Local-verification question list

Every question a homeowner should put to an authority before committing money, with a note of who answers it. Nothing here is an answer. You record what the building department, the utility, the lender, the insurer, the licensing authority or your attorney told you, with the date and the name, and that record becomes your project's facts. The method is taught in Module 4. Your answers are saved only in this browser; export the binder from the binder page once you have real answers in it.

The questions

Filter by project type and by your situation to shorten the list, or search for a word. "Who answers this" names the kind of office that normally holds the answer; the office's actual name and whether it is a town, county, state or national body differ by place. "Answer" is your note of what you were told: date, name, and the words used. Printing prints the filtered list.

How to use this list

• Ask in writing where you can. An email to the permit desk gives you an answer you can quote. For phone calls, write the date, the name and the words in the answer column before you hang up.
• Record the answer, not your interpretation. "Permit desk, 2026-06-03, J. Amadi: owner may apply for the building permit; electrical and plumbing permits must be pulled by the licensed sub" is a record. "Owner can pull permits" is a guess that drops the half that matters.
• "Needs follow-up" is a normal status. Many answers are "it depends on the drawings" or "ask the other department". Note who to ask next and keep the row open.
• Bring the printed list to the counter. Building departments answer specific questions far better than "what do I need?"
• Re-ask before signing. Plan-review times, fee schedules and license statuses change. The date on each answer tells you how stale it is.
• Put the consequences elsewhere. An answer that changes cost goes to the budget; one that changes sequence goes to the schedule; one that creates a task goes to the responsibility map.