What Happens If You Remodel Without a Permit in California? (2026 Guide)

The Real Price of Skipping a Building Permit

It starts with a simple calculation. You get a bid for a kitchen remodel, see the permit fees and timeline, and think: “What if I just skip it?”

In California, that decision can cost you far more than the permit ever would. Unpermitted remodeling triggers a cascade of consequences. Fines, forced demolition, insurance claim denials, and thousands of dollars lost when you try to sell your home. These are not theoretical risks. They happen routinely to California homeowners who thought no one would notice.

This guide covers exactly what happens when unpermitted work is discovered, how much it costs to fix, and why working with a licensed contractor who always pulls permits is the most cost-effective path forward.

Fines and Financial Penalties

California’s building code violation fines are structured to escalate quickly. What starts as a modest citation can snowball into a serious financial burden.

Initial Violation Fees

When code enforcement discovers unpermitted work, the first penalty is typically a notice of violation accompanied by a fee. Depending on the jurisdiction and the scope of work, initial code violation fees range from $350 to $600. You typically have 30 days to respond by either pulling a retroactive permit or stopping the work.

Escalation Schedule

If you do not resolve the violation within that initial window, penalties increase. Many jurisdictions raise the fine to $1,200 to $1,500 after the 30-day deadline passes. Some cities impose daily accruing fines for ongoing non-compliance, which can reach $500 to $1,000 per day for repeat or willful violations.

Penalties for Contractors

The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) takes unpermitted work seriously. Contractors who perform work without obtaining required permits face:

• Up to $5,000 per violation in civil penalties from the CSLB
• An order of correction requiring payment of all permit fees and local penalties
• Suspension or revocation of their contractor’s license
• Beginning July 1, 2026, CSLB will increase minimum civil penalties, with fines for unlicensed activity starting at $1,500 and other violations carrying minimums of $500 to $1,500

If a homeowner hires an unlicensed contractor who skips permits, both the contractor and the homeowner can be held responsible.

Stop-Work Orders

If your city’s building department or code enforcement discovers active construction without permits, they will issue a stop-work order. All construction must cease immediately.

A stop-work order means:

• Your contractor leaves the site. No legitimate contractor will continue working under a stop-work order.
• The project stalls. You cannot resume until you obtain the proper permits, which can take weeks or months.
• Costs increase. Your contractor’s schedule is disrupted. Materials may need to be re-ordered. Subcontractors need to be rescheduled. Each delay adds cost.
• Your neighbors know. Stop-work orders are posted on the property. In Bay Area communities where neighborhood awareness runs high, this is a conversation you probably do not want to have.

The irony is that the time you hoped to save by skipping permits often doubles or triples when a stop-work order is issued.

Forced Demolition of Unpermitted Work

This is the consequence most homeowners never expect. If your unpermitted work does not comply with current building codes, or if your jurisdiction determines that the work cannot be retroactively permitted, you may be ordered to demolish the improvements and restore the space to its original condition.

You pay for the demolition. You pay for the restoration. And you lose every dollar you invested in the original work.

Forced removal is most common with:

• Unpermitted room additions that violate setback or lot coverage requirements
• Garage conversions that do not meet egress, ventilation, or fire separation codes
• Unpermitted ADUs that violate zoning regulations
• Structural modifications that compromise the building’s structural integrity

Even when demolition is not required, the city can mandate significant corrections before issuing a retroactive permit. Opening finished walls to verify framing, electrical, and plumbing adds thousands of dollars in reconstruction costs.

Insurance Implications

This is where unpermitted work creates the most devastating financial exposure.

Claim Denials

Homeowner’s insurance policies typically contain exclusions for unpermitted construction. If damage occurs that is traced to unpermitted work, your insurer can deny the entire claim. Common scenarios include:

• A fire caused by unpermitted electrical work. If wiring was installed without inspection and it causes a fire, the insurance company can refuse to pay for fire damage, smoke damage, water damage from firefighting, temporary housing, and personal property loss.
• Water damage from unpermitted plumbing. Pipes that were never inspected can fail, and the resulting water damage claim can be denied.
• Structural failure from unpermitted modifications. If a load-bearing wall was removed without engineering review and a portion of the structure fails, you carry the full cost.

Personal Liability

If someone is injured due to unpermitted work, you face personal liability with no insurance coverage. A tenant injured in an unpermitted ADU, a guest hurt by a collapsing deck, or a neighbor affected by a structural failure on your property can all result in lawsuits where you have no insurer standing behind you.

The average cost of the permits and inspections for a typical remodeling project is a fraction of a single insurance claim denial. The math is not close.

Complications When Selling Your Home

Unpermitted work creates a web of problems during a real estate transaction. In many cases, it is the point at which homeowners finally discover the true cost of skipping permits.

Mandatory Disclosure

California law requires sellers to disclose all known unpermitted work on the property. This applies even to work done by previous owners. Failure to disclose can result in post-sale lawsuits for misrepresentation or nondisclosure.

Appraisal Problems

Appraisers compare your home’s square footage and features against the city’s records. When the appraiser finds a finished basement, a converted garage, or an extra bathroom that does not appear on the property’s permit history, they must note the discrepancy. Unpermitted square footage is often excluded from the valuation entirely, or the appraiser applies a significant discount.

Buyer Financing Challenges

Many lenders refuse to approve loans for homes with known unpermitted work. Even when financing is available, lenders may require the seller to legalize the work before the loan closes. This creates a situation where your sale is contingent on obtaining retroactive permits on a timeline you cannot fully control.

