Remodeling contractor in Des Plaines, IL

Building permits come from the Community and Economic Development department at City Hall, 1420 Miner Street. Applications, and contractor registration, go through the City's Customer Self Service portal. From January 1, 2026 the City enforces the 2021 International codes, including the International Residential Code and the International Pool and Spa Code.

Contractors working in Des Plaines must register with the City, and every registration expires on December 31. General contractors and every trade register, plumbers, sprinkler and alarm installers show a state licence, and a homeowner acting as their own contractor does not register but may need letters of responsibility. We register before we pull. Work hours on a permit are 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sundays and holidays.

Settlers from New England, New York and Germany farmed the prairie here from the 1830s. The Town of Rand was platted in 1857 next to the railroad and renamed Des Plaines after its station. The City annexed the Village of Riverview to the south in 1925, adding land for homes, and Orchard Place in 1956.

The big change came after the war. People moving out from Chicago and the building of O'Hare at Orchard Place took the population from about 9,000 to over 50,000. The City's hazard plan notes the land was so flat and wet it had to be drained with ditches before anyone could farm or build, and that history still shows up in basements.

Des Plaines has a separate permit type for kitchens and bathrooms that change no structure. Move a wall in a single family house and it becomes an alteration permit instead. The City's kitchen guide asks for a venting detail for any island sink and notes that arc fault breakers are now required in the kitchen.

Two rules reach past the room you are working on. Any wall, ceiling or floor cavity in the thermal envelope that gets opened must be filled with insulation. And when you alter an existing house, the whole house has to be brought up to hardwired, interconnected smoke and carbon monoxide detectors with battery backup, or listed wireless units where there is no way to run wire. A range hood over 400 CFM needs makeup air.

The City's hazard plan says every area in the Des Plaines River floodplain is vulnerable, names the river, Weller Creek, the Big Bend and the River and Oakton area, and counts 16 areas with repeated flooding. Levee 50 runs along the east side of the river from Campground Road and Miner Street to Interstate 294 and Golf Road. The City takes part in the FEMA buyout program.

For basements, the City runs a Flood Rebate Program for work such as backup battery sump pumps, backwater valves, overhead sewers, footing tile with sump pumps, basement waterproofing and glass block windows where a house is subject to flooding. Routine repairs and sump pump replacements do not qualify. There is also a sanitary sewer lateral program when a backup is traced to the part of your line under the parkway.

An addition here starts with the survey. The City wants architectural drawings showing the existing and new foundation elevations, current plats of survey, lot coverage calculations and the exterior materials and colours. A spot survey is required after the foundation is in, and a final as built survey when the footprint grows by at least 50 percent.

If the house is in the floodplain, the City asks for photographs of the existing structure and an appraisal no more than two years old. Title 14 of the City Code adds up improvements over a ten year period, and once they reach 50 percent of the building's market value the substantial improvement rules apply. Any construction in a floodway or floodplain, even a fence, needs a development permit, and if you are not sure of your zone the City has Engineering make the call.

Des Plaines requires a permit for any pool over 24 inches deep. The survey has to show the pool at least 5 feet from the rear and side lot lines, 10 feet horizontally from overhead wires and out of easements and the required front and side yards. Inground pools need detailed construction drawings, and soil from the dig must go to an approved dump site.

A 4 foot fence goes around inground pools with self closing, latching gates that lock. Where a wall of the house forms part of the barrier, every door opening onto the pool area needs an audible alarm. Pumps and filters are wired to GFCI by a licensed electrical contractor, and any sillcock that fills the pool gets a backflow device.