Lapsed Permit, Suspended License, and an Offer at Cost
A shell-building permit for a 6,000-square-foot tenant fit-out was issued 16 months ago. The last recorded inspection is a slab inspection from 14 months ago. The contractor calls to schedule a framing and electrical rough-in inspection for Monday and says the crew has been working "steady" since the slab. Your file shows the permit carries a 180-day lapse provision. The state licensing database shows the contractor's license as suspended for non-renewal, effective eight weeks ago. On the phone, the contractor offers to "take care of" the paving at your house at cost, and mentions that the electrical rough-in was done by his brother-in-law, who "does this all the time" but has not pulled a permit. He then asks you to inspect the electrical yourself, since the electrical subcontractor is out of town.
1. The permit appears to have lapsed. What is the correct sequence of actions, and what can you not do on your own authority?
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Establish the facts first: pull the permit record and confirm the dates - issuance, last inspection, any documented extension, any approved suspension of work. A lapse is computed from the record, not from the phone call.
Recognize the limit of your authority: whether a lapsed permit is extended, renewed, or replaced is a building official's decision, not an inspector's. Your job is to identify the condition, present the record, and not schedule a routine inspection as though the permit were alive.
What the lapse means practically: if the permit is invalid, the work performed since the lapse was done without a permit. A new or renewed permit should not be issued as a paperwork exercise - the building official will typically require that all work, including concealed work, be inspected or otherwise verified. On a fit-out with 14 months of unreported work, that may mean opening ceilings and walls, or a report from a design professional addressing what is concealed and whether it complies.
Sequence:
- Confirm the record and notify the building official in writing today.
- Notify the contractor in writing that the permit is under review and that no inspection will be performed until its status is resolved.
- If the building official renews or reissues, scope the first inspection deliberately - a full compliance walk of existing work, not just framing.
- Document each step with dates; this file will be read by someone else later.
Do not: reactivate the permit yourself, perform an inspection that implies the permit is valid, or accept a verbal assurance that "the office knows about it."
2. How does the suspended contractor license affect your handling of this permit, and what about the unpermitted electrical work?
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Licensing is a separate requirement from the building code, and both must be satisfied. The permit was issued to a contractor whose license is now suspended. Verify the status on the state database, print or save the result with the date, and put it in the file - a screenshot taken today is evidence; a memory of what the database said is not.
What to do: notify the building official in writing. Where the jurisdiction requires a licensed or registered contractor to hold and perform under the permit, work performed under a suspended license is a permit-holder qualification problem the building official must resolve - it is not something the inspector can paper over by inspecting the work anyway. Expect one of three outcomes: the license is reinstated and work resumes, the permit is transferred to a properly licensed party, or the permit is revoked.
The electrical: a rough-in performed by an unpermitted, unlicensed individual is a violation on its own. Treat it as unpermitted work: require an electrical permit and a licensed electrical contractor, and require that the concealed work be inspected - which may mean opening walls to see it. Do not accept the brother-in-law's statement that he "does this all the time."
Scope discipline: you inspect within the disciplines you are certified for. If electrical is not your certification, you do not inspect it, regardless of who is out of town. Route it to the electrical inspector.
3. The offer to do paving at cost, and the family connection to the electrician. How do you handle both, and what do you write?
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Decline the offer immediately and clearly, on the call, without lecturing: you cannot accept goods or services from a permit holder or contractor you regulate. Then treat it as a reportable event, not a private discomfort - many jurisdictions require disclosure of any offer of value, even one declined, precisely because a declined offer can turn into an allegation later.
The relationship: the electrician is a relative of the contractor, and the contractor is someone you deal with regularly. If you have any personal or financial relationship with a party to the project, disclose it to your supervisor before the next inspection and let the supervisor decide whether to reassign. Reassignment is usually the cheaper answer than a contested inspection.
What to write, and where:
- A memo to your supervisor dated the same day: the offer, the words used, your response, and the relationship as described to you.
- In the permit file: a factual note that the offer was made and declined, with no characterization of the contractor's motives and no speculation.
- In the inspection record, if any: only code-relevant facts. The offer does not belong in the inspection entry itself; it belongs in the supervisory memo.
Keep the two tracks separate: the ethics question is handled through supervision; the code questions - lapsed permit, suspended license, unpermitted electrical - are handled through the building official. Merging them into one narrative makes both harder to defend, and an inspector who writes angry notes about bribes into a permit file has created a document that will be read in a hearing.