Why would you need a concession for a new roof if it still has 10-12 years left? Tell the seller to they need to do whatever they can to get the permit now, after the fact.

If you were to buy and subsequently sell, a future buyer might get cold feet - just like you are.

That said, why worry about it? In 12 years when you replace the roof your roofer will pull the required permit.

Your inspector checks the County for pulled permits for everything he inspects? WOW!

I have buyers all the time that are ok with purchasing a home that had work done w/o permits.

I didn't know that a new roof required a permit.

NCRealestateguy- I am surprised that people are willing to buy homes with unpermitted work. Have any purchased homes with additions or large expensive unpermitted work that was done? Is the Inspector, Buyers Agent or Buyer supposed to catch unpermitted work during the home buying transaction?

Sabbath,

The biggest clue that I use to spot possible unpermitted work is by comparing the sq. ftg. of the home listed in the tax records and then comparing that to the homes actual sq. ftg. when I measure it for listing and when I measure it during the inspection. If there is a discrepancy, there is a chance that the owner added a room, finished off a basement or finished off a porch, or finished attic space. Or if the home is a total rehab. I'd say it is 50/50 as to the rate that buyers are worried about it. I think they are happy knowing that the property taxes are lower because the county does not know of the extra finished sq. ftg.

Here in S Fl we have substantial penalties if work is done without a permit. In the case of a new roof it can be a double edged sword as the insurance co may not accept the work and provide the discounts available for wind storm insurance. If the buyer continues to closing (here) the liability for the work done without a permit rides with the house and the buyer would be responsible to pay any penalties or fees associated with the un-permitted work. Normally the code enforcement department sends a letter first giving you 30 days to either get a permit or remove the work that isn't permitted. If you don't take care of it during the 30 day period, then the fine is up to $1000 per day. You might want to see what it is in your area. OP, if I were you, I would have the seller get a permit prior to closing to avoid all that potential liability.

Interesting. In my city, no permits are required for new roofs.

A permit might not have been required when the roof was put on in 2005. (FWIW, in my city, at least, I think permits are only required on jobs of $10,000 and up.)

Permits are required for almost everything here. Roof permits are required even if it is a shingle roof and not a tile roof and there is no minimum $ spend for a roof permit. The idea behind that is the inspectors are checking for code compliance. Every jurisdiction is different. It is best to check with the city/town/municipality/county to see what is required in your area.

"He said the roof and shingles look really good, and looks done
properly and he feels it will last for another 10-12 years. The
insurance company doesn't seem to have an issue with the missing permit."

Something not Kosher here.

How would the insurance company ever know about the Inspector's discovery?

Surely, if this is really an issue to you, the seller would have told you by now what he is going to do - if anything.

And, i still have a hard time believing that an inspector is calling the local agencies and checking up on open permits... that is just not part of their responsibilities, at least here.

I emailed the code enforcement officer asking about a permit for my roof. I never received a reply. Where I live, maintenance doesn't require a permit.

c t, is roof replacement considered roof maintenance? Here it isn't considered maintenance.

Denita, in places like FL where there is no state income tax, they are more avid for permitting fees than in places where the state gets income from something other than just property and sales taxes.

But it does seem odd that a whole new roof would be "maintenance."

ETA If the additional homestead exemption amendment passes next year, you can expect to see a lot more and higher permitting fees in FL, in addition to increased sales tax. They have to get money from somewhere, after all.

Writersblock, Florida has a whole laundry list of fees.....doc stamps on mortgages, doc stamps on deeds, intangible tax, we have all kinds of taxes called by some other name. Believe me, its not just sales tax increases and property tax increases and permit fees :)

We definitely needed a permit for a new roof on our last house. I guess it varies by jurisdiction. In the bay are of California, most jurisdictions have some very hefty fines for unpermitted work and as a buyer, those apply to you as well.

We discovered after we were under contract that there had been unpermitted and not-up-to-code electrical work done on the house (it was not listed as a problem in the inspection). Our agent knew a savvy and connected local electrician who was able to call the city permitting inspectors directly, who told him that they had no obligation to report us to code violations if they came to inspect the new work. So we paid to have it fixed and inspected as fast as possible and got out from under the possibility of fines. It was stressful though.

For the most part how would you ever know if work was permitted or not? Our towns don't keep those records for very long, if it happened more than a decade or two ago they won't be able to tell you whether it was permitted or not unless a zoning variance was recorded.

It seems that what matters (unless your town is particularly predatory about collecting fees) is whether the work was done properly. I've never seen a town inspector come to look at a roof in progress to check on the hidden details, so your inspector should be able to see what the town inspector might have seen.

rwiegand, the code enforcement officer would be looking to see if a permit was pulled as he/she drove by. If not then a work stop order my be enforced until a permit is pulled. They would then check that the installation was up to code(no more then 2-3 layers of tiles, etc.). Our town keeps records for more then 10 years, possibly longer. I have also seen the town boards have a family tear down an addition to a home not permitted because it went over a boundary line. The family thought they could get away with it. It was when the people next door sold their home and the new people had a survey done. There are all sorts of reasons the code enforcement office can find out about non-pulled permits. Best to be honest and pull a permit and pay the tax. A little up front can save you a lot down the road.

Kelly York,

Why post this here without first calling the Town/County Building Inspector/Permit Office?

As you see, there are a lot of different possible answers,but only one applicable to your location.

And again,

"Something not Kosher here.

How would the insurance company ever know about the Inspector's discovery?

Surely, if this is really an issue to you, the seller would have told you by now what he is going to do - if anything."

Just to be completely clear, I think that not pulling permits and not working to (and generally beyond) code is stupid. I'm just saying that houses like mine have had many, many additions and renovations over the last century and there is no possible way for me, the town, or an insurance company to say which may or may not have had permits pulled because the records simply don't exist.

While permits and inspections play a very valuable role in maintaining overall building standards and in zoning enforcement they are no guarantee that your particular house is actually built to code and has no mistakes. Inspectors are human, they don't look at everything, and have their own ideas about what is important. Inspecting your building with your own eyes (or an independent expert) is the best indicator of construction quality and confirmation of good practices, whether or not you know whether permits were pulled.

I think the OP tossed some chum over the stern and left the area.

Some of us wasted our time in trying to answer.

Our landlords in our previous home had the roof replaced last year and they did pull permits but did not have it posted in the window when the work started so the neighbors started calling code enforcement (within a hour). Permits have to be posted in plain sight for 72 hours in that city.

When we bought our previous home, which was built in 1929, we were given a copy of the entire permitting history, which included an addition built in 1935.