In real estate, GC means general contractor: the licensed company responsible for the whole construction job, not one trade. On a rehab, the GC scopes and prices the work, schedules every trade, pulls permits, coordinates inspections, and answers for the result.
A handyman is cheaper per hour and can start next week. A licensed general contractor costs more and may be booked out. So some investors hire the handyman for the whole rehab, and find out later, from a buyer's inspector, an appraiser, or a city inspector, that the work needed permits and licensed trades.
Not every job needs a GC. But in Chicago, the rules for investment properties are stricter than most investors expect.
What a general contractor actually does
A GC is responsible for the whole job, not one trade:
- Sequencing. Framing before rough plumbing and electrical, inspections before drywall, drywall before finishes. Getting that order right is most of the schedule.
- Permits and inspections. Pulling the permits the work requires, and scheduling inspections so they don't stall the crews.
- Quality control. Checking each trade's work before the next trade covers it up.
- One point of contact. One party accountable for cost, schedule, and results, and one person reporting to you.
Chicago's rules for investment properties
The GC license covers investors specifically. Chicago requires a licensed general contractor for regulated construction activity done "for compensation, as an investment, or with the intent to sell or lease real property to others." That includes work that needs a building permit, and it can include work exempt from one. The city's primary-residence exception applies only to an owner's own home (three or fewer stories, six or fewer units), not to an investment property.
Some trades need their own license, even without a permit. The GC license doesn't cover electrical, plumbing, or masonry work; each needs a city-licensed contractor. Chicago requires a licensed electrical contractor to install, alter, or maintain wiring "whether or not a permit is required." Plumbing contractors need a city license, not only a state one. Roofing requires an Illinois roofing contractor license.
Permits fix what's already there. When you do pull a permit in Chicago, the scope must remedy all readily apparent violations of the city's minimum requirements for existing buildings, cited or not. Unpermitted handyman work can become part of someone else's scope later.
The suburbs set their own rules. Villages run their own contractor registration. Blue Island, for example, requires registration and a $10,000 surety bond, and Dolton requires a contractor license and a $10,000 bond. Check the village before anyone starts work.
When a handyman is enough
Cosmetic work that doesn't need a permit and doesn't touch a regulated trade: painting, patching drywall, door hardware, caulking, touch-ups, and cleaning. Chicago publishes a list of work that doesn't require a building permit, but remember that some of that work still needs a licensed trade, and on an investment property, a licensed GC.
The risks of getting it wrong
- During the rehab: stop-work orders, fines, and permits obtained after the fact, which can mean opening finished walls.
- At sale: buyers' inspectors and appraisers flag unpermitted work, and buyers ask for credits or walk.
- At refinance: for BRRRR investors, unpermitted work can cut the appraisal the refinance depends on.
- After the fact: as the owner who authorized the work, problems with it land on you.
How we work
Seller's Little Helpers is a licensed and insured general contractor that works only with real estate investors. We pull the permits your project needs, our crews handle every trade, and Mason is your one point of contact from demo to punch list. How SLH runs a rehab.