Maybe the bathroom fan only rattles, the tub surround is cracking, or the kitchen has two outlets for a whole wall of counter. Before you change any of it inside Fresno city limits, it helps to know which parts of the job the City reviews and inspects, and which parts it leaves alone.

Which office handles your address

Inside the city limits, building permits and inspections run through the Building and Safety Services Division of the City’s Planning and Development Department. The counter is on the third floor of City Hall at 2600 Fresno Street, the permit line is (559) 621-8084, and Inspection Services answers at (559) 621-8116.

Not every neighborhood people associate with the city is inside it. Sunnyside and Old Fig Garden, for example, are unincorporated parts of the county, so permits there go through a different office. Our Fresno County permit guide covers those addresses.

Kitchen and bath work that usually needs a permit

The City’s Building Permit Center page quotes the California Building Code: anyone who plans to construct, alter, repair, or demolish a building, or to install, alter, repair, or replace an electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing system, must first obtain the required permit. In kitchens and bathrooms, that tends to include:

• Moving a sink, toilet, tub, or shower, or adding a fixture

• Replacing a water heater, which the City’s fee schedule lists as a stand-alone plumbing item

• New or relocated outlets, switches, and light fixtures

• Range hoods and bath fans that add wiring or ducting

• Widening an opening, changing a wall, or adding or resizing a window

Finish work is treated differently. The permit exemptions in the California Residential Code cover painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops, and similar finish work, provided nothing behind them changes. Whether a same-spot fixture swap needs a permit is a fair question to ask the Division before work starts.

Some items on that list, such as new circuits, relocated gas lines, or wall changes, belong to licensed electrical, plumbing, or engineering professionals, and we look at them with you during the in-home consultation.

How a permit moves through City Hall

1. Apply. The City accepts plans that show the scope of work or, for simpler jobs, a permit affidavit form that itemizes fixtures and equipment. You can file online through Accela Citizen Access or at the counter, where in-person appointments can be booked through QLess.

2. Plan review. When plans are submitted, Plan Check staff review them, and comments come back through the portal.

3. Issuance. Fees are due when the permit is issued. Current amounts are in the Master Fee Schedule, linked from the City’s Applications, Forms and Fees page.

4. Inspections. Rough work is inspected before walls and floors are closed up, and a final inspection closes the permit. Inspections can be scheduled online.

5. Keep it active. Permits expire if work does not start or stalls, and each approved inspection resets the clock.

Start at the Building and Safety page or go straight to Accela Citizen Access.

Checking a home’s permit history

Before you plan around an old remodel, find out whether it was permitted. Accela Citizen Access lets you search applications, and the third-floor counter offers public document review on computers set aside for the public.

History matters more in older houses. About a third of homes in the city were built before 1970, according to Census Bureau estimates, and records from those decades can be thin. Our guide to remodeling older Fresno homes covers what tends to turn up once walls are open.

Owner-builder permits, in CSLB’s words

The City’s Permit Center links an owner-builder checklist produced by the Contractors State License Board. CSLB is blunt about the tradeoff: when you sign a permit application as an owner-builder, you take on full responsibility for every phase of the project and its integrity.

• Hiring unlicensed help can make you an employer, with tax withholding and workers’ compensation duties.

• Subcontractors or suppliers who go unpaid can file mechanics liens against the property.

• For a home improvement, the exemption applies to your principal residence, occupied for the 12 months before the work is finished, with the work done before any sale.

CSLB’s page on owner-builder responsibilities is worth reading before you sign, and see how to check a contractor’s license for anyone you hire.

Why skipped permits come back at resale

Unpermitted kitchens and baths tend to surface when a house is sold. A buyer’s inspector notices a remodel that the permit file does not show, and the questions arrive late in escrow, when time is short. Making old work right can mean opening finished surfaces so an inspector can see what is inside.

Where All American fits in

All American Renovations is a licensed B-2 residential remodeling contractor, CSLB #1111311, based at 4143 E Madison Ave in southeast Fresno. During the free in-home consultation, we look at the room and the scope you want, then confirm which permits the project needs before anything is scheduled. Our page on kitchen and bath remodeling in Fresno and the remodeling process explain what happens next.