ADUs & Additions in Torrance

City of Torrance Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division. Permits are issued by the Building and Safety Division of the Community Development Department, with the Permit Center on Torrance Boulevard and permit records searchable through the City's online portal.

Properties within the Hillside and Local Coastal Overlay District, adopted by the City Council in 1977 and applied to the hillside and coastal areas shown on the City's Hillside Overlay Map, go through an additional development review that weighs impacts on view, light, air and privacy.

Because Torrance has no certified Local Coastal Program, Coastal Zone projects may also need review by the California Coastal Commission. Separate trade permits are required for mechanical, electrical and plumbing work. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing plan check.

Predominantly single-story postwar tract lots with genuinely usable flat rear yards, plus steeper view parcels along the western hillside. One local condition that shapes the work: Hillside lots on the western edge step down from the street, so additions and pools there require retaining, deepened footings and drainage engineered away from downhill neighbors.

All of it, including Hollywood Riviera, Old Torrance and Walteria. Our crews run every job out of our Cahuenga Pass base in Los Angeles, with our own people on site.

Detached ADU: generally $150,000 to $400,000+ across Southern California. 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.