Do You Need a Permit to Finish a Basement?
Permits might seem unnecessary, but they’re an integral part of finishing a basement
Highlights
Permits are always required to finish a basement.
What counts as finished can vary based on where you live.
Not getting a permit can lead to violations and issues with resale.
It’s possible to get a permit retroactively for a finished basement.
Finishing your basement is a big undertaking, but it can add value to your home and additional living space and utility while you live there. In most cases, you'll need to obtain a building permit when you finish a basement. However, whether you need a permit or not depends on your local regulations. If you don't get a permit when you need one, you may have to pay a fine or tear down any construction work that you performed.
However, the specific definition of what constitutes a “finished basement” varies by location. In most cases, if you plan to use your basement as a living space, even if it’s just for a place to relax and host guests, you’ll likely need a permit before work can legally begin.
What Counts as a Finished Basement?
A “finished basement” typically refers to one where you could feasibly live in, which includes flooring over your concrete foundation, framing, painted drywall, electrical outlets and light fixtures, and some permanent form of heating. Finished basements also often have air conditioning installed, but this isn’t a requirement for living space, so it’s not a requirement in finished basements either.
In general, if your basement looks similarly finished to your main floor, then it’s considered a finished basement, even if it’s not equipped with a bathroom or kitchen. If your finished basement ideas include any of the following, the project will likely demand a permit:
Installing electrical outlets, switches, or new light fixtures
Installing egress windows
Framing and installing drywall
Installing flooring over your foundation
Running plumbing lines down to the area
Installing a bathroom, kitchenette, or wet bar
Tying your basement into your existing HVAC system
Installing new heating/cooling equipment
Do You Need a Permit to Remodel a Finished Basement?
In most cases, you will need a permit for any major home remodel project, including remodeling a finished basement. However, this can vary based on where you live and the building code set by your local building department. In some areas, only projects that change the utility of your home require a permit, while others might require permits for any interior work at all, including drywall replacement.
We recommend you speak with your local building department or a basement finishing company near you to get more information on the rules in your area and what permits are needed for your basement project.
Why Do You Need a Permit to Finish a Basement?
Permits often seem like unnecessary red tape, but they serve a few purposes, including ensuring the structural stability of your home and the safety of everyone inside.
Changes to framing or load-bearing areas in your basement—particularly cutting into your foundation walls for egress windows or installing heavy building equipment over areas of your foundation—can compromise the structural stability of your home, potentially leading to catastrophic damage. A permit will ensure that all of the work is not only safe to do but is also done properly by your basement remodeling contractor.
When you’re finishing a basement legally, you need to ensure that there are multiple points of egress for occupants to escape in the event of a fire or another emergency. Your building inspector will make sure that the proposed work to finish your basement includes the installation of egress windows and doors for easy access to the outside of your home. Without these, occupants—especially in basement bedrooms—could get trapped during an emergency situation like a fire.
What Happens If You Finish Your Basement Without a Permit?
Finishing your basement without a permit can lead to three major issues: violations, complications with the sale of your home, and insurance coverage problems.
Violations and Associated Fees
If your local building department finds out about the renovation during or after the basement finishing process, they will likely issue a violation for unpermitted construction. That violation will sit open on your home until it’s closed out, which requires the building inspector to complete an interior inspection of the basement area.
In some cases, the violation will come with a monetary assessment, and you’ll have to pay the violation fee. This can range from a few hundred to over $1,000, so you’ll definitely want to avoid these charges, as they can drastically increase the total price you’ll pay to finish your basement.
Complications With Resale
Perhaps more importantly, selling your home with an unpermitted finished basement can be challenging. Most homebuyers use financing to purchase homes, and most traditional lenders won’t accept a mortgage for a home that doesn’t have all of the proper permits.
Some lenders won’t complete a home inspection and might never know about an unpermitted finished basement, but most will and might decline the loan if they find out you didn’t get permits for your basement remodel. Ultimately, you could be limiting the number of buyers that can buy your home, which could lead to losing out on some money.
You can also pay to return the basement to unfinished and its original intended use to open the door to traditional financing again. However, this is not only more expensive than avoiding the permit in the first place, but your buyer might want the finished basement and could opt to decrease their offer price if you need to return the basement to its unfinished status before closing.
Insurance Coverage Issues
Your homeowner’s insurance policy will not cover an illegally finished basement, which means if you have a basement leak or flood, a fire in your home, or some other type of property damage, you won’t see any of the money you spent on finishing your basement.
Can You Get a Retroactive Building Permit?
In some areas, yes, you can get a permit for a basement that was previously finished without one. Building departments refer to this as a retroactive permit. Getting a retroactive permit requires filing for the permit, having a building inspector come in and inspect the work you had done, and getting them to sign off on the legality and safety of everything.
If you completed any part of the work such that the area is not up to code, the inspector will likely mandate that you get the issue addressed before they issue the permit. That means redoing some of the work, which will drive up the total basement finishing cost. Depending on the severity of the work that your contractor needs to redo, you could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to bring your basement up to code retroactively.
It’s also important to note that retroactive permits are not available in all areas. Some building departments will require that you remove all illegal additions to your home and return the space to its original condition before starting over from scratch. If that’s the case in your area, you could be looking at a total basement finishing cost that’s more than double what it would have been if you had gotten the proper permits the first time around.
How to Get a Permit for Finishing Your Basement
Getting a permit to convert your unfinished basement to a finished space is a pretty straightforward process, and your contractor will typically file for permits on your behalf.
You or your contractor will need to contact your local building department, inform them of the work you intend to complete, and request permits for the basement renovation. At this time, you’ll also have to provide the permit filing fee.
Your building department can approve or deny the permits, or they may request changes to the proposed work to ensure you’ve met the finished basement code requirements. They will also require information for each contractor and subcontractor completing work in your basement, including plumbers, electricians, and HVAC specialists.
If they approve the permit, your contractor can begin the work laid out in the permit.
Once your contractor finishes the work, you or your contractor will need to reach out to the building department and request that they close out the permit.
The building department will send a building inspector to check the work and make sure everything is up to code. They will, of course, need interior access to the basement area for this step.
The building department will close out your permit, and you’ll receive a certificate of occupancy (CO) for your finished basement.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your finished basement is properly permitted, then yes, the basement counts toward your home’s square footage. That means that finishing your basement with the required permits will likely increase your property taxes, which take into consideration your gross living area. If you have a legal partially finished basement, only the finished portion will count toward your home’s living area.
Living in a finished basement is acceptable, but only if the space has the proper points of egress and includes smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors to ensure the safety of the occupants. A good way to ensure your finished basement is suitable for use as living space is to get the basement finishing project properly permitted.
Finishing your basement adds value to your home, usually providing an average return on investment of around 75%. That means the typical basement refinishing costs that sit around $18,400 will add just under $14,000 to the value of your property. The value added to your home will depend on the price you pay to have the work completed, the area you live, the quality of the work and building materials, and more.