How to Research

“Aha. See this is the sort of thing I don’t know. Can an architect not pull permits?”

No. The architect can get the job approved. That just clears the way for the contractor to pull the actual permit.

I used to watch the show “This Old House”, I found it very educational and entertaining. It’s different from most HGTV show, the crew have solid knowledge about “house”. There are also a lot information on their website regarding renovation and remodeling. I recommended the website to one of my client before. He told me that he learned a lot and he felt more comfortable about maintenance and repair in the future.

I didn’t like my GC and wound up doing it myself. Your renovation doesn’t sound as big as what I did (four story building) but it takes alot of time, you have no idea. All your work will need to be done at night after all the contractors have left.

If you can find an experienced GC that you like, you will save yourself many headaches. It is worth it.

So your first question is “do I legally have to file and why?”. This is a question with many subtleties and I would approach it at first by asking a bunch of architects (giving them the specifics of your project) and GCs who have been recommended. This question and the answers given will be helpful in selecting architects and GCs, and is an appropriate opening conversation. This of course assumes that you would file if you are required to (rather than do the job illegally) which is the lower stress course of action though more expensive in the short term. There isn’t a reference material that I’m aware of that can answer this question with all its gray areas without professional analysis.

The second issue is whether to GC the project yourself. I would argue that a good or even decent GC is worth the money you pay and would advise hiring one. You will have plenty to do overseeing the work every day and making sure work is done to spec even with a GC and an architect. The GC will take responsibility for ordering and delivery of materials (on time and correct items and amounts), and coordinating trades which requires experience and authority, and they will have more pull than you will since the GC offers the possibility for future work if satisfied whereas the homeowner only has one project with no potential future work to incentivise subs to finish a job on time.