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The Permit Process
for Residential Remodels and Additions-
The Dream-
I think most everyone dreams of what they might
be able to do with the older home they just bought, are considering
buying, or even the old house they’ve been living in for
years. With soaring property values, often a double-edge sword, the
dramatically increased
property tax base
involved in moving into a larger house, or building a new one,
leaves people with adding on to or remodeling their existing home as
the only viable option.
The popularity of so many publications,
websites, and even entire networks like HGTV is I think a testament
to the vast interest in remodeling. But, especially if you live in
California, and more specifically coastal California, you have also
no doubt heard
nightmarish
stories of wading through the bureaucracies necessary
to getting that building permit. Even the smallest of projects need
good planning.
Several Phases-
The first thing to be aware of is that there are often several
different phases or levels of regulation that you may need to
address in the planning of your addition and/or remodeling project. Whether you live in an
unincorporated area of your County, or within the
City Limits of
your particular City, you will typically have a
Planning Department, a Building Department, and a Public Works
Department. Sometimes, they may be all lumped into one office called
the Community Development Department.
More and more of the various departments offer a lot of
information, even flow charts of the different processes, online and
I have included many of them in my
City & County Links
but I find them very slow to embrace the internet and lacking in
overall comprehensibility, especially for the uninitiated. I attempt
here to put the whole process in plain English as much as possible.
It is important that you find out as much as possible about the
various limitations to your design that will be imposed by this
regulation before starting the design process of your home. Like
making a painting, you must first determine the canvas size. It's
rather difficult to make the canvas larger, smaller, different
shape or proportions, etc., after you've already started the painting!
If you are only doing interior remodeling, and
not adding any square footage or altering the exterior or structure
of your house or adding other exterior structures, you may be able
to skip right to the Building Department. But always be sure
to double check with your local Home Owner's Association or Building
Department to see what the requirements are.
Do I Really Need a Permit for
my Project?
Check with your local Building Department about
your specific project, but the answer is almost always yes.
They often require at least a cursory or "over-the-counter" permit for
just about any work on your house, even just re-roofing for example.
Un-permitted work is obviously done all the time but this can
de-value your house and potentially cause you problems if you ever
go to sell it. Some people would often rather ask for
forgiveness than permission, but my official advice here
obviously has to be- get a permit.
Home Owner's Associations-
If your property is located within a Home Owner’s Association
(HOA), you may need to get approval from them as your first step.
Generally, the plans for that would include a
Site Plan,
Floor Plans,
Elevations,
and possibly and
Landscaping Plan. Each Association’s
requirements and processes can be different so check with yours
prior to proceeding with your design. They usually provide some kind
of checklist for that purpose. Most commonly, the Planning
Department will not accept your application for the next level of
the permitting process without approval from your HOA. But your
plans will require the forethought to comply with the various
Zoning
Ordinances of the Planning Department. An important thing
to make clear in your plans is what is existing and what is new, as
existing portions of your house will normally be exempts from
current requirements.
The Planning
Department-
If you do not live within an HOA, the local Planning Department
is usually your first step in the process and mostly concerns itself
with
Zoning Ordinances
and related regulations. These cover
things like Zoning, Setbacks,
Height Limitations,
Coverage,
Floor to Area Ratios,
Flood Zones,
and any of several other types of
Overlay Zones which can affect the design or your project.
Although there are many similarities between jurisdictions, each
will also be different in many ways. In certain circumstances you
may also be subject to review by the local
Architectural Review Committee,
Coastal Commission,
the California
Department of Fish & Game, the Army Corp of Engineers,
the
United States Fish
& Wildlife Service, and possibly
others. See the
City &
County links page
for links to your
particular jurisdiction.
The
Building Department-
The Building Department concerns itself mostly with issues of
life and safety within and immediately surrounding a building. These
include compliance with
Building Codes, which also includes
structural stability, energy efficiency, lighting and ventilation
requirements, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, material
specifications, and other items relating to public safety. The
Public Works Department
mostly concerns itself with public
areas such as sidewalks, driveways, streets & roads and
infrastructure/utilities issues such as water, sewer, electrical,
gas, etc.
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