Common Repair and Replace Items
Please note: Only homeowners who live in single family houses or townhouses can take out a permit. If the homeowner hires someone to do the repair work and the work requires a permit, that person must be licensed to do that particular type of work. Rental property, duplexes, and non-owner occupied single family/townhouses need licensed contractors for permit work.
City inspectors do all re-inspections for repairs that require permits. For repairs that do not require a permit, call your Truth-In-Housing evaluator for your re-inspection.
A printer-friendly, one-page summary of common repair and replace items is available as a PDF. (To use this document, you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 4 or higher.)
The complete list is found in Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Title 12, Chapter 248.80.
Common Required Repairs, By Household System
1. Heating system
2. Water heater
3. Electrical system
4. Plumbing system
5. Smoke detectors
6. Lack of required utilities
7. Gas piping system
Heating System
Generally a permit is needed to repair:
- Missing 9d check valve with atmospheric valve on boiler (backflow valve).
- Missing or broken pressure (P) relief valve on a boiler: permit required to install/replace.
- Improper furnace/boiler flue (vent). Only a licensed contractor can get a permit.
- Note: Gas or flue (vent) repair/replacement on heating plants can ONLY be done by licensed contractors.
Information on plumbing permit requirements.
Information on mechanical permit requirements.
Water Heater
Generally a permit is needed to repair:
- Missing or broken temperature and pressure (T&P) relief valve on a water heater—permit is required to install/replace.
- Improper water heater flue (vent). Homeowner can get the permit.
Information about plumbing permit requirements.
Electrical System
Generally a permit is needed to repair:
- Exposed wires such as open junction boxes that have the cover missing AND have wires that are uncapped, not taped, AND are out of the box so that someone can get shocked. Permit is needed to install a fixture. No permit needed to tape or cap wires, put wires back into box, and cover box.
Generally no permit needed to repair:
- GFCI outlets when the test button won’t trip. They do not have to be grounded, if installed on an ungrounded system.
- Missing grounding strap (jumper wire), or improperly installed ground wire, such as if a clamp is missing, or if the wire is loose, then no permit is needed.
Information on electrical permit requirements.
Plumbing System
Generally a permit is needed to repair:
- Tub or sink faucet below the spill line – installing duel in-line check valves instead of replacing the faucet.
Generally no permit needed to repair:
- Missing cleanout plug.
- Toilet ballcock that is not anti-siphon.
- Laundry and outside faucets (sillcocks) with threads need a backflow valve.
- Open sewer line (broken, missing cover, etc).
- Open waste vent (holes, broken).
- Open drain (missing trap).
- Leaking toilet (considered "unsafe" if the leak is bad enough to rot the floor).
- Tub or sink faucet below the spill line. Replacing the faucet does not require a permit; installation of in-line check valves does require a permit.
Information about plumbing permit requirements.
Smoke Detectors / Carbon Monoxide Detectors (CO Detectors)
- Operable smoke detectors are required on every level and outside each sleeping area, and shall be installed per manufacturer’s instructions.
- Do not install within three feet of a kitchen or bathroom door. If installed within 20 feet of a kitchen stove, they shall be equipped with a silencing switch or be photoelectric type.
- Can be battery operated. If hardwired smokes are already installed, they must remain hardwired.
- Construction work needing a permit requires additional smoke detectors in each bedroom that may need to be hardwired.
- Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors need to be installed within 10 feet of a sleeping room or per manufacturer’s specs. They can be battery operated.
Lack of Required Utilities
May simply require calling utilities to have service turned on.
Gas Lines
Generally a permit is needed to repair:
- Uncapped gas line. If an appliance is installed, a permit IS needed. (Other fixtures that go with new appliance need to be up to code, as well. For example, installing a stove includes anti-tip, gas valve, and gas line.) If the line is just capped, no permit is needed.
- Improper gas lines. A Homeowner can get the permit if it is to a dryer, stove, or water heater. If to a heating plant, licensed contractor required.
Generally no permit needed to repair:
- Uncapped gas lines. No permit needed just to cap the line.
Last updated Dec. 6, 2012