Residential
ADU Design & Permitting
Detached ADUs, attached ADUs and junior ADUs, from a feasibility review that tests your actual lot through to a permitted set and a built unit.

Service areas
We keep a dedicated page for each service in each market rather than one page claiming to cover all of Southern California. 35 cities, 8 services, 280 pages, each written around the department that reviews the drawings, the overlays that apply there and what the work realistically costs and takes.
Two properties three miles apart can sit under different building departments, different fire authorities, different overlays and completely different fee schedules. A single page promising service across Southern California cannot answer the question a person in Seal Beach or Old Towne Orange is actually asking, which is what happens at their counter, on their lot, at their budget.
So each page below names the reviewing authority, the fire jurisdiction, the overlays that come up most often, the housing or commercial stock, the realistic plan check window and the local fees that move the number. If your address is not listed, we still look at it, and we will tell you plainly how much local knowledge we bring versus how much we would need to establish.
Residential
Detached ADUs, attached ADUs and junior ADUs, from a feasibility review that tests your actual lot through to a permitted set and a built unit.
Residential
Turning an existing detached or attached garage into a legal, permitted living unit, using the structure and slab you already own.
Residential
Kitchen, bath, second-storey and whole-house work, designed and permitted properly so the finished result appraises and sells as legal square footage.
Commercial
Office, medical, retail and industrial fit-outs delivered against a lease clock, with the landlord coordination and permit sequencing handled for you.
Commercial
Restaurant, cafe, retail and hospitality build-outs, including the health department, grease, hood and alcohol sequencing that decides your opening date.
Residential
Managing the submittal, the corrections and the agency clearances so the permit arrives without the owner ever standing at a counter.
Commercial
Representing the owner's interest through budget, schedule, procurement and field decisions, whether or not we are holding the trades.
Commercial
Design, permitting and construction under one agreement, with one team accountable for what the drawings say and what gets built.
Westside
ZIP 90401, 90402, 90403, 90404
Our office is on Ocean Park Blvd, so most Santa Monica work is a short drive and we can walk a correction into the counter rather than mail it.
Santa Monica Fire Department
City of LA
ZIP 90012, 90026, 90027, 90042
LADBS is not one counter, it is several, and the fastest route through it depends on which district office your address falls under. That is a knowledge problem, not a design problem.
LAFD
Westside
ZIP 90025, 90064, 90034, 90035
R1 variation zoning quietly rewrites what you can build on a Westside lot. Reading the exact zone string before design saves a redesign later.
LAFD
Westside
ZIP 90210, 90211, 90212
In Beverly Hills the approval path, not the construction, sets the schedule. We budget design review as its own phase instead of pretending it is free.
Beverly Hills Fire Department
Westside
ZIP 90230, 90232, 90066
Culver City is small enough that the reviewers know the projects. A clean, complete first submittal is rewarded here more than in a large department.
Culver City Fire Department
Westside
ZIP 90291, 90292
In Venice, the coastal permit is the project schedule. Anyone who quotes you a Venice timeline without asking about coastal status is guessing.
LAFD
Westside
ZIP 90292, 90293
This is County territory, not City of LA. Using the wrong department's assumptions is the single most common Marina mistake.
LA County Fire
Coastal
ZIP 90265, 90263
Malibu rewards patience and punishes optimism. We front-load geology, septic and fuel modification because those three decide whether a project exists.
LA County Fire, with strict fuel modification review
San Gabriel Valley
ZIP 91101, 91103, 91104, 91105
Pasadena protects its design character seriously, and rightly. Designing with the district's language from day one is faster than arguing with it at review.
Pasadena Fire Department
San Gabriel Valley
ZIP 91201, 91202, 91203, 91204
Glendale runs its own municipal utility, which means power service upgrades follow a separate clock from the building permit. Start it first.
Glendale Fire Department
San Fernando Valley
ZIP 91501, 91502, 91504, 91505
Burbank is one of the more predictable counters we work with. That predictability is worth real money on a construction schedule.
Burbank Fire Department
South Bay
ZIP 90802, 90803, 90804, 90805
Long Beach has excellent ADU geometry on its alley lots, and a methane map that can add five figures. Check the map before you fall in love with the site.
Long Beach Fire Department
South Bay
ZIP 90501, 90503, 90504, 90505
Torrance lot geometry is close to ideal for detached ADUs: flat, regular, with real rear yard depth. Feasibility here usually comes back yes.
