Homeowners doing their own work

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c2500

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South Carolina
In South Carolina, homeowners are allowed to do their own work. The only stipulation is that they have to reside in the premise for two years from the date of final inspection. They even sign a document agreeing to this. Ironically, the enforcement of permits is the city or county. The SC Residential Builders Commission would have to enforce the law if the person lied on their application. (I have been told by a city official they do not enforce the law...but have not verified yet.) A house in my neighborhood is currently being hack remodeled, and the owner lied to get the permit. He plans to sell when completed I am curious as to how other states handle this issue?

Thanks,

c2500
 
here HO can do as they please as long as they live in the house..The electrical and plumbing have to be inspected but HO can do it them selves..you find alot of HO who own a second income property that do their own work as long as you dont get caught you are good to go..It happens whether it is legal and who is going to enforce it are the real questions..
 
c2500 said:
In South Carolina, homeowners are allowed to do their own work. The only stipulation is that they have to reside in the premise for two years from the date of final inspection. They even sign a document agreeing to this.

c2500
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Is that even enforceable?

Seems Big Brotherish.........
 
In Massachusetts homeowners are allowed to do there own electrical no matter how long they have lived in the house. But they are not allowed to do there own plumbing. Very odd you can get killed doing electrical and have a leak doing plumbing. :rolleyes:
 
Homeowners in Virginia can obtain a permit and do their own work, subject to all the same inspections. The work can only be done by the homeowner or immediate family. If they pay someone to work with them, it has to be a licensed person. My brother-in-law, who is a master electrician, went over to the dark side and became an inspector. He can tell hilarious stories about homeowners all day. Of course, he only sees the "good" ones - the ones who actually get a permit and an inspection.
 
ditto TN

ditto TN

TN mirrors VA... except for the larger municipalities which do not allow homewoner permits.


A MAJOR P.I.A.
 
Awg-Dawg said:
Is that even enforceable?

Seems Big Brotherish.........
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Well, that is the big question. The law is vague. I don't have a problem with the homeowner doing the work, it is the fact the guy has thumbed his nose at the neighborhood for 4 years. (The house is a teardown..with structural issues) I know of another house that burned close to 3 years ago, and sits unoccupied to this day because the homeowner pulled permits...of course saying it would be his primary residence.

c2500
 
I guess every area has their problems.

I was commenting on the fact that your area says that you have to live in your house for two years after final.

I think that is ridiculous.
 
Here in California (it was 82 degrees and sunny here today), a homeowner can pull an "owner-builder" permit for any trade and perform the work himself, no restrictions on "primary residence" or length of time they inhabited the home. All you need is a checkbook for the permit fee.

A home owner may also obtain all the permits for a new house and do all the work them selves, but in this case, they cannot sell their owner built house until a year has passed from the issuance of the permits. To do so they would need a General Contractor's license.

happy_owner_builder.jpg
 
we have a similar law in GA but it is 18 mo. and not 24; however, you can sell the home, you're just not allowed to pull another permit until your 18 mo. is up. capital gains tax is usually enough to keep someone in the house for 24 mo. though.
 
Here in NJ the HO can pull all the permits for their own house. They pay the fee and the work gets inspected. I never heard of a requirement to actually live there after completion. Personally I don't have much of a problem with it if the stuff is thoroughly inspected. Recently I pulled a plumbing permit for a finished basement with a full bath with sewer ejector, re-routing of 1" black pipe gas line, all new baseboard heat and a new laundry room. Performed all of the work myself and the place passed with flying colors. So in my case I'm glad that the HO can pull permits since it saved me a considerable amount of money.
 
I think one of the big issues is not so much with local requirements but with federal tax laws. If you're building new houses or buying old ones and then "flipping" them after remodel, the tax laws can become a significant issue. If you flip the house (remodel and sell in less than 2 years) the capital gains tax can be quite high whereas if you live in the house for 2 years you can make up to $500K in capital gains (if you have that big of a house) and not pay any capital gains tax at all.
 
Fire Alarm said:
Here in California (it was 82 degrees and sunny here today), a homeowner can pull an "owner-builder" permit for any trade and perform the work himself, no restrictions on "primary residence" or length of time they inhabited the home. All you need is a checkbook for the permit fee.

A home owner may also obtain all the permits for a new house and do all the work them selves, but in this case, they cannot sell their owner built house until a year has passed from the issuance of the permits. To do so they would need a General Contractor's license.

happy_owner_builder.jpg
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Pretty much the same here in Florida. Is that Joe the plumber?
 
c2500 said:
The only stipulation is that they have to reside in the premise for two years from the date of final inspection. They even sign a document agreeing to this.
Click to expand...

Now THERE'S a brilliant law!

So here's my plan:

Feb. '08: Move to South Carolina.
Mar. '08: Install a dimmer and have it inspected. Sign above agreement.
Apr. '08: Rob a bank and get away with at least $10,000,000.
Mar. '10: Change some GFIs in my house.
Mar. '12: Install ceiling fan
Mar. '14: Rewire the garage
Mar. '16: Tidy up the service panel.
Mar. '18: Wire the basement so I can finish it.....

Vinny and Bruno wound be proud! :grin:
 
Here in Michigan HO can pull own permits and perform work themselves. Some inspectors cut them slack and let them get away with stuff that a contractor couldn't, others come down hard on them. It depends on the jurisdiction.
 
Here in MA, unless the law has changed recently a homeowner is not required to pull a permit or have the work inspected.

Some jurisdictions will issue permits and inspect others refuse to have any part with HOs work.
 
bradleyelectric said:
In most areas of Maryland no homeowners permits, or they can get a permit if they pass a very tough test.
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Once I was browsing Howard County's permit web site. I vaguely remember seeing permits posted there, that were issued to homeowners. I have not noticed that in any other county in my area. e/m
 
Legal or not, there's still going to be an awful lot of this work going on under the radar. I find it almost daily. With the romex having different jacket colors for the last couple of years, it makes a lot of it pretty easy to spot.

My most recent gripes is the radon mitigation guys wiring their radon fans without a permit. I took pictures in a home the other week in which there's at least 7 electrical code violations related to the radon fan install. Another recent one was Lowe's installation services runinng 10-2 romex to serve a new dryer.
 
Alaska -
Single family dwellings
Home Owner can do as much as they please

No permit
No inspection

On the house I built last year, the POCO inspected the service disconnect and the ground rod before they would hook up. They did not check anything past the disconnect - not even the generator connection.

Some munincipalities(sp?) have different rules - mostly on plumbing. Some require permits and inspection.

As for selling, the bank may insist on an inspection/engineer's report.

You pretty much take care of yourself or die.

carl
 
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