Building Permits are required for before any retrofitting work can take place. Retrofitting your home is a major structural (updated with the City) change to the structure of your house or building. Even if you do the work yourself, you need a building permit.

Check the Box if you agree with the statement:

Permits show what was done, when, and who did it.

When you sell, you can prove that the work was approved.

The building Inspector who comes out to check if the work was done correctly protects you and your family.

Would you really know if the work was complete and proper?

Before your local Building Dept. issues a permit, they check for proper license and insurance.

If your contractor promises you a "Sesmic Retrofit", the permit will say so. This means the contractor has satisfied the engineers at the Building Dept. That he/she is aware of the particulars of this individual property and has detremined to use the best possible methods and materials for your job.

Is your home designated as "Historical". If so you'll need to comply with the State Historical building code, that you can get at you local building department.

If you checked off all the boxes you now know how your protected throughly by a Building Permit even if you are a "Do-it-yourself-retrofiter".