[trekkor]

From my experience:

Anytime plumbing, electrical or structural is involved, a permit is required.

If it is the law, why do you want to break it? What's the reason?
Part of your city's operations budget is reliant on permit revenue.

If you get caught, now were talking hassle. Red tag and STOP WORK.
They have the authority to legally require you to remove everything and start over with double fees.

A permit is simple and hardly costs a thing for a small bathroom project. $2-400 I would guess.

If you are hiring contractor, you 100% want a permit. Why?
Only the homeowner or a licenced contractor can pull the permit.
They check for required insurance at the same time.

On a project like yours they would inspect:

Rough framing
Rough plumbing
Sheet rock nailing
and a final which may include bringing other unrelated items in the home up to code.
( like GFCI protected circuit in the bathroom and proper smoke detectors )

I've been through this over and over with clients.
I refuse to do work that requires a permit.
It's not worth it.

If you have NOT altered your ORIGINAL plumbing in any way, you likely DO NOT need a building permit. It is considered a cosmetic upgrade.

Call the city and ask.

If you go to sell and the prospective buyer checks the permit record with the city and finds no record, you may have a hard time selling as well.


KT