Building permit rules in California

Short answer: In California, building permits are issued locally, so the rules depend on your city; we cover 4 cities here, each checked against official sources.

Cities in California
City	Permitting authority	Verified rules
Los Angeles	City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS)	15 of 16
San Diego	City of San Diego Development Services Department	16 of 16
San Francisco	San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI)	13 of 16
San Jose	City of San José Planning, Building and Code Enforcement (Building Division)	14 of 16

All cities · All projects

Not legal advice. Always confirm with your local building department. Rules change, and your parcel's zoning, HOA, historic district, floodplain or utility work can change the answer. We show the official source and the date we last checked it so you can verify for yourself.