary door or to porches or decks more than 30 inches above grade.
- Building/installing/altering a deck more than 30 inches above grade
- Building/installing/altering a fence serving as a barrier around the swimming pool, hot tub, or spa
- Permit strictly not required:
- Replacing or maintaining broken/damaged electrical outlets, fixtures, or light switches with a like replacement
- Replacing approved fuses and defective breakers
- Replacing light bulbs and fluorescent tubes
- Replacing an existing garbage disposal and dishwasher or similar appliance with 30 amps or less
- Installing low-voltage wiring for garage door openers
- Installing phone outlets, however wire must be listed as the proper type of insulated wire for the project
- Installing coaxial cable for cable television
- Replacing existing doorbells
- Installing portable heating appliances, cooking appliances, clothes dryers, cooling units, evaporation coolers, and other portable appliances
- Installing portable ventilation appliances such as room air cleaners and whole-house window fans
- Replacing Steam, hot, or chilled water piping with any heating or cooling equipment regulated by code
- Replacing any minor part that does not alter the approval of equipment or make it unsafe
- Changing furnace filters
- Repairing or replacing a sink, toilet, faucet not concealed in a wall, countertops, shower heads, rain gutters, and downspouts
- Resurfacing shower walls or regrouting tiles
- Adding to/altering an irrigation system with an existing approved backflow device
- Installing a water filter
- Replacing a hose bibb
- Installing a water feature or exterior hot tub that is filled by a hose
- Building an accessory structure that is nonhabitable, detached, one-story, less than 200 sq. ft., and less than 15 ft. tall from floor to the average height of the roof
- Building a patio/porch/deck cover not more than 200 sq. ft. in area or 12 ft. in average roof height and not closer than 3 ft. to any property line
- Building a porch or deck where the floor is no more than 30 inches above the adjusted grade at any point
- Installing a wood, wire mesh, or chain link fence that is less than 7 ft. in height
- Creating a private concrete sidewalk, slab, or driveway not more than 30 inches above adjacent grade and not over any basement or story below
- Applying paint, paper, tile, or other similar finish work on walls, floors, and ceilings, as well as carpet, cabinets, countertops, or similar finish work
- Installing prefabricated swimming pools that are entirely above the adjacent grade
- Installing window awnings that do not project more than 54 inches.
- Erecting interior walls that are non-bearing, except when creating habitable rooms or creating new toilet rooms or bathrooms
- Repairing or replacing siding is not required to be fire-resistant
- Retrofitting or installing insulation
- Repairing masonry
- Installing gutters and downspouts
- Replacing doors and windows with no structural changes
- Replacing roofing where the weight of the replacement or repair does not exceed 30% of the roof’s live load design capacity, and is not required to be fire-resistant
- Building or replacing membrane-covered frame structures that are nonhabitable accessory buildings not more than 500 sq. ft. in area, one story in height, and not closer than 3 ft. from the property line
- Repairs using materials that require no cutting away of any wall, removing structural beams or load-bearing supports, removing any required means of egress/exiting, or rearranging any parts of the structure affecting egress requirements.
The list is substantial and leaves large numbers of scenarios unanswered, but as one of the clearer guides available from the building codes division, it should be well understood. In the worst case, a failure to get a permit when required can result in the local government or building codes division applying a fine or forcing the demolition of the unpermitted work. As a result, the lack of a permit tends to be considered a material fact in a transaction. If the Seller is aware that they did work without a permit, and aware that the work required a permit, that fact should be disclosed to the Buyer because it could turn into a surprise expense or a surprise fight with the local government if it goes unaddressed.