A kitchen remodel is not one job. It is anything from new cabinet doors to a kitchen moved to the other side of the house, and the size of the job decides who does it, whether it needs a permit and how long you live without a working kitchen. It helps to know which of three sizes you are planning before the first call.
Three sizes of job
Refresh. The cabinets stay where they are. Their doors are painted or replaced, or the boxes are refaced with new veneer. The countertop, backsplash, sink, faucet, hardware and light fixtures may change. Nothing moves, so the plumbing, gas and wiring behind the walls stay as they are.
Replacement. New cabinets and countertops go in on the same layout. Appliances may change size or type. The sink stays under its window and the range stays on its wall, so the work behind the walls stays small.
New layout. A wall opens, the sink or range moves, an island arrives with its own outlets or plumbing, or the kitchen grows into another room. This is the job that needs drawings, more trades and, almost everywhere, a building permit.
Who does which part
- A remodeling contractor or design-build firm runs the whole job: design, permit, demolition, the trades, the schedule.
- A kitchen designer draws the layout and the cabinet plan. Some work for cabinet showrooms, some on their own, some inside a remodeling firm.
- A cabinet installer or refacing company sets or refaces the cabinets.
- A countertop fabricator makes a template once the cabinets are in, cuts the top in the shop and installs it.
- Licensed electricians and plumbers do the work behind the walls. Most states license these trades even where they do not license remodelers.
What usually needs a permit
Building departments write their own rules, but the pattern is common. The City of Las Vegas, for example, lists cabinets, countertops, painting and floor covering among the work that needs no permit, and requires one to move, remove or add walls, to add or alter wiring, outlets or light fixtures, to relocate plumbing, to work on gas piping, and to install a kitchen range exhaust. In Los Angeles a kitchen remodel with no structural changes is one of the jobs that gets an express permit, without plan review. See Permits.
Two things to know before the first visit
When the house was built. In a home built before 1978, a remodel that disturbs painted cabinets, trim or walls has to be done by a firm certified for lead-safe work. See Lead-safe remodeling.
What bothers you about the kitchen now. Too little counter space, too few outlets, a layout that sends two cooks into each other, dark corners, cabinets that no longer close. A designer can work from a list of problems far better than from a picture of someone else's kitchen.
Then see Before you call for what the person on the line will ask.
Updated 2026-10-12.