Kitchen remodeling in Naperville, IL

The City's guide to building permits names kitchen remodeling as permit work, and so is moving any drain, vent or water pipe, or swapping fixtures to new spots. New cabinets, counters and paint on their own are cosmetic. Once a wall moves or a circuit is added, TED needs drawings.

Naperville asks applicants to name the primary feature of a project and describe everything else, and staff then add the trade permits. So one kitchen application turns into a building permit plus electrical and plumbing permits in the Civic Access portal. We file it that way and book each inspection at least 72 hours ahead, as the City requires.

This is the big one. Naperville's electrical code allows NM and SE cable only for temporary wiring, so new kitchen circuits for the range, dishwasher, disposal and counter outlets go in conduit or another approved method. Expect the electrician to price that in, and expect it to take longer to rough in than in a town that allows plastic sheathed cable.

Every electrical job in the City needs its own permit, and only a state licensed electrical contractor registered with Naperville may do it. If you are adding an induction range or a second oven, the City publishes a residential load calculation worksheet based on Article 220 of the electrical code to size the service. Because Naperville runs its own electric utility, a service upgrade goes through the Department of Public Utilities Electric, not ComEd.

Naperville's amendment to the Illinois plumbing code bars PVC, CPVC, polyethylene and polybutylene pipe for the household water supply. Those are the plastics many suburbs accept for sink and dishwasher lines, so we spec the supply piping to the City amendment, not to habit. New faucets must carry the EPA WaterSense label where a labelled model exists, so pick from that list when you shop.

The plumber has to file a copy of their state contractor registration and a letter of intent with the permit application, or the City will not consider it. A new water heater or a new softener also needs a permit, though a like for like swap does not.

If your house is in the local historic district near downtown, the inside is yours to change. The exterior is not. A new window opening for the sink, or a change in window style on the street facing facade, goes to the Historic Preservation Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness. In kind replacement in wood or aluminium clad wood can go through faster staff review.

A kitchen bump out on the rear, out of sight of the street, needs no certificate. It still needs a building permit.