Not my house, but a friends house.
Friend bought a house that the previous owner started a renovation on. He now wants to add power, and water to the house, and needs a permit for it. How can he handle the renovation that was started before he bought the property? He was just going to use it as a hunting camp but his wife enjoys going to the house, and would like power and water.
I'm a big fan of just inviting the building inspector/authority/whatever in, show him what's what, look him/her in the eye, and ask for guidance on how to proceed - this is if you are in an area where building codes are strongly enforced. Personally, the whole thing about ducking the inspector, trying to get away with stuff is not, in my mind, worth the constant "looking over your shoulder", and perhaps ultimately paying big penalties.
Gary
No I agree. He is not the type of person to try and dodge the inspector. He was not going to try that at all. For a hunting camp with no power or water connected you can do about anything around here. I believe he will need to get the structure inspected, along with any electrical, or plumbing that he might install. If the structure will not pass something he will need to correct the issue. I believe he is worried about being fined for something that happened before he bought the property. He has owned it for a little over a year.
He won't be fined for work he didn't do. He may have to bring things up to code. Depending on whether anything was covered without inspection it is possible he will have to open those areas up for inspection. The inspector in these situations, where the new owner is trying to do it right, is going to be on his side.
"The inspector in these situations, where the new owner is trying to do it right, is going to be on his side."
I second that. Ultimately, they are in a position to help, and if you come at them with the right, positive, looking for help attitude, they can be your new best friend.
Gary
Everything is wide open. Just studs, except for the outside, which has siding etc. He just wants to finish it so the wife can enjoy it with him. The work dose not look bad, along with the plumbing. They did use pex and new pvc for the vents and drains, and vents. They did not run the vents through the roof at this point, but he plans to have that done with anything else that needs to happen.