Home repair in Chicago: what to know before you hire

This guide is for Chicago homeowners, condo owners and small landlords who are about to hire someone to fix a furnace, rewire a kitchen, rebuild a back porch or chase a leak in a 100-year-old two-flat. It covers when the city requires a permit, which trades Chicago licenses and how to check them, how to compare bids, the quirks of older buildings, and what to do when the heat goes out in January.

The businesses named are independent hardware stores and trade contractors, and they are a place to start collecting bids rather than a ranking.

City permits and when you need one

The short version: most repair work in Chicago needs a building permit, and the exceptions are narrower than people assume. The city’s own list of work that does not require a permit is the page to read before calling anyone.

The Easy Permit is now the Express Permit

If a contractor or an older article tells you to pull an “Easy Permit,” that program no longer exists under that name. The Department of Buildings replaced the paper Easy Permit process with the online Express Permit Program on November 6, 2023, and added more work types on September 16, 2024. It covers repairs and in-kind replacements such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC equipment, reroofing, masonry, windows and porch repair. Homeowners, tenants and contractors can all apply online, but when the application names a city-licensed contractor, that contractor has to accept the job by email before the permit is issued. That step exists to stop license fraud.

What you can skip

No permit is needed for painting, wallpaper, tile, carpet or cabinets without plumbing or electrical connections, or for replacing up to 1,000 square feet of drywall or plaster. In residential buildings up to four stories, you can also replace a water heater, furnace, boiler or air conditioner in kind, swap windows and doors in existing openings, replace up to 50 square feet of masonry, and redo a pitched roof without a permit. Low-slope roofs and any structural work still need one. So does moving or extending plumbing, adding circuits, and rebuilding a porch more than 6 feet off the ground.

What skipping a required permit costs

The city’s unpermitted-work page spells it out: a stop work order, a penalty of $1,000 or more, and in most cases a permit fee that is tripled. Permits also expire if you never request inspections, so make sure whoever pulls the permit also schedules them. Owners 65 and older who meet income and 10-year residency rules can get building permit fees waived on buildings with one to three units, but only if they ask before paying.

Licensed vs. unlicensed trades

Chicago licenses general contractors, electrical contractors, plumbing contractors and mason contractors, among others. Before you sign anything, look the company up in the city’s contractor license lookup, which also shows recently expired licenses.

Plumbing and electrical

A licensed electrical contractor must do all electrical work that requires a permit. There is no homeowner exception. Plumbing is similar, with one carve-out: the owner or occupant of a detached single-family house may do their own plumbing, but the city’s plumbing license page is clear that they cannot hire an unlicensed friend to do it. In a two-flat or condo, the plumber must be licensed.

Some firms make checking easy. Goode Plumbing, on Elston Avenue in Irving Park, prints its Chicago and Illinois license numbers at the bottom of every page of its website. Office hours listed there are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, with Sundays for emergencies only. On the electrical side, Arnold Electrical Services, a family-run shop on N. Elston Avenue on the Northwest Side, lists knob-and-tube rewiring among its residential services and appears on dozens of city electrical permits issued in 2026, according to city permit data.

HVAC and general contractors

Chicago does not issue a separate HVAC license. For an Express Permit covering furnace or air conditioner work, the city requires a licensed general contractor, graded by project cost. Homeowners can act as their own general contractor on their primary residence if the property has no more than six units and no building taller than three stories, once per calendar year.

Getting three bids

The Illinois Attorney General’s home repair page recommends getting more than one written estimate. For any job of $1,000 or more, the contractor should hand you the state’s “Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights” pamphlet, and both of you sign it. If you sign a contract at home, you have three business days to cancel; homeowners over 65 get up to 15 business days.

What to compare

• Whether the bid includes the permit, and who will request inspections.
• The contractor’s full name, address and phone on the contract, plus start and completion dates.
• A payment schedule. Be wary of anyone demanding cash or full payment up front, or a check made out to a third party.
• Proof of insurance and references, which the Attorney General says a legitimate contractor should provide on request.

