Finishing and upgrading basements are among most popular renovations homeowners will undertake, and wisely so.

It gets expensive with costs of supplies, fixtures, and labour, so it’s no wonder people like to shave costs and time off their renovations, starting with skipping required building permits.

Here at Briones and Associates, though, we strongly encourage getting all required building permits. (Plumbing and electrical require their own permits, and rental suite upgrades could use a development permit.)

But what if your contractor is willing to skip that step and help save some money?

This rings some alarm bells for us, because we believe that any good contractor will require their clients be on-board with getting required work permits. Why?/p>

Liability is a critical when you’re talking about where folks live, and things like structural integrity, plumbing, and electrical.

For instance, if you have a fire down the line and never had a permit for that work, it could affect insurance coverage. If a rental suite is involved and they can prove the work was done without permits, liability could be big trouble.

Among the positives, though, are that your investment will be worth more when you sell your home and you’re able to provide proper permits proving all home upgrades are done to code.

When it comes to liability, insurance, and your safety, it’s not worth cutting corners to save a few dollars. Take out permits and do your work up to code, and it’ll pay off in the long run.

If you need recommendations for quality trades people, we have a list of preferred professionals we’re happy to help you with.