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I think the idea behind doing it yourself is that you don’t need a permit. In the USA, while permits are technically required for a lot of things, the law is wi

I think the idea behind doing it yourself is that you don’t need a permit. In the USA, while permits are technically required for a lot of things, the law is widely ignored, and enforcement is lax to nonexistent. Hell most of the licensed contractors I hire (electric, plumbing, etc) don’t bother to pull permits, even for new work.

pbourke 3y ago
You will likely have issues if you ever try to sell property with an unpermitted well. FHA loans have restrictions on the well as do many local jurisdictions that may refuse to convey the property if the well isn’t up to code. My local jurisdiction won’t block the sale but will write an alarming letter to the seller. In the case of a new build or major remodel, you will not be able to get a certificate of occupancy without a state and county verified well here. > Hell most of the licensed contractors I hire (electric, plumbing, etc) don’t bother to pull permits, even for new work. Yeah, it’s your responsibility as a homeowner to get the permit (either get it yourself or see that the contractor does). Even if you don’t think the permit inspectors are doing anything in terms of quality control, the permit helps you to pass inspections as part of the sale process and will limit your insurance exposure if there’s ever an issue. There’s probably fine print in your insurance contract saying that all work shall be permitted as required.
- bragr 3y ago
  Yeah, it doesn't take a genius inspector to take the as built plans, the list of work permits, and see if that explains current state of the house. And then there's the whole issue of mandatory disclosure forms and how forthcoming you are on those and if whatever you put down aligns with the inspectors find.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - ghaff 3y ago
    That assumes there are as built plans. I live in an area of the US with a lot of old houses and there certainly aren't as built plans for 100-200+ year old houses or a string of permits for any substantial work. (Well/septic tend to get more scrutiny at a sale but the status of old renovations/remodels in general are often pretty opaque.)
bobthepanda 3y ago
The permits exist for a reason. If too many people start doing it, it becomes an issue of overdrawing groundwater. This leads to an arms race of digging ever deeper wells to reach the remaining groundwater, and on top of that starts leading to ground subsidence as ground formerly full of water dries out and compacts. Off the top of my head, there is massive groundwater subsidence in the Central Valley of California, Mexico City, and Jakarta due to this issue, at rates measured in feet per year. This makes the land prone to flooding, and also damages buildings and infrastructure since the subsidence is generally not evenly spread out.
- anakaine 3y ago
  Importantly, in case it wasn't obvious to readers, hydrocompaction cannot be undone in any meaningful way. Once the compaction happens, water will no longer, and will never again, flow in the compacted area.
- d00wgnir 3y ago
  I was looking into this DIY approach and it is not allowed in my county. Some of the justification is that improperly cased wells can allow backflow contamination of the larger water supply, affecting other nearby water sources. I'm not sure how likely this is as I have limited knowledge of the subject.
KirillPanov 3y ago
At least in my state (Washington), electricians and plumbers licenses include an annual permit which covers all the work they do during that year. It's only the trades that don't have a licensing program (or are only licensed as "general contractor") that need a separate permit for each job instead of one big one that covers all their work for the year.
- throw9away6 3y ago
  Each individual job also needs a permit

pbourke 3y ago

You will likely have issues if you ever try to sell property with an unpermitted well. FHA loans have restrictions on the well as do many local jurisdictions that may refuse to convey the property if the well isn’t up to code. My local jurisdiction won’t block the sale but will write an alarming letter to the seller. In the case of a new build or major remodel, you will not be able to get a certificate of occupancy without a state and county verified well here. > Hell most of the licensed contractors I hire (electric, plumbing, etc) don’t bother to pull permits, even for new work. Yeah, it’s your responsibility as a homeowner to get the permit (either get it yourself or see that the contractor does). Even if you don’t think the permit inspectors are doing anything in terms of quality control, the permit helps you to pass inspections as part of the sale process and will limit your insurance exposure if there’s ever an issue. There’s probably fine print in your insurance contract saying that all work shall be permitted as required.

bragr 3y ago
Yeah, it doesn't take a genius inspector to take the as built plans, the list of work permits, and see if that explains current state of the house. And then there's the whole issue of mandatory disclosure forms and how forthcoming you are on those and if whatever you put down aligns with the inspectors find.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- ghaff 3y ago
  That assumes there are as built plans. I live in an area of the US with a lot of old houses and there certainly aren't as built plans for 100-200+ year old houses or a string of permits for any substantial work. (Well/septic tend to get more scrutiny at a sale but the status of old renovations/remodels in general are often pretty opaque.)

bobthepanda 3y ago

The permits exist for a reason. If too many people start doing it, it becomes an issue of overdrawing groundwater. This leads to an arms race of digging ever deeper wells to reach the remaining groundwater, and on top of that starts leading to ground subsidence as ground formerly full of water dries out and compacts. Off the top of my head, there is massive groundwater subsidence in the Central Valley of California, Mexico City, and Jakarta due to this issue, at rates measured in feet per year. This makes the land prone to flooding, and also damages buildings and infrastructure since the subsidence is generally not evenly spread out.

anakaine 3y ago
Importantly, in case it wasn't obvious to readers, hydrocompaction cannot be undone in any meaningful way. Once the compaction happens, water will no longer, and will never again, flow in the compacted area.
d00wgnir 3y ago
I was looking into this DIY approach and it is not allowed in my county. Some of the justification is that improperly cased wells can allow backflow contamination of the larger water supply, affecting other nearby water sources. I'm not sure how likely this is as I have limited knowledge of the subject.

KirillPanov 3y ago

At least in my state (Washington), electricians and plumbers licenses include an annual permit which covers all the work they do during that year. It's only the trades that don't have a licensing program (or are only licensed as "general contractor") that need a separate permit for each job instead of one big one that covers all their work for the year.

throw9away6 3y ago
Each individual job also needs a permit