ADUs & Additions in Malibu

City of Malibu Building Safety Division (Community Development Department). The city runs its own Building Safety Division and issues its own building and grading permits. The entire city lies within the coastal zone, and because the Local Coastal Program was certified in 2002 the city itself issues coastal development permits under its Land Use Plan and Local Implementation Plan, including review against the ESHA overlay. Onsite wastewater treatment systems are permitted through the Environmental Sustainability Department's environmental health office, and installing a new system requires its own coastal development permit. Processing depends heavily on required geotechnical, biological and wastewater studies, so schedules vary considerably from parcel to parcel. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing the city.

Everything from tight beachfront strips between the highway and the sand to multi-acre canyon and ridge parcels with steep buildable pads and long private driveways. In practice that means nearly every property runs on an onsite wastewater system rather than a sewer, and its rated capacity limits added bedrooms and constrains where a pool, equipment pad and backwash line can sit..

All of it, including Point Dume, Malibu Colony, Serra Retreat, Big Rock. We are based in Los Angeles at Cahuenga Pass, so Malibu is a short run for our crews rather than a job we service from out of the area.

Detached ADU in this market generally runs $150,000 to $400,000+. What moves it is square footage, finish level, utility runs, and site access; garage conversions typically run well below a ground-up detached build. We give line-item pricing after seeing the site rather than quoting a number over the phone.

Plan a realistic year. Design and engineering typically take one to three months, city plan check and corrections add several more, and construction usually runs four to eight months depending on size and site access.

Usually yes, and often substantially, because the foundation, walls and roof already exist. The trade-offs are that you lose the garage, and older slabs and framing sometimes need upgrading to meet current code.

California ADU law is designed to allow long-term rental, and an ADU is one of the few ways to add rentable square footage to a single-family lot. Short-term rental rules vary by city, so confirm your local ordinance before counting on that income.

Yes. Plans, engineering, Title 24 and the city submittal are all handled in-house, including responding to plan-check corrections. That is a service we sell on its own, so it is not something we hand off.