Before you begin any home construction or remodelling project, you will need to secure the necessary building permits. In our experience at MB Home Designs, most people are aware of building permits as a concept, but don’t know much more about them. To help you get a better understanding of building permits, we have put together this article to give you an overview of what they do, why they’re necessary, and how to get the ones you need.
- What are building permits? – Building permits are essentially just what they sound like—written documents granting permission for a property owner to build new structures on their property. Which building permits you need can depend on a variety of factors, such as the type of structure you want to build and where your property is located.
- Why are building permits necessary? – Building regulations exist to make sure contractors and construction companies adhere to certain minimum quality standards—in the past, unscrupulous contractors have built poor-quality buildings which later collapsed, or caught fire, or otherwise put the people in and around them at risk. To prevent this from happening, contractors are now required to submit their building plans and answer questions about their projects in order to obtain the permits they need to get started.
- What else to building regulations do? – In addition to enforcing minimum quality standards, building regulations also determine what types of buildings can be constructed where. These regulations are known as zoning laws, and they are the reason why commercial businesses tend not to be built in residential neighborhoods, and why homes aren’t usually built in shopping districts.