The Harm of Expired Permits

You’re putting in an above ground pool this summer, adding on a deck and repaving your driveway. You are looking forward to the home improvements, all of which will add value to the property you will most likely sell in 15 years. You get your building permits and hire a few guys from the unemployment office to help you build a deck and install the pool. You figure you can do it all by yourself, with some help, and don’t need to hire a project management, engineering, or construction company to do the work for you.

The project gets done a month early, you make your final payments and sink back to relax. 15 years later you’re wanting to put your home on the market when your realtor lets you know that you have expired permits that are still open from the summer you updated the property. You had completely forgotten to get the inspections needed to close your permits with the city after your project was completed and now your property can’t be sold.

What can you do? You didn’t hire a construction company that kept any records. You did it all yourself. Hiring a project management and engineering company to help you with reconciling expired permits is the best thing you can do. A company such as Beryl Project Engineering can read your expired permits and be able to supply the local government the documentation they need from a visual inspection if the project was completed to code.

The sad thing is that some of the most common permits left open such as pools and roofing projects may no longer meet the codes, even if they would have when they were installed. If the work is not to code, the expired permit has to be re-opened which usually costs a fee and the work must be re-done to code before the permit can be closed.  This will delay your home being sold, causing major harm to your selling plan. Call Beryl’s certified engineers and inspectors today to see how they can help.