The Permit Process for New Homes (continued)

A significant part of what the Planning Department is responsible for is the initial environmental review of your project. The main source of requirements and guidelines for environmental review is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This is where some of the longest delays may occur in the processing of your permit. This is a whole world unto itself which I cover in a separate article.

On to the Building Department-

Once you have managed to slog your way through all of those hoops, you may then be ready to submit your plans to the Building Department. At this time you must include additional information and details on your plans. This would include the drawings you previously submitted to the HOA and/or Planning Department, but would additionally include but not necessarily be limited to Sections, Foundation & Floor Framing Plans, Roof Framing Plans, Mechanical & Electrical Plans, Architectural & Structural Details & Structural Calculations & Specifications, a Title 24 Report, a Soils Report, and General Notes.

Engineering?-

Building permit fees are based on several factors, including but not limited to, square footage, project valuation, and other factors. When you submit your plans, the Building Department will generally evaluate your plans there on the spot and calculate your fees accordingly. For new houses, a large chunk of those fees will be Impact Fees. Once that total is calculated, you will generally only be required to pay a certain part of the total up front, the remainder being due once the permit is ready to issue.

Fire Safety Plan-

If you live in the unincorporated area of most counties, you will likely have to have some kind of Fire Safety Plan that will require separate approval by the County Fire Department.  This plan generally has driveway requirements (width, type of surface, maximum slope and possibly turn-around areas for fire trucks) as well as required water storage on your site required for fire truck access.  Some unincorporated areas have Community Services Districts (CSD) that provide fire hydrants, but you will generally need to verify these services through your CSD and include that verification on the plans. See the City and County Links page to find out about the requirements in your area.  Typically these requirements will need to be imprinted on your plans, normally on the Site or Title sheets.

More Timelines & Corrections-

Once you have submitted your now more complete building plans, it will generally take about 30 days (or as many as 90, depending on your local jurisdiction and their current workload) to receive what will mostly commonly be a set of Plan Corrections. But note that the Permit Streamlining Act mentioned above, only applies to Planning Department Permits, and not to Building Permits.

On rare occasions, I have gotten plans through for small addition projects without corrections, but given the complexity of plans these days, and the general penchant for plans examiners to need to find something in your plans that needs correcting or needs additional information or detailing, you will generally get a list of items that you will need to address in the plans. Most of the time, if your plans have been prepared by an experienced professional, they are very simple additional notes and details, and sometimes further clarification of the structural information may be necessary.

A Plan Corrections list is not necessarily a sign that your architect, contractor, or even you, don’t have a good and thorough set of plans. Once the "corrected" set of plans is re-submitted, the second plan check often (but not always) will come back a bit quicker than the first plan check. For larger, more complex projects you may even have a second list of corrections to contend with. But once you are through with that, you permit will be ready to issue. At that time, the remaining balance of your permit fees will be due, as well as School Fees.

Build It!-

Then you are off and running! You generally have 1 year in which to complete the construction of your new home, though extensions on your permit are generally available as long as you are showing forward progress. Good luck with your new project! Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or comments about this article. I am always open to constructive criticism of this site.

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