Mix the size of the shops you call

For a single-trade job like a new electrical circuit, a small shop can be as good as a large one. Jaynco Electric works out of an office at 4236 W. Lake St. in West Garfield Park, a short walk from the Pulaski stop on the Green Line, and lists weekday and Saturday service hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Calling one small firm and one larger one tends to give you a sense of the real price range.

Two-flat and vintage-building quirks

Much of the city’s housing stock is brick two-flats, three-flats and bungalows built before World War II, and they come with predictable problems.

Lead pipes and lead paint

According to the city’s Lead-Safe Chicago program, a house or two-flat built before 1986 likely has a lead water service line unless it was replaced. State law now bans partial replacement, so the whole line from the main to the house has to go. Income-eligible owners may qualify for a free replacement, and owners who hire their own contractor can get up to $5,000 in permit fees waived. If a service line breaks or leaks, you must call 311. Pre-1978 homes should also be assumed to have lead paint, which matters any time a contractor sands or demolishes.

Steam heat, radiators and no ductwork

Older buildings often run on steam or hot-water boilers with cast-iron radiators and no ducts. American Vintage Home, based in Evanston with a second office in Oak Park, focuses on older homes: steam and boiler repair, radiator work, lead water line replacement, and SpacePak and Unico high-velocity air conditioning that runs through small tubes instead of full ductwork. Their service area includes Chicago.

Parts, rentals and keys for old buildings

A good neighborhood hardware store saves a lot of trips. Clark-Devon Hardware at 6401 N. Ashland Ave. in Rogers Park has been family-owned since 1924 and has a locksmith counter that rekeys locks and builds master key systems for multi-unit buildings. The 22 Clark and 155 Devon buses both run close by, and the Loyola Red Line stop is about a 15-minute walk.

On the North Side lakefront, Lakeview Ace Hardware at 3921 N. Sheridan Road sits near the Sheridan Red Line stop and cuts and threads pipe, which helps when you are matching old steel plumbing. On the South Side, the Hyde Park location of Elston Ace Hardware at 5422 S. Lake Park Ave. also cuts and threads pipe and repairs glass and screens; the Metra Electric line runs along the same stretch.

On the Southwest Side, Kuhl’s Hardware on W. 63rd Street just west of Western Avenue has been family-run since 1987. The store rents sewer rodders and augers, which can save a service call when a basement floor drain backs up. The #63 bus runs along 63rd Street.

Winter emergencies: furnaces and pipes

Chicago’s heat ordinance runs from September 15 to June 1. In buildings with shared heat, landlords must keep apartments at 68 degrees from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and 66 degrees overnight. Where each unit has its own furnace, the landlord still has to keep that equipment working. Tenants without heat can file a complaint through 311, and landlords face fines of $500 to $1,000 per day.

When you can fix first and file later

For true emergencies, the city lets repair work that would normally need a permit start right away to prevent harm to people or property. The permit application has to be submitted the next business day, and the work cannot be covered up until a city inspector approves it. Replacing a furnace or boiler in kind in a building up to four stories does not need a permit at all.

Gas, carbon monoxide and frozen pipes

If you smell gas, Peoples Gas says to leave the area and call 866-556-6002; for carbon monoxide, leave and call 911. Chicago requires carbon monoxide alarms in residential buildings, and tenants must keep batteries in them. Stopping a leak or clearing a clog does not need a permit, but replacing the burst pipe does. Plumbers are busiest on the first deep-freeze days of winter, so have a name and number ready before December.

Good to know

• The Department of Buildings posted 2027 permit and trade license fee tables on September 28, 2026. The new fees take effect January 1, 2027.
• Heat season started September 15 and runs to June 1.
• If your water service line breaks or leaks, the city requires a call to 311, and the Department of Water Management replaces both sides of a lead line for free.
• Checked September 28, 2026.

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