Before you start doing any major home renovations you have to do a pretty thorough investigation into the building codes and bylaws of where you reside. This obviously doesn’t apply to anything like painting or replacing cupboard doors, but anytime you’re messing with wires or pipes, taking things out or adding things on, there is a very good chance that somewhere there is a regulation or bylaw that you are going to need to know about. And believe me, you’d much rather know about it before hand than find out after the fact that you’ve done something that is either going to land you with a hefty fine and/or leave you with the pleasure of having to pay for taking it out and having it done right.

State and municipal bylaws vary so much from location to location that it is almost impossible to get into all the different laws and regulations and building codes that must be adhered to in order to make everything legal and above ground. However, there are some basic kinds of things to mention that bear extra special looking into.

The first is what some just call pipes and wires, or the domains of plumbers and electricians respectively. There are actually a couple of things to watch out for here. By law, in some places you are prohibited from doing any of this kind of work yourself and must in fact hire licensed professionals. However, even in places where you are allowed to do it, you must assure you are sticking to code in installation and placement of everything.

Some places have building code regulations regarding proper ventilation and air flow, most typically in basements, bathrooms and garages. To stay legal most of these need windows and/or fans of some type, but again regulations vary from place to place, so do your homework before hand.

Any time you’re looking to do major renovations like building an extension you can just about bet that you’ll need a permit or permits. Check with your municipal office before doing ANYTHING.

There are a lot of different legal hoops to jump through and pitfalls to be avoided when embarking on home renovations. Just take comfort in the fact that most of them are there to protect you and your family from being the victim of the accidents that happen after shoddy and improper work on a home takes place.