"Roger Shoaf" wrote in message

On the other hand if one decides to cheat and go without a permt, they can
make you restore the property to the original state, or sometimes you can
get a after the fact permit at double the regular price.

Having unpermitted work also requires disclosure when you sell the
property.
Probably not a big deal if you added a non bearing wall without electrical
or plumbing, but otherwise this could queer the deal if the buyers
insurance
company balked.

In all the years of home ownership and working on home improvements (even
has a side line business years ago) I've never had an insurance company
visit to check on things. Never had a buyer question improvements or
permits. Only time my work was inspected was when it was a part of a major
project that was permitted and I did some of the electrical (passed, of
course). I don't know where you guys live that have all these problems, but
I'm glad not to be there.

When I worked with my stop-father in his construction business in a big
city, we always had permits for larger, very visible jobs. There was always
an envelope left someplace visible too and it was usually gone after the
inspection.