Yeah, I think the only time you need to ask permission is if the refactor would cause additional regression testing. Depending on the system, and unit test cov

Yeah, I think the only time you need to ask permission is if the refactor would cause additional regression testing. Depending on the system, and unit test coverage, this may not even be a big deal, but sometimes, if you have a dedicated QC department, they may want to regress parts of the system even if they are covered by unit tests. Such regression could mean dates slip, etc, etc, and perhaps that's why someone might say "no."