Building without a permit in Oregon

What Oregon law says

Oregon caps the penalty for building without a permit in state statute rather than leaving the number to each city. Under ORS 455.895(2), the Department of Consumer and Business Services or the relevant advisory board may impose a civil penalty on any person who violates the state building code of up to $5,000 for each offense, or up to $1,000 for each day of a continuing offense. ORS 455.895(5) allows that maximum only on a finding that the person engaged in a pattern of violations, which the department defines by rule. A city or county running its own building inspection program can also penalize, but ORS 455.157 requires it to assess the charge as a civil penalty with written notice and a challenge process outside the building official's office, and ORS 455.157(4) forbids a local penalty larger than the amount ORS 455.895 allows for the equivalent specialty code violation. There is no state criminal charge for building without a permit: ORS 455.897 is the only criminal provision in the chapter and it reaches only unlicensed specialty code inspection or plan review under ORS 455.455 and inspector conflicts of interest under ORS 455.459.

Cited from ORS 455.895(2), (5); ORS 455.157(2), (4); ORS 455.897: official text. Localities enforce these rules and may add their own fees and procedures on top.

Can you get a permit after the work is done?

Oregon puts the after-the-fact permit charge in statute. ORS 455.058 lets the Department of Consumer and Business Services, or a municipality administering a building inspection program, assess an investigation fee against anyone required to get a permit who started the work before getting it. The statute also fixes how that fee is measured: it is the average or actual additional cost of confirming the work conforms to the state building code, caused by the permit not being pulled first. ORS 455.058(2) carves out emergency repairs needed for health, safety, or to prevent property damage or financial harm, so long as the permit is obtained within five business days of starting, and any work another law expressly allows before a permit. ORS 455.157(2) separately confirms a city may charge a violator an increased permit fee or investigative fee without that charge counting as a monetary penalty. Nothing in ORS 455 sets a doubling: a flat investigation fee equal to the permit fee is a local fee schedule choice adopted under ORS 455.210(3)(a), which requires such fees to be necessary and reasonable and lets ten or more persons appeal them to the director.

Cited from ORS 455.058(1), (2); ORS 455.157(2); ORS 455.210(3): official text.

The typical path, whatever your locality calls it: stop any ongoing work, contact the permit office before they contact you, apply for the permit describing what was actually built, and expect the office to require opening up or inspecting concealed work. Voluntarily coming forward generally goes better than waiting for a complaint or a sale to surface it.

Who can pull the permit

A homeowner may pull the permit and do the work. ORS 701.010(7) exempts from Construction Contractors Board licensing a person performing work on property that person owns, or on that person's own residence whether or not they own it, so no CCB license is needed to act as your own builder. That exemption does not cover someone working in the pursuit of an independent business with intent to offer the structure for sale. Oregon does require a signed disclosure at the counter: ORS 701.325(1) makes every city, county, or state permit office collect a written statement signed by the applicant, and an applicant claiming a licensing exemption must state the basis for it. ORS 701.325(2) requires the office to give the applicant the Information Notice to Property Owners About Construction Responsibilities and withhold the residential building permit until the applicant signs a statement, one option of which is that they are performing work on property they own or a residence they live in or will live in, and that any contractors they hire will be CCB licensed and properly endorsed. The Information Notice itself is a CCB rule form under ORS 701.325(3) covering payroll tax, workers' compensation, and liability and property damage insurance responsibilities.

Cited from ORS 701.010(7); ORS 701.325(1), (2), (3): official text.

Selling or buying in Oregon?

• Selling a house with unpermitted work
• Buying a house with unpermitted work

How Oregon compares: building without a permit, state by state.

Your local permit office

Enforcement, after-the-fact fees, and the exact fix-it process are local. We cover these Oregon permit offices:

• Eugene
• Portland

Official sources

• https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors455.html
• https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors701.html