Shortcuts That Put Homes at Risk
Builders and subcontractors must have their plans approved by your local building department before they start work on your home. This is to ensure that all construction work is done safely and competently. Unfortunately, unscrupulous builders may skip this step. This is both illegal and a sign of major incompetence and negligence. A stamp of approval from the building department is not a redundancy, but your main assurance that your home will meet the minimum legal safety standard. If your builder was planning to do everything to the proper standard, why would they need to hide their plans from the authorities? Unpermitted construction tends to walk hand-in-hand with other major defects like violations of building codes, violations of zoning codes, and violations of fire codes. It is also highly likely that your builder used cheap, substandard materials and hired inept subcontractors to install them. When unpermitted work is done on a home, homeowners’ insurance can refuse coverage, leaving you vulnerable to massive bills if anything should go wrong. Unpermitted additions to a house cannot legally be counted towards its square footage, majorly devaluing your home. In the worst case, building departments can require unpermitted homes to be torn down and rebuilt at great expense. If parts of your home were built without a permit, your builder bypassed their legal obligation to provide you a safe home, and they must be held to account.