Torrance Fire Department
San Gabriel Valley
ZIP 91006, 91007
In Arcadia's HOA areas, the association reviews design before the city does. Sequencing those two correctly saves a full month.
Arcadia Fire Department
Westside
ZIP 90272
A Palisades rebuild that stays within the prior footprint and square footage moves through a very different, faster path than a redesign. Deciding that early is the single biggest schedule lever.
LAFD, with Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone requirements
North Orange County
ZIP 92831, 92832, 92833, 92835
Our Fullerton office covers North Orange County. Larger lots here mean detached ADUs pencil more often than they do on the Westside.
Fullerton Fire Department
North Orange County
ZIP 92801, 92802, 92804, 92805
Anaheim is really several regulatory cities in one. The Colony, the Hills and the Resort each behave differently at review.
Anaheim Fire and Rescue
Central Orange County
ZIP 92602, 92604, 92606, 92612
In Irvine the HOA is a second plan check with its own taste. We prepare both packages at once rather than discovering the second one late.
Orange County Fire Authority
Coastal Orange County
ZIP 92660, 92661, 92662, 92663
Newport lots are small and the rules are precise. Millimetre-accurate site survey work at the start prevents a redesign at review.
Newport Beach Fire Department
Coastal Orange County
ZIP 92646, 92647, 92648, 92649
Two things decide a Huntington Beach schedule: whether you are inside the coastal zone, and whether you are over an oil field overlay.
Huntington Beach Fire Department
Central Orange County
ZIP 92626, 92627
Eastside Costa Mesa lot depth makes detached ADUs and additions unusually workable. It is one of the better ADU markets in Orange County.
Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue
Central Orange County
ZIP 92701, 92703, 92704, 92705
Santa Ana's historic districts are stricter than people expect, and its industrial stock is some of the most convertible in the county.
Orange County Fire Authority
Central Orange County
ZIP 92865, 92866, 92867, 92868
Old Towne Orange is a National Register district. Detailing that respects it moves through review; detailing that ignores it does not.
Orange City Fire Department
Central Orange County
ZIP 92780, 92782
North Tustin addresses often fall under County jurisdiction rather than the city. Confirming that first avoids submitting to the wrong department.
Orange County Fire Authority
Coastal Orange County
ZIP 90740
Old Town lots are 25 ft wide. Everything about a Seal Beach design decision, from stairs to parking, follows from that dimension.
Orange County Fire Authority
Coastal Orange County
ZIP 92651, 92653
Laguna's Design Review Board considers neighbour views. A design that ignores sightlines will not be approved no matter how good the drawings are.
Laguna Beach Fire Department
North Orange County
ZIP 92840, 92841, 92843, 92844
Multigenerational housing demand here makes junior ADUs and additions unusually practical, and the lot sizes support them.
Garden Grove Fire, with Orange County Fire Authority coordination
North Orange County
ZIP 92821, 92823
Brea's oil history is still in the ground. A well records check early is cheap; discovering an abandoned well during excavation is not.
Brea Fire Department
Inland Empire
ZIP 92401, 92404, 92405, 92407
Lot sizes here mean an ADU rarely fights setbacks. The constraints that do bite are utility capacity and seismic soils, both cheaper to test early.
San Bernardino County Fire
Inland Empire
ZIP 91758, 91761, 91762, 91764
Whether your parcel sits inside Ontario Ranch changes the rulebook entirely. Confirm that first, before anyone draws anything.
Ontario Fire Department
Inland Empire
ZIP 91701, 91730, 91737, 91739
Design review in Rancho Cucamonga is real, not a formality. Bringing elevations that already respect the neighbourhood pattern keeps you out of a second cycle.
Rancho Cucamonga Fire District
Inland Empire
ZIP 92335, 92336, 92337
Some Fontana addresses are actually unincorporated County. That single fact changes the department, the fees and the timeline.
Fontana Fire Protection District
Inland Empire
ZIP 91709
In Chino Hills the HOA usually says no before the city ever would. We resolve HOA design review first so plan check is not wasted work.
Chino Valley Independent Fire District
Inland Empire
ZIP 91784, 91786
Upland's older housing stock is charming and under-serviced. The panel and sewer lateral decide more of the budget than the finishes do.
San Bernardino County Fire, Upland division
Inland Empire
ZIP 92373, 92374
Redlands protects its historic fabric seriously. Additions read best, and approve fastest, when they are set back and clearly secondary to the original house.
Redlands Fire Department