When you are planning a home renovation project probably no other words form in your mind with a BIG dollar sign next to them as much as those two simple little words: Building Codes.
Depending upon your project you might find yourself dealing with inspections for foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, roofing, heating and air conditioning. Each of these could include inspections during the planning, rough in work, different stages during the actual work and of course the final inspections.
The minutia of items that an inspection can be failed for are seemingly never ending. And failing an inspection can easily result in unexpected extra costs or missed deadlines. If something gets done ahead of the inspection an Inspector can even require that the work be torn out.
Yet you can't blame a homeowner for being a little susceptible to the contractor who says, We'll just save you some money and do it on the sly without any inspections. (Wink, Wink)
In actuality, if any contractor suggests by-passing the required inspections, he should be politely shown off your property and never invited back.
Painful as they are, inspections are required for a reason. It may not always be apparent, but inspections are designed to protect your property and family. DO NOT ever try to skip by inspections.
Even if you aren't reported by a neighbor, or the work isn't seen by an Inspector driving by, not doing projects up to the local building codes can bite you in the *** when you try to sell your home down the road.
A lot of the mortgage companies require an inspection of a house before they will write the loan. Any decent inspector is going to notice work that was not completed up to code as a way to save money. You could end up spending thousands of dollars to have work redone to pass an inspection.
In truth, the only person who really benefits from avoiding the building codes is the contractor. That way he can cut corners that you can't see or don't know about. He also won't have to be as skilled or knowledgeable as the contractor who can make sure that everything passes building code inspectors.
So, it may cost you a little more initially, but it will pay of big time in the long run and potentially keep a disastrous accident from happening.
Bob Current writes on a number of his interests including home renovation. Check out his website at http://www.homeimprovementtips.info for ideas and resources.
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