Unpermitted construction on the rise

Did you know you need a permit from the city to install a new water heater?

What about to replace an air conditioner?

Some Santa Clarita residents may not know that some common household fix-ups and improvements require a city permit before work can begin, meaning they may be unknowingly violating building codes.

Smaller scale City officials have recently noticed an upward trend in such violations.

Although we dont have much in the way of specific facts and figures we know that it is on the increase, especially for the smaller residential projects, said Bill Read, an assistant building official with the city of Santa Clarita.

For example, the city recently checked the number of water heaters that had been disposed locally versus the number of permits people had pulled to install a new water heater.

Considerably less than half of the ones picked up were from people who had actually pulled permits for a new heater, he said.

Read said much of the unpermitted construction is for some smaller-scale residential projects, such as replacing a broken-down air conditioner or furnace.

Though those projects may seem minor, Read said such work could present a safety concern.

The primary focus of most of the building codes that we enforce is safety, Read said.

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Unpermitted construction on the rise