I've heard stories about people blowing out their budgets because of codes related to things like window size/height in bedrooms, electrical and plumbing stuff, even things like having to expand the waste lines when adding a bedroom. Has anyone gotten burned by these or other things? Not sure how common this type of thing actually is.

In my market, and probably yours, most older buildings do not meet modern code.  So it depends on the inspector and city.  Usually, they care more about safety and they want proper upgrades to the electrical systems.

fireproof doors

@Brian Ploszay my understanding is that if you open the walls up you are obligated to bring the electrical work up to code, and if not it just gets grandfathered in

@Eli Lederman I didn't even know that was a thing! It amazes me how many codes and things you need to watch out for. Seems like there are always new surprises

Just recently had a housing inspector through one of my properties and they said the window was too small. Had to take it out, cut a larger opening, put in a window that meet egress requirements. Kind of a pain.

Often the appraiser will not include the illegal added on in the value even it was done long ago. When the home is appraised low you can not get mortgage.

I'm a new construction guy and we get this crap all the time.  Just makes me so pissed but you can always find away around it.

Just had a 45k custom stair case put in, and they didn't like the spacing on the spindles, made it all out of rebar and 100% custom, huge pain in the butt, made stair threads out of the old house siding and all kinds of crazy stuff to make the home owners happy.  Inspector wants the spindles all changed out, I read the code book and we come up with the solution.  Plywood over all the spindles, remind you its like 60ft, had the home owner sign off on it, passed inspection and then removed the plywood after inspection.  Everyone is happy.

You can find ways around the code, you just need to get the clients to agree, and sign off on it.

@Steve Emling

There are some things you need to know in our area about this:

1. Allegheny County handles all the plumbing inspections through the Health Department, and those guys don't play around.

2. Local municipalities each have their own code enforcement and their own code enforcement officials, but those guys all share information on shady flippers and DIY landlords. Sometimes in the smaller boroughs and townships, the only code enforcement work is done by the fire marshal. City of Pittsburgh is known for being stricter and more demanding than anywhere else.

I did get burned once by the Health Department on a 2-inch drainage line on a shower running back to the stack instead of the 1 1/2-inch line required for a bathtub. It was a silly mistake and not too expensive to put right because I had done the work myself, and I also redid it.

Work on your relationship with these people. They want to see good, honest people succeed. They don't like BS artists. If you're doing a small, owner-occupied job, they'll work with you. If you're doing a huge, complicated interior remodeling job and have no professional plans drawn up, they're not going to like you AT ALL. I think we're pretty lucky in most of the area to have good enforcement people who understand that the area's housing desperately needs to be updated and pedantic code enforcement in minor remodeling isn't going to help it happen.

Originally posted by @Steve Emling :
@Brian Ploszay my understanding is that if you open the walls up you are obligated to bring the electrical work up to code, and if not it just gets grandfathered in

 In dealing with code there is no such thing as grandfathering in an existing violation.  If the NFPA codes, the ICC codes or local ordinances and amendments are enforceable, you will be subject to accommodating them.  The AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) makes the deciding factors on what needs to be brought up to code.  Typically there is a trigger that activates current codes.  some jurisdictions require code compliance with any upgrade 25% or more, some are 10%.  Typically the codes most commonly enforced are those dealing with public safety and public health.

Public safety relate to things like smoke/CO detectors, Egress windows, two means of egress our of bedrooms, Chimneys, stairs, and electrical.

Public health relate to things like water and sewage, as well as HVAC.

The problem with code language is the varying levels across states.  There are two code language creators, the International Code Council and the National Fire Protection Association.  The code writing entities share a lot of the same terminology and requirements but just as the names vary, so does the content contained in the text.  ICC has been around since around 2000 when the BOCA, Southern Building Conference and nine or so other code entities merged.  

The merger created a great step to code uniformity across the country, but there is still much work to be done.  Local Building codes, and amendments to the published codes take precedent.  The code is unenforceable if the state does not adopt it.  Across the country states are on different codes cycles and this too causes confusion.  The best advice is when you have questions or concerns, consult the AHJ or a local contractor familiar with the requirements.

I have been involved with several flips that purchaser didn't realize they would have to upgrade the smoke detectors, that adding a second bathroom would require adding an electric water heater or expansion of the existing boiler, and that gutting the drywall/plaster would trigger a replacement of windows to meet the 20 wide by 24 tall 5.7 sq. ft. requirement of an egress window, even though there were already replacement windows installed.

It are the little things with Code requirements that can burn your rehab budget.

Stephen 

In our case, we lived in our first duplex while remodeling it. We re-did the electrical in the downstairs unit that we were living in, and used the electrical codes that the city was transitioning to in the following 6 months (did the work in July, codes went into effect the following January). Got the inspection done and got coded because we weren't compliant to the current codes..... which were less safe than the new codes that were going into effect in those next 6 months... we fought it and were eventually left alone by the housing authority but we had to raise hell in the process.

