Permit guides
What every homeowner should know before building: rules, refusals, setbacks, HOAs and what happens without a permit.
- Does homeowners insurance cover unpermitted work?Unpermitted work and home insurance: the ordinance or law exclusion, Florida's 25% default, owner-builder injury risk, all from official sources.
- Easements explainedWhat utility, drainage and access easements are, where to find them, why cities refuse buildings over them, and who pays when a structure in an easement must go.
- HOA approval vs city permitAn HOA approval is not a building permit, and a permit is not HOA approval. How the two reviews differ, what Austin, Miami Lakes and Florida law say, and the right order.
- Owner-builder permits, explainedWhat an owner-builder permit is, who can get one, the Florida and California rules on selling within a year, liability for workers, and what you sign at the counter.
- Permit drawings: what a city expectsThe drawings a US city asks for with a residential permit: site plan, foundation and floor plans, elevations, sections, scale and format, from real city checklists.
- How to get a permit for work already builtLegalizing a deck, shed or addition built without a permit: how as-built permits work, opening walls, engineer letters, penalties, and when removal is the only option.
- Setbacks explainedWhat a setback is, how cities measure it from the property line (not the curb), real numbers for houses and sheds, and the 5-foot fire rule.
- Unpermitted work when selling a houseSelling a house with unpermitted work? What the California, Texas and Washington seller disclosure forms ask, what buyers can do, and how to fix it before listing.
- What happens if you build without a permitStop-work orders, double permit fees, civil penalties, removal and resale trouble: what US cities actually do when you build without a permit, with official sources.
- Why building permits get rejectedWhy residential permit applications get sent back or refused, from cities' own lists: incomplete files, site plan scale, setbacks, easements, engineering.