Are we obligated to report fraudulent building practices to the county with no permits pulled? Flipper, non-permitted: kitchen addition, finished basement, added bathrooms, walls removed on main floor, Mold in basement…so many things wrong with this house. To top it off someone removed the metal chimney for gas furnace/WH and replaced it with Goose Neck Vent.
I would say that is outside the scope for sure, in short no, you are not “obligated”.
Outside of an inspection if you see shoddy work being done without a permit you are free to inform the AHJ of such.
That’s just being a good citizen.
Did someone issue you a badge, gun and one bullet?
No, you are not.
now that’s funny…
I just know from my own house:
My water heater was installed properly before I moved in. I was with the city inspector when he signed off on it. But per the city records, the water heater installation was never completed.
An electrician re-wired my garage with all new GFCI’s. The city inspector signed off on it. None of the outlets are grounded.
I inspected a panel recently, There was the city inspector tag with signature indicating it was signed off just a few weeks earlier. I found a clear code violation in the panel.
So no, I don’t really really care what the permit office says or doesn’t say, because their information is not always correct. I care about what I see.
hahahahah…Nip it in the Bud.
Also keep in mind, the “Flipper” is typically the (new) “Homeowner”, and (although this is slowly changing over time), in many non-urban areas, many projects that are performed by the “Homeowner” do not require permits. Heck, many areas don’t even have an established permit process at all.
Yep!
I guess it depends what state you are in. In Florida It is actually the law to report unlicensed activity, and permits are required for just about everything, especially if you plan on selling the house within a year.
No we are not obligated although some Inspectors of this org do.
Personally I don’t and would consider it a waste of my time, but if I suspect mods or remodeling has been done I inform my clients with the following note in the summary.
Thanks Kevin that’s what I did, they got out out of the deal.
Good statement Kevin, but I wonder if it should be included that if the unpermitted work is discovered by an AHJ at a later date, that the NEW homeowner inherits the responsibility to “make it right” at the expense of whatever the AHJ determines to be the correction, regardless of extent and cost.
I see dumb stuff all the time that was permitted & finaled.
In Florida there is a statute that states you cannot sue the AHJ for screw-ups.
Not entirely true. There was just a case over on the west coast where a couple sued the building department. It was just recently settled in favor of the client.
I would not.
I do have a comment that pertains to possible none permitted work. In my opinion that covers it.
Building inspectors have a salary around 30k. Home inspectors generally make 3 or 4 times that. Where do you think the skilled inspectors would go work?