The Rule That Decides the Project

A homeowner designs the renovation they want, submits for permit, and the improvement cost is assessed against the structure's value. If it reaches the threshold, the whole building generally has to be brought into compliance. At that point the design is wasted, the budget is wrong, and the project is a different project.

The rule is also cumulative in many jurisdictions, which owners rarely anticipate. Improvements made over a period can be counted together rather than assessed individually, so a series of modest projects can reach the threshold that none of them would have reached alone.

How does the department establish the structure's value, and what does it count toward improvement cost. Those two answers determine everything else, they are given freely over the phone, and they are specific to the jurisdiction.

Ask them before commissioning a design. A design produced without them is a design for a project that may not be available, and the money spent on it is not recoverable when the threshold is reached at permit.

1. 01Raise the question before any design is commissioned.
2. 02Refer the determination to the building department.
3. 03Help scope work relative to the threshold where intended.
4. 04Run the renovation-versus-rebuild comparison honestly.

Call the building department and ask two things: how they assess structure value, and what counts toward improvement cost. Both are freely answered, both determine what project is actually available to you, and neither costs anything to find out.

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