It is a necessary evil for any homeowner: a visit to the town building office to obtain the proper permits for upgrades.
Hillary and Bill Clinton apparently skipped that required step when they began ambitiously renovating the house they purchased for $1.16 million this summer in the upscale New York hamlet of Chappaqua, according to records from the town building inspector.
Those records, first reported and posted online by The Journal News, based in White Plains, revealed that the town received a complaint in early October about excavation work at the Clintons’ new home that seemed related to the removal of dead trees. But when an inspector arrived, he noticed that a much bigger project was underway: The home was being renovated, complete with an updated kitchen; a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system; walls being moved; and the backfilling of a swimming pool with gravel.
Without informing the town to obtain the proper permits, the Clintons apparently set the project in motion soon after they bought the house in August, with an eye toward having everything ready for the holidays.
“I was told that the owners wanted to have all work done and finished by Thanksgiving and were quite adamant about it,” William Maskiell, the building inspector for New Castle, N.Y., wrote in his inspection report after speaking to a contractor. (Chappaqua is a hamlet within New Castle.)
“What started as a paint job turned into this,” he added.
For the Clintons, the purchase of the home on Old House Lane gave them a second residence on the street and a significant foothold in the Westchester County neighborhood where they have lived since 1999, accompanied by a Secret Service detail.
But in the final days of Ms. Clinton’s presidential campaign, the new house and its run-in with the local building permit office are giving the Clintons something of a headache.
The permit process — which comes with fees, inspections and, potentially, elevated property assessments — can be cumbersome and is familiar to the millions of voters who own homes and have made upgrades. Some may be sympathetic to the Clintons’ stumbling on the local regulations, while others could see them as feeling as though the rules do not apply to them.
Brian Fallon, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign spokesman, did not return a message seeking comment on Saturday.
Mr. Maskiell told The Journal News that architects or contractors usually came by to file paperwork, but that homeowners were required to sign permit applications.
“If you own the house, you’re responsible on everything that goes on with that house,” Mr. Maskiell told The Journal News. He declined to comment on Saturday, referring questions to the township.