expired or incomplete construction permits

[matt m]

does anybody out there have any first hand experience dealing with properties that have expired or incomplete construction permits?

I've seen a few houses for sale that have expired permits (never received all of the inspections, and the date of the permit has long passed), but the work is completed. On top of that, the electrical and plumbing is not even to code. WTF?

so, if I wanted to add a deck, or do some other work on it that would require a permit, and I decided to do something crazy like follow the law, am I opening myself up to having the walls torn into to inspect the prior work? How high a probability?