Exeter, NH Building Department and Permits

Yes. The New Hampshire building code requires a permit to install, alter or replace a mechanical, gas or electrical system, and only portable appliances and minor part replacements are exempt. Gas equipment is fuel gas fitting, licensed by the state's Mechanical Licensing Board; the wiring to a heat pump or condenser needs a licensed electrician, and Exeter issues the permits. The contractor doing the work normally pulls them.

Yes. The electrical connection is an electrical installation that needs a licensed electrician and an electrical permit from the town, and the equipment itself is mechanical work the code regulates. NHSaves rebates are the utility program's business, with their own equipment and paperwork conditions; they do not replace the permit.

Plan on it. Window and door replacement is not on the code's list of permit-exempt work, and the ordinary-repairs exception excludes anything that removes or changes a required egress, which a bedroom window is. Whether a same-size swap counts as an ordinary repair is the local building department's call.

Plan on it. Residing a house is not among the projects the code exempts from a permit; the exemption covers finish work like painting and tiling, not recladding the exterior. The local building department settles borderline cases and issues the permit.

Yes. Re-roofing is not exempt under the New Hampshire building code, so Exeter will expect a building permit before the work starts, and the contractor is responsible under RSA 155-A for meeting the code's roofing requirements.

Under the International Residential Code as adopted by New Hampshire (section R105.5), a permit becomes invalid if the work has not started within 180 days of issue, or if more than 180 days pass between inspections once work has begun; the building official may grant written extensions of up to 180 days at a time. An application that is filed but not pursued is treated as abandoned after 180 days.

Yes, permits are public records. Ask the building department in Exeter how to search by address, or check the town's online portal if it has one. The recent filings table on this page shows the same public data with the street, date and permit type.

Often, yes. The code lets the owner apply for the building permit, and New Hampshire's licensing statutes let the owner-occupant of a single-family home do their own electrical installations and, in an existing single-family primary residence, their own fuel gas fitting: still under a permit, to code and with the town's inspection. A licence is required for anyone else doing that work. Most homeowners still let the contractor pull the permit, because the statute makes the contractor responsible for meeting the code on the work they do.

The town can order the work stopped, opened up for inspection, corrected or removed, and the code provides penalties for building or altering without a permit. Unpermitted work also surfaces at sale, when a buyer's attorney searches the permit history. It is far cheaper to permit it the first time.