Permit
Also called: Building permit, Trade permit, Electrical permit
Permission from the local authority to carry out work before you start it, usually followed by one or more inspections. What needs a permit varies by municipality as well as by province or state, and the answers are not intuitive — replacing a panel usually does, replacing a faucet usually does not, and where a deck or a fence lands is a local call. Unpermitted work surfaces years later when the owner tries to sell, and it lands back on whoever did it.
This one depends on where you work
The rule behind permit is set by the province or state the work is in, and the versions do not agree with one another. We have described the shape of it and deliberately not named a deadline, a cap or a percentage — check the rule where you work, or ask someone who practises there.
Related terms
- InspectionA visit from the authority that issued the permit to confirm the work meets code before it is covered up or put into use.
- Building codeThe rules setting out how work must be built for safety.
- Trade licenceOfficial permission to carry out a trade, or to carry it out unsupervised.
- Rough-inThe stage where pipe, wire or duct is run through the framing before anything is closed up.
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