Should the HOA pay for this?

i bought a condo recently and there was a fireplace defect which they had the chimneys fixed. the front part when i moved in was incomplete so i had a contractor put up drywall and a front on it. he didn't get a permit (was he supposed to for just patching up the front of the fireplace)? he claims he didn't need one to just fill a hole in the wall. so now the HOA says that their fireplace company they hired needs to redo the front at no cost to me but shouldn't i also get reimbursed for the contractor's work since i didn't know about this? they told me if he has a permit then they will reimburse me and the fireplace company won't have to redo it but if not i guess i have to suck up the cost and will have to have it redone. this seems unfair and i'm still wondering if the contractor should have a had a permit. who is in the right here?