Basement Finishing & Remodeling in Evergreen Park, IL

The Building Department is in the village Administration Building at 9418 South Kedzie Avenue. Its permit application says any alteration, addition, repair or remodel needs a permit and complete plans: architectural, structural and mechanical, drawn and sealed by people licensed in Illinois. The plan submittal page adds that residential plans need a current Illinois architect's stamp, just as commercial ones do. Plans are uploaded as PDFs through the village website, with a current plat of survey and a typed description of the work.

Evergreen Park licenses contractors itself. The general contractor and each subcontractor need a village licence number before any permit is issued, and a basement bathroom goes on the separate plumbing application, which asks for the plumber's state licence and village licence numbers. Ask any contractor for that licence number before you sign. Work has to begin within six months of issue and be complete within twelve, and changes to approved plans go back to the Building Commissioner.

Evergreen Park keeps storm and sanitary sewers separate, with 47 miles of sanitary main. Since 1988 it has been lining those mains with cast in place pipe across 14 sections, and it awarded two more lining contracts in May 2026. Lining is meant to keep storm water out of the mains, but the village warns that houses without overhead sewers can still flood when storm water gets into private and public sanitary lines. The county hazard plan puts the entire village in a high urban flooding susceptibility zone.

The village shares the cost of a first overhead sewer on a single family house built before 1970, once per address. It asks for permits, three estimates, a televised report of the full service line and an inspection before work starts, and it pays only after the final inspection. An overhead system usually runs along the basement ceiling, so it shapes where soffits go. Have a licensed sewer contractor or plumber install it before we frame. If water is coming through the walls, a waterproofing contractor fixes that first. We will not finish over water.

Before transfer stamps can be issued, the Building Department certifies the zoning and inspects the house. The inspection request form asks for room sizes and whether the basement is finished. Book the inspection at least five days before closing, and note that it is good for 90 days. If violations turn up, the seller fixes them and a reinspection follows, or the buyer's attorney commits in writing to apply for permits within 30 days of closing.

The village's checklist for rental and point of sale inspections, updated for the 2024 property maintenance code, has several basement items. Basement doors and vents must be sealed against rodents and water, and downspouts must send water away from the house. Smoke alarms go in bedrooms, outside sleeping areas and on every level, with CO alarms within 15 feet of sleeping areas where there is a fuel burning appliance or a garage. Bathrooms need a window that opens or a fan. The certificate says later changes made without village approval are illegal.

Evergreen Park adopted the 2024 International Residential Code by ordinance in April 2026, and that is the book a basement bedroom and its escape window are drawn to. Wiring follows the current Chicago Electrical Code. Cutting or widening an opening in a foundation wall is structural work, and the village wants structural work submitted by an architect or structural engineer with a professional stamp and licence number. Plan on that sheet being part of the drawing set.

The 1999 comprehensive plan says low density housing covers the vast majority of the village's land, and the zoning map's A district is single family residential. At each sale the village records the zoning district, the number of dwelling units and the approved number of occupants. Plan an in law suite as part of the one house, with its own bedroom, bath and living space, and check with the Building Department before anyone draws a second kitchen.