What each change touches
A layout change reaches into the walls and the floor. This table shows what each common change involves. It is general information. Your building office decides what your town requires.
| Change | What it usually involves | Permit |
|---|---|---|
| Open or remove a wall | Framing, possibly a beam if the wall carries load, and any wiring, pipes or ducts inside it. | Yes. Structural changes are not exempt, and Woodbridge lists walls, columns and beams by name. |
| Move the sink or dishwasher | New water supply and drain lines, venting, and floor work. | Yes. New or rearranged plumbing is permit work in the towns we checked. |
| Move the range or cooktop | A new gas line or electrical circuit, and ductwork if there is a hood. | Yes. Gas, electrical and mechanical work are permit work. |
| Add an island or peninsula | Floor clearances, new outlets in the island, and a sink or cooktop if it carries one. | Yes whenever wiring or plumbing is added. |
| Move a door or window | Framing and exterior finish. In a local historic district the exterior also goes to design review. | Ask the building office. |
Draw the room before you move it
A good layout is a drawing that works on paper first. Ask the remodeler to show the plan with the aisles, the appliance doors open and the refrigerator, sink and range marked. The NKBA planning guidelines give the distances to test against: at least 42 inches for a work aisle with one cook and 48 inches with two or more, and at least 36 inches for a walkway. They are recommendations, not code. Layouts and clearances shows each layout with those distances drawn in.
The wall question
Whether a wall can come out depends on whether it holds up the floor or roof above. Most homeowners cannot tell by looking. A contractor and sometimes an engineer will check what sits above and below the wall, and size a beam where one is needed. Do not take a wall down on a guess, and do not let anyone start before the permit is in hand.
Older houses add questions
In houses from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, walls can hide plaster, old wiring, old pipes and lead paint. Older house kitchens covers what to expect, and why a contractor paid to disturb painted surfaces in a pre-1978 home must be EPA lead-safe certified.
Permits, trades and checks
Connecticut requires registered home improvement contractors and licensed electricians, plumbers and heating contractors. The contract should say who pulls the permit. Read permits in New Haven and how to check a remodeler before you sign.
Common questions
Can I take out the wall between the kitchen and dining room?
Maybe. It depends on whether the wall is load-bearing and what runs through it. Removing or changing a wall needs a permit, and a contractor or engineer should check the structure first.
Do I need a permit to move a sink?
Plumbing alterations are listed as permit work in the towns we checked, and a licensed plumber is required. Ask your building office for your town’s process.
Will an island fit in my kitchen?
Only if the clearances survive. A work aisle of 42 to 48 inches on the sides you cook and a walkway of 36 inches on the others usually means the room needs to be fairly wide. A peninsula is often the answer in a narrower room.