Price Reductions

Buyers who are willing to purchase a home with unpermitted work typically demand a 10-20% discount to compensate for the risk and cost of resolving the permit issues themselves. On a Bay Area home valued at $2 million, that represents $200,000 to $400,000 in lost equity. Compare that to the $5,000 to $15,000 in permit fees you would have paid upfront.

Title and Escrow Delays

Title companies may flag unpermitted work as a cloud on the title. Resolving this can delay escrow by weeks or months, potentially causing buyers to walk away entirely.

How to Retroactively Permit Unpermitted Work

If you own a home with unpermitted improvements, or if you have already completed work without permits, retroactive permitting is possible in most California jurisdictions. The process is more complex and expensive than obtaining permits before construction, but it is the only way to legalize the work.

Step 1: Consult Your Local Building Department

Start with a visit to your city’s planning and building department. Explain the situation and ask whether the work can be retroactively permitted under current zoning and building codes. If the work violates setbacks, lot coverage, or use restrictions, retroactive permitting may not be possible without modifications.

Step 2: Hire Professionals for As-Built Documentation

You will need an architect or engineer to prepare as-built drawings that document the work exactly as it was constructed. These plans must identify all structural elements, electrical runs, plumbing lines, and mechanical systems. Expect to pay $2,000 to $8,000 for as-built documentation depending on the scope of work.

Step 3: Submit for Permit Review and Pay Penalty Fees

Submit the as-built plans to your building department along with the permit application. Most jurisdictions impose a penalty multiplier of 2-4x the standard permit fee for retroactive permits. If the original permit fee would have been $3,000, you may be paying $6,000 to $12,000.

Step 4: Open Walls for Inspection

This is the most disruptive and costly part of the process. Because the work is already finished, inspectors cannot see what is inside the walls, under the floors, or above the ceilings. You will likely need to:

• Remove drywall at specific locations so inspectors can verify framing, fire blocking, and structural connections
• Expose electrical wiring to confirm proper installation, wire sizing, and code-compliant connections
• Open plumbing access points to verify pipe sizing, connections, and venting
• Verify insulation meets current Title 24 energy requirements

Step 5: Make Corrections

If inspectors find code violations during the retroactive review, you must correct them before the permit can be finalized. Common corrections include upgrading electrical panels, adding proper ventilation, installing required fire-rated assemblies, and bringing plumbing up to current code. Correction costs vary widely depending on what is found.

Step 6: Close Up and Re-Finish

After all inspections pass, you repair and refinish all areas that were opened for inspection. This final step adds additional material and labor costs that would not have existed if the work had been permitted from the start.

Why Licensed Contractors Always Pull Permits

Reputable contractors view permits not as an obstacle, but as a fundamental part of professional construction practice. Here is why.

Legal Obligation

California law requires permits for any work involving structural changes, electrical systems, plumbing, mechanical systems, or changes to a building’s use or occupancy. Contractors who skip permits violate state law and put their license at risk.

Quality Assurance

Permits trigger a series of inspections at each stage of construction. These inspections provide an independent verification that the work meets safety and quality standards. Framing inspections catch structural deficiencies. Electrical inspections catch fire hazards. Plumbing inspections catch potential water damage issues. Each inspection protects the homeowner.

Liability Protection

A permitted and inspected project creates a documented record that the work was completed to code. This protects both the contractor and the homeowner from future liability claims. Without that documentation, both parties carry unprotected exposure.

Protecting Your Investment

Permitted work is reflected in your property’s official records. It adds to your home’s assessed value. It survives appraisal scrutiny. It does not create obstacles during a sale. Every dollar you invest in permitted improvements contributes to your equity. Every dollar in unpermitted work is equity at risk.

What Remodeling Projects Require Permits in California?

Understanding which projects need permits helps you plan ahead and avoid problems.

Permits Required

• Removing or adding walls (structural or non-structural)
• Kitchen and bathroom remodels involving plumbing or electrical relocation
• Electrical panel upgrades or new circuit installation
• Plumbing modifications or rerouting
• HVAC system installation or replacement
• Window or door additions that alter the size of openings
• Room additions and home extensions
• Garage conversions and ADU construction
• Roofing projects in some jurisdictions
• Deck construction above a certain height

Permits Typically Not Required

• Interior painting and wallpaper
• Flooring replacement (same level, no subfloor modification)
• Cabinet replacement without plumbing or electrical changes
• Fixture swaps in the same location (faucet for faucet, light for light)
• Minor landscaping and fencing under a certain height

When in doubt, call your local building department. A five-minute phone call can save you thousands in penalties and corrections.

The Bottom Line: Permits Cost Less Than Consequences

Every consequence of unpermitted work costs more than the permit itself. Fines escalate into thousands of dollars. Forced demolition erases your entire investment. Insurance denials leave you exposed to catastrophic losses. Selling complications can reduce your home’s value by hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Bay Area market.

At Custom Home Design and Build (CSLB #986048), every project we take on includes full permitting as a standard part of our process. Our two-phase design-build approach addresses permitting during Phase 1 (Design), so permit timelines are built into the project schedule from the start. There are no shortcuts, no surprises, and no risk of unpermitted work surfacing later when you sell your home.

If you are planning a remodel, an addition, or any renovation project in the Bay Area, we would like to make sure it is done right from day one. Contact us for a consultation and let’s discuss your project with permits, inspections, and peace of mind built in from the beginning.