Plans, Permits & Design in Pasadena

City of Pasadena Planning & Community Development Department, Building & Safety Division. Residential permits are issued through the Permit Center of the Building & Safety Division, with entitlements and design review handled inside the same Planning & Community Development Department. Lots in the city's Hillside Overlay Districts require a Hillside Development Permit under Zoning Code Chapter 17.29. Properties inside a landmark district or individually designated need a Certificate of Appropriateness evaluated against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. The Tree Protection Ordinance (PMC 8.52) requires a permit before removing protected trees, including native oaks over eight inches in diameter, and northern foothill parcels fall inside a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing the city.

Parcels range from compact 6,000-square-foot bungalow lots near the historic districts to half-acre and larger estate grounds in Oak Knoll and the San Rafael hills. Rear yards are often deep but narrow, with alley or single-drive access. In practice that means arroyo-side and foothill lots sit on coarse alluvial fan deposits, so excavation for pools and sunken patios often hits cobble and boulder layers that slow digging and raise export costs..

All of it, including Bungalow Heaven, Madison Heights, Linda Vista, San Rafael Hills. We are based in Los Angeles at Cahuenga Pass, so Pasadena is a short run for our crews rather than a job we service from out of the area.

Plans, drawings and permit management in this market generally runs $4,500 to $25,000+. What moves it is project type and size, whether structural engineering, Title 24 or a soils report is required, and how many jurisdictions or review bodies are involved. We give line-item pricing after seeing the site rather than quoting a number over the phone.

Yes. Plans and permits is a service we sell on its own, and plenty of clients use us for the drawing set and permit management and build with someone else. We would rather do it properly than tie it to a construction contract.

Because the required consultants vary. A straightforward patio cover needs a modest set. An ADU on a sloped lot may need structural engineering, Title 24, a soils report and a survey, and each of those is a separate specialist fee on top of the city's own plan-check and permit charges.

Most commonly incomplete structural detail, missing Title 24 forms, drainage not shown, or a discrepancy between the site plan and the survey. Corrections are normal, not a failure. The thing that costs time is a slow response to them, which is why we act as the applicant.

Yes, where a community requires it. HOA architectural review runs on its own calendar and its own standards, entirely separately from the city, and starting it late is one of the most common reasons a project slips.