The Ins and Outs of Permits for your Remodeling Project

I’m sure you’re thinking that permits must cost a lot of money and that it’s best to avoid having to get one. The truth is, most permits cost less than $500, which is just a fraction of your overall remodeling costs. Additionally, it’s never worth it to cut corners, because that will come to haunt you later.

Let’s take a look at some real data regarding building permits:

1. Number of Applications per Project Most of the permits that people apply for are for kitchen or bathroom remodels, counting for 37% of all permit applications. 23% of the applications are for other interior remodeling projects, and 21% for additions. Then come exterior building upgrades at 19% and other outdoor upgrades at 15%. Permit applications for new detached structure construction account for 10%, and one-off specific projects for a mere 3%.

2. Cost of Approved Building Permits For first-time applicants, most building permits cost $500 or less, more accurately 58% of them. So more than half of all building permits cost less than $500. There are some permits that cost more, however: 17% cost between $501-$1,000, and 14% cost between $1,001 and $3,000. Permits that cost over $3,000 become very rare: only 10% lie between $3,001 and $5,000, and a mere 1% over $5,000. So if you’re doing a bathroom or kitchen remodel, which are the two most common remodeling projects, your permit costs will most likely be under or around $500.

3. Time Needed for Permit Approval

Another important question regarding building permits is how long they take to approve. And I think you’ll be happy to hear that some permits even get approved in the same day, namely 24%. The remaining 76% of permits take a few days to approve. Among the permits that take multiple days to approve, 17% take less than a week, and 27% take 1-2 weeks. These numbers are all for first-time applicants. The majority of permits take 3-4 weeks to approve, so that’s an important factor to calculate into your planning. Only a few take longer than 4 weeks to approve; 14% take 1.5-3 months, and only 3% take more than 4 months.

4. Reasons Project Plans change:

Many people first try to pull a permit themselves, but then when they learn about permit requirements, a number of things happen: 15% of applicants delay the start of their project, 13% decided to change their project in some way, and 25% decided to hire a professional contractor. It’s oftentimes worth it to hire someone who has gone through the permitting process many times and knows what permits require, rather than doing everything yourself.

5. How does the Final Project compare with Initial Plans? Sometimes, projects change when going through the permitting process. Policies of local departments and of your city may force you to alter some of your plans. However, 62% of plans remain very similar, and 22% are different when completed. 14% of projects end up being larger, and 3% of projects smaller.

6. Who usually takes out Building Permits? Many firs-time applicants pull permits themselves, namely 56% of them. In 9% of the cases, a spouse/partner/family take out the permit, and 27% of the time the contractor/installer. The percentage for contractors to pull permits increases with experiences applicants; for experienced applicants, 34% of the permits get pulled by contractors. In few cases, the architect/designer takes out the permit, namely 8% of the time.