Plans, Permits & Design in Venice

Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). Building, grading and pool permits are issued by LADBS because this is part of the City of Los Angeles, but nearly the whole community sits inside the coastal zone. The Venice Local Coastal Program is still not fully certified — a Land Use Plan certified in 2001 is in place while an updated plan is being drafted with the California Coastal Commission — so projects need a coastal development permit through Los Angeles City Planning, and city decisions remain appealable to the Commission. Most projects also require a Venice Coastal Zone Specific Plan (Ordinance No. 175,693) determination or specific plan exemption before a building permit can be issued. In the mapped dual permit jurisdiction area a separate Coastal Commission permit is required as well, so entitlement duration varies widely. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing the city.

Unusually narrow lots, many around thirty feet wide, on walk streets, canals and alley-loaded blocks, with small deep rear yards and minimal street frontage. In practice that means groundwater near the canals and the beach can be met within a few feet of grade, requiring dewatering during excavation and hydrostatic relief in the finished pool shell..

All of it, including The Venice Canals, Oakwood, Milwood, East Venice. We are based in Los Angeles at Cahuenga Pass, so Venice 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.