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As a homeowner in Broward County, you may be thinking about adding a new addition to your home. Especially now with Coronavirus in our midst, many homeowners are being forced to work from their homes, so they are planning or starting work on building home offices or remodeling their homes to include a home office. Here are some useful tips for obtaining

proper permitting, whether you are remodeling a kitchen in Deerfield Beach or adding an office to your Pompano Beach home.

Many cities in Broward County such as Pompano Beach, Davie and Wilton Manors have their own requirements for permitting and also issue permits to their residents. Please contact the office of the city where your building is located to determine if you should get your permit from them.

Did you know you are able to apply for a building permit yourself as a homeowner? While this is a right, you may not want to do it because it would mean you would be responsible for ensuring the work performed on your property is following all Florida state and local Broward County regulations and laws. It would also make you responsible ultimately and liable for any injuries or damages that occurred on your property while your additions and work was being performed.

Another protection for hiring a contractor to do the work is that Broward County requires all of them to have current Worker’s Compensation and Liability insurance before they are allowed to apply for a permit.

For this reason, it is recommended that you instead hire a licensed contractor to perform the work needed. Your contractor should either be licensed by Florida or in Broward county for the type of work you need. For instance, a drywall contractor would have a Florida license as would a plumbing contractor. If you go ahead and perform work on a new addition without getting a permit first, you are responsible for any applicable fines. You would also be responsible for paying a professional engineering contractor to get the work approved or to have the work redone ( or taken down / demolished. Our company, Close Permits Fast can help you if this is the case.

Also be aware that Broward County building inspectors from the code enforcement division could visit your construction site or your home to make sure your new kitchen or garage renovation or any project is being done according to local laws in order to protect the public’s interest and to help you as a homeowner in being able to avoid code violation penalties for work that is not done with a permit or not done according to code.

If you do wish to apply for your own building permit, many municipalities in Broward have their own permitting requirements so you should Google ‘how to get a permit in Deerfield Beach’ or whichever city you are located in.