iSpec LLC

How We Handle Permits, Inspections & Code Compliance

A renovation project in central Ohio involves more than design and construction. It involves a building official, a permit office, an inspection schedule, and in many cases two or three separate jurisdictions for one job. The difference between a project that runs smoothly and one that stalls at framing inspection is usually the contractor’s familiarity with the specific city the work is happening in.

Our work spans Columbus, Dublin, Upper Arlington, Hilliard, Westerville, the City of Delaware, Powell, and the surrounding townships. Each of these jurisdictions handles permits differently. Some require contractor registration before any work can begin. Some split plumbing review off to the county health district. Some require online plan submittal through proprietary systems that have to be set up well in advance. We handle all of this as part of the project. Homeowners do not file paperwork, schedule inspections, or chase signatures. That is the contractor’s job, and it is one of the reasons hiring a contractor with deep central Ohio experience matters.

This page explains how we navigate that process — both as a reference for clients and as a window into what working with us actually looks like.

Why Permits Matter

A permit is not paperwork. It is a record that the work was inspected by a state-certified building official and signed off as code-compliant. That record matters in three concrete ways.

It protects the homeowner at resale, because unpermitted work is a discoverable problem during inspection and can derail a sale or force a price reduction. It protects the homeowner during a loss, because unpermitted alterations are a frequent reason homeowner’s insurance claims get denied or reduced. And it protects the homeowner during the work itself, because the inspection process catches the kinds of code violations that cause leaks, fires, and mold years later.

When we say a project is “permitted and inspected,” that phrase carries real weight. Every covered scope of work gets the appropriate permit pulled, every required inspection gets scheduled, and the final certificate of compliance gets issued and recorded. Nothing closes out until every signature is in place.

How Each Jurisdiction Works

Select a city for the specifics — permit office, plumbing authority, registration requirements, and timelines.

What This Looks Like on a Project

On a typical central Ohio renovation, here is what happens administratively from our side.

Before contract. We confirm the exact jurisdiction your property falls under and identify every permit office, health district, and inspection authority involved. For projects in townships or near city boundaries, this includes a parcel-level confirmation. We confirm our registrations and licenses are current with whichever cities have that requirement.

At contract. Permit fees and any inspection-related costs are itemized in the contract as either fixed amounts or allowances. There are no surprise administrative line items added later.

Pre-construction. We prepare and submit all permit applications, including drawings to scale, scope descriptions, fixture and material specifications, and trade-permit applications. For Dublin, this means electronic submission through Accela and ePlan. For Hilliard, OpenGov. For Westerville and Upper Arlington, their respective portals. We track each application to issuance.

During construction. Every required inspection — footing, rough plumbing, rough electrical, rough framing, HVAC, insulation, drywall, and final — is scheduled by us, attended by the appropriate trade, and documented. If an inspection fails, we handle the corrective work and re-inspection at our cost, not yours, when the failure is on something we installed.

Project close-out. We do not consider a project complete until every permit is closed with a final inspection signed off and recorded. The homeowner receives copies of all permit cards, inspection records, and the certificate of compliance for their records.

Common Threads Across All Jurisdictions

Several things apply consistently regardless of which city you are in.

Permits run with the property. If a contractor pulled permits in their name and the work was never inspected or finalized, that becomes the homeowner’s problem at resale. We do not leave open permits behind.

State of Ohio surcharges apply. Most jurisdictions add a 1 to 3 percent state surcharge to residential building permit fees depending on the type of work.

Plumbing is handled differently almost everywhere. Columbus, Dublin, Westerville, and Hilliard handle their own plumbing. Upper Arlington uses Franklin County Public Health. Delaware, Powell, and most of Delaware County use the Delaware General Health District. This is the single most common point of confusion on central Ohio renovations.

Inspection scheduling has hard cutoffs. Most jurisdictions require inspection requests by mid-afternoon for next-business-day service. A contractor who misses these windows adds a day or two to the project per missed inspection, and those days compound across a project.

Approved plans must be on site for every inspection. Inspectors do not carry your plans for them. Posted permits and approved plans need to be physically available at the project address whenever inspections occur. We post and maintain them throughout the job.

Questions to Ask Any Contractor — Including Us

Before signing any contract for work in central Ohio, ask:

• Which office will issue our building permit, and which office handles our plumbing inspection?
• Are you currently registered in this jurisdiction, and can you provide proof?
• What is your typical timeline from permit application to issuance in our city?
• Will you handle inspection scheduling, or is that on the homeowner?
• What is your policy if an inspection fails — who pays the re-inspection fee?
• Will every permit be closed out and recorded before final payment?

A contractor who answers these immediately and specifically has done the work in your city before. A contractor who has to “check on that” is announcing that your project will be their learning experience.

We are happy to answer these questions in writing as part of any proposal we send. The level of administrative competence required to navigate central Ohio’s primary jurisdictions cleanly is one of the reasons we focus on this region rather than trying to work statewide.