Permit for a pergola???

After lots of research, dozens of youtube videos and a whole lot of trips to HomeDepot, I built a 23'x13' pergola attached to my house.

It never dawned on me that i would need a permit, but after sharing pictures of my creation with a friend, he asked if i got my permits.

So now what? I called the Town of Hempstead (ToH) and sure enough, i need permits. They said i needed architects drawings, site surveys on and on. Yikes!

Can anyone offer some advice on how I can expedite this? Am I in any serious trouble here since its already built?

I really dont want to take this thing down. I saved a ton of $$ doing it myself. Estimates ran from 9 to 13k for this thing.

Re: Permit for a pergola???

Did you give your address to the town, or just call and ask a hypothetical question?

If you didn't give your address to the town, I would just let it lie.

People make improvements on their home all the time, especially exterior ones (like sheds, pools, decks) and do not get the C/Os. It may be an issue when you sell (if you ever do), but assuming you are not selling any time soon, I wouldn't worry about it. When the time comes to sell, you could always just take it down (given that it's not integral to the house, but rather something that can easily be detached/removed). A lot of buyers and banks would overlook this type of thing not having a C/O anyway.

As far as "serious trouble" -- no one goes to jail over this type of thing. What usually happens, if the town discovers that you have an "illegal" (non-permitted/C/O'd improvement), is that the town will issue a notice of violation. At that point, you will either need to legalize the improvement (by applying for the proper permits and C/Os) OR remove it.

If you decide to go down the path of getting all of the permits and C/O now, then maybe consult with an expediter to get an idea of what it will entail and the cost. Most expediters will come look at the issue as a free consultation and only charge you hire them to do the work of getting the C/O.

But really, it doesn't sound like a huge deal to me. And I encounter these issues every day as a realtor. I would probably just forget about it and if it's an issue down the road, you can always remove it or look into the cost of legalizing it.

Permit for a pergola???

Thanks so much for your response, Christine. I unfortunately did give my name and address to the town so they could send me the paperwork.