Permits and Certificates of Occupancy
A C.O. (Certificate of Occupancy) allows you to move into and occupy a house (or other structure) and to have your utilities connected, etc. Generally, you need one covering the entire structure when a house is newly-constructed or an existing house is substantially reconstructed. Separate and specific C.O.’s are also required for lesser projects such as additions or improvements (i.e., adding or expanding a deck, garage, bathroom, upgrading electrical service, etc).
The C.O. that you receive is actually a copy of a document issued by a municipality that authorizes the use of a building for a particular purpose. The C.O. is issued after permits are obtained for the construction, and successful follow-up inspections are effected during construction by the building department.
Often, a contractor or homeowner will take out a proper permit for work to be done, and even if the work is properly completed, will never call for inspections and thus will never obtain a C.O. for the completed work. Purchasers later in time could suffer as a result of this type of omission. For example, an examination of town records (i.e., assessor field cards, or building dept. records), and/or examination of a survey (if one is available), could disclose that the existing separate (detached) garage has had several feet added to it even though it otherwise looks the same. Was a permit and C.O. obtained for this “addition” (i.e., for the additional several feet of garage)? If no inquiry is made in this situation and the purchase is made, the buyer may experience no problem for years (unless his mortgage lender’s appraiser discovers the change in the size of the garage). Later, a neighbor could have a falling out with you and complain to the building inspector. You would say that the structure was that way when you purchased it, but that is not a defense to a building code violation (failure to obtain permits and C.O.). You could be required to expand large sums to bring the structure up to code, or restore it to its previous state, all at your own expense, or even to tear it down completely.
As a corollary of all this, it is very important to permanently retain for safekeeping originals or copies of your permits and C.O.’s. This is because if the town loses the original permits and C.O.’s, as sometimes happens (as Corporation Counsel and Chief Legal Officer for the City of Danbury, I can tell you that stranger things have happened), a C.O. from a particular date in the past may be the only way of convincing the city agency not to require the work to be brought up to current building code standards (i.e., your work may be “grandfathered” at code levels from less stringent days gone by). Generally, absent a C.O. or other grandfathering, a building inspector is not required to utilize the code provisions in force at the time the structure was erected, but rather the then-current codes, which may be much more stringent.
Questions & Answers
- What is a building permit and why does the town require it?
It is a written plan of what you will build, agreed to you and the town (e.g., a plan for an entire home, or for a subset, such as a deck, pool, etc.) - What is a Certificate of Occupancy?
The C.O. is the post-permit, post-construction written proof of town approval of what you have built pursuant to the building permit you originally obtained. - What is the effect of obtaining a building permit but not following through with step-by-step town inspections of the work and ultimately obtaining a C.O.?
Generally, your permit is worthless without obtaining the C.O. after completion. Its only benefit might be the practical effect that you followed the permit requirements and code requirements, so that when/if you later try to bring the project up to code (after the fact) and finally obtain the C.O., you may have little or nothing to do (in terms of bringing the project up to code) before the town will issue the C.O. - What types of work require building permits?
Nowadays, you should assume that almost all new work or improvements/additions will require a permit. New decks, expansion or replacement of existing decks, additions, major electrical work, installation of pools, etc. Towns generally are moving in the direction of requiring more projects to be brought under the permit and/or C.O. process. - What is the effect of not having the permit and/or C.O.?
The town could take enforcement action against the owner, including fines, injunctions, requiring re-construction or expensive changes, and may even include requiring the owner to tear down or remove the structure or improvement. - When is old, “illegal” work no longer a problem?
The short answer is: never. However, certain illegal work which has been in place more than six years may be somewhat immune from enforcement actions by building officials (i.e., may be “grandfathered”), pursuant to Section 29-299999 of the Conn. General Statutes. (Copies of the statute are enclosed.)
a. Decks, pools, sheds are generally never grandfathered
b. Zoning issues are generally never grandfathered (e.g., illegal in-law apartments, or illegal multi-family issues).
c. “Capabilities”: It is not merely actual illegal multi-family units which will face enforcement actions; if a structure is capable of being easily converted into a multi-family unit in violation of zoning and therefore C.O. laws (because compliance with zoning is one of the key requirements to obtaining a C.O.), the town usually will require you to change the design (i.e., take out the “extra” kitchen, etc.). Possible illegal use as a multi-family is itself illegal.
d. Certain health and safety issues will never be grandfathered in under the aforesaid “6-year rule” even if the offending structure or improvement does not fall within the above list of activities which are never grandfathered. In other words, if an offending structure might not be subject to enforcement because it is more than six years old pursuant to Section 29-299999, if it was constructed or maintained in such a way as to be unsafe or unhealthful, the building officials could take enforcement action.
e. Septics or wells are never grandfathered. - If your work falls within the protection of the 6-year statute, does that mean everything is OK?
Here again, the short answer is “no”. Lack of the C.O. means your prospective purchaser does not know if work was performed correctly or safely. Also, and as much a problem: the buyer’s lender (if discovered through the appraisal process or otherwise) may not lend on a house with an open C.O./permit problem. So even if the town can’t make you rip the item out, your buyer has a right to object; therefore, marketability clearly is diminished on a property with such an open issue. If your buyer nevertheless wishes to proceed, assuming their lender will allow them to do so, make sure they know they are not getting a perfect property and that they are making an informed decisions to accept the property without proper C.O.’s or permits. - Does every town enforce these laws the same?
Enforcement varies greatly from town to town. Certain towns may not let you obtain permits or C.O.’s for new work to do anything new on your property so long as anything on your property was ever constructed without a permit and C.O. if required. In such instances, this is true even if you are protected against enforcement regarding the old offending item by the six-year rule – even if that statute applies. So the lack of a C.O. on one aspect of the property can hurt the property (and the owner) in many unexpected ways. The town could say “we won’t let you add that new deck, even if you want to obtain a permit and C.O. and build strictly to code, because your garage was expanded by one foot 10 years ago without obtaining a permit.