Hello,

We hired a contractor to remodel our kitchen. He said he contacted our city to see what permits would be needed and was told none were needed. We had many issues with our contractor and his subcontractors so we hired a second contractor as a consultant. Our consultant asked if the building inspector signed off on the final walk through. We told him only an electrical permit was pulled (and passed) but we were told no other permits were needed. He said to do some research with the city to verify. I went to the city to pull our file and there was an email correspondence to the contractor from the city advising that permits were not needed to uninstall and reinstall a dishwasher and sink or re texture the ceiling and paint. However, it wasn’t a simple uninstall/reinstall- our kitchen was gutted to the studs, our pipes were cut down to the floor, our dishwasher was relocated and the plumbing was completely redone. He also did not pull a permit when the exterior kitchen wall was re-insulated or for the insulation in the kitchen ceiling as some fell out when the soffit was cut out or for reinstalling the exhaust over the range – all things our consultant said may require a permit and the city agreed that it did sound like permitable work.

I wanted to give our original contractor a chance to remedy the issue and requested him to pull the permits and have the work inspected. His response was that I can pull the permits and request an inspection myself, he's not spending any more time on our project. But I was told to not pull a permit for someone else’s work in your own home by the city.

I have concerns, especially since our consultant pointed out an issue already and the city said not having the work inspected could cause issue if we ever decided to sell our home.

What is the correct course of action I should be taking?