@Sam Shueh I've had to deal with this one before because of a weird floor space/ceiling height requirement in an attic bedroom. It's actually a huge room but because of the way it is configured it technically doesn't count. It didn't end up being that big of a deal for me for the mortgage because as a 2 BR instead of a 3 BR the price still checked out. I would be crushed if they actually didn't let me rent the 3rd bedroom, though. So far no issues with that thankfully.

@Tim Johnson these cases are so frustrating because I'm sure the inspector knew you were going to take the plywood off right after inspection but they still had to see it like that just to check a box. I'm all for safe buildings and proper oversight but some things seem to be such a farce

@Jim K. Good to know they are willing to be reasonable and work with you instead of against you. I've had relatively good experiences so far but I've only had to deal with inspectors a few times

@Casandra M. Glad it got straightened out eventually but that sounds like a headache. That's what you get for trying to do the right thing ; )

I wouldn't call it burned, but when we upgraded to 200 amp service and got a new electric panel, the city inspector insisted we had to put numbers on the front of the house before he would sign off on the panel. Numbers on the curb and on the mail box curbside were not good enough.

The burn was from the electricians who did not tell us we needed more amps to do more circuits in the new kitchen, until the electric panel was half torn apart, and wires sticking out every which way.

@Russell Brazil looked at vacant 6-plex where the city said every window needed this to be done plus a lot of other things. Not even sure you could give me it at this point.

Did not really get burned, but had the change plans for these building inspector requests:

1.  In TN:  replacing the surface boards on a deck and was told that the 4 inch by 4 inch posts were no longer in compliance with code so we should replace them with 6 inch by 6 inch posts.  That required redesigning the whole deck, it was not rectangular, and has 7 posts. We just wanted to replace the splitting top boards:(   Fun!

2,  In CA:  Replacing windows and told that the large picture window was 2 inches too close to the front door to be regular glass, had to use shatterless safety glass there.  Also told that the part of the window that opened in a bedroom did not have a large enough opening for emergency egress, so we had to use a casement window or enlarge the window or classify the room as a den and then have a 2 bedroom house.  I chose casement.

3.  In CA in a high risk wildfire area we had to put in fire / smoke sprinkler system in a house rebuild...the water line to the house was not large enough to support the sprinkler system, so it too had to be upgraded from the street, which the water company did not want to do as they were in a water conservation status, but they did when the BI told them the new rule.  Lost a month, and tried our best to not put in the sprinkler system, but it was required.

4.  In CA, was required to put motion detectors on lights on all entry points and in all bathrooms when doing a 1200 sq. ft. addition.  The regulation was to save energy with lights automatically going off as people exited the area.  It never worked that way in my house.  The house had 6 exits, one being from a playroom into the backyard.  The playroom was the worse.  It was a large room, 2 fans with 3 lights each and 6 recessed lights, all came on all night long as the cats played.  Also bad was the nanny's bathroom.  When she took a shower the sensor did not detect movement so it turned off after 5 minutes in the shower.  Each and every one of those sensors were removed in less than a month after the final sign off!

This is more of a light hearted story: When Epic Systems built their giant new campus in Verona, WI, they ended up not passing the fire inspection because the underground parking clearance was too low for the fire trucks and ground areas were not supported enough for a fully loaded firetruck to access parts of the building because of the surrounding marsh lands. It was cheaper for Epic to purchase new fire trucks for the city and have the city resell their own firetrucks to surrounding towns (including my hometown) than to do any modifications.

Every time I remember this I think of Oprah yelling "YOU get a firetruck. and YOU get a firetruck. and YOU and YOU and YOU!"

@Lee Bell somehow every property ive looked at has had a relatively new panel but I'm now looking at a duplex that I will need a new panel and meter for. I am dreading dealing with the electrical utility and inspector. Thanks for the info

@Lynnette E. I love California but man they sure do like their building codes! Thanks for sharing your experience

@Casandra M. Gotta love create problem solving!

@Steve Emling

If you are changing the panel, inspectors may require you to change circuit breakers for lights and outlets in all rooms ( except gfci) to arc fault breakers. Expensive and major pain in a neck. Check with your local building inspector or at least ask an electrician

Originally posted by @Tatyana M. :

@Steve Emling

If you are changing the panel, inspectors may require you to change circuit breakers for lights and outlets in all rooms ( except gfci) to arc fault breakers. Expensive and major pain in a neck. Check with your local building inspector or at least ask an electrician

 Make sure you know and understand the code.  If the length of the branch circuits are not modified or increased more than six feet, there is nothing in the National Electric Code that requires upgrading to Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI). 

There is a possibility that a local ordinance or an amendment was adopted in the jurisdictional code language and could possibly have been promulgated.  I have not seen any municipalities creating amendments on the AFCI.

The six foot rule in the National Electric Code was specifically included for panel upgrades and changes.  A regular breaker is $5 an AFCI/GFCI breaker is $50.  Replacing every breaker could price some investors right out of the game.

@Tatyana M. I had to change a breaker once and it was like $175 for just one breaker. I'm pretty comfortable with electrical work so I vowed to do it myself next time if I ever had to do it again. Fingers crossed that's not for a while