ADU, remodel and custom home builder in San Diego.

The coast moves the number most here. Most new ADUs in the Coastal Overlay Zone need a Coastal Development Permit on top of the building permit. If your lot has steep hillsides or a coastal bluff, a discretionary permit can be added as well. One thing works in your favor. The City waives its development impact fees on the first two ADUs on a lot, at any size.

Usually you can build. On a single-family lot the City of San Diego allows the house plus one attached or detached ADU, one ADU made from the house or an existing accessory structure, and one junior ADU. Bonus ADUs are possible if some stay affordable. On a coastal lot, though, that bonus program still runs on its pre-2025 rules, since the 2025 amendments are waiting on Coastal Commission approval.

Not on its own, but it sets the ceiling. West of Interstate 5, the voter-approved 30-foot Coastal Height Limit caps any two-story ADU. A new attached or detached unit can have up to 1,200 square feet of gross floor area. Keep it at 16 feet or under and, outside a fire hazard zone, you need no side or rear setback. Go taller and it must sit 4 feet from the neighbor's line.

The City of San Diego's Development Services Department. La Jolla is a community inside the city, so there is no separate La Jolla permit office. If your ADU needs a coastal permit and nothing else, that permit has its own 60-day deadline and no public hearing. Pick one of the outside plan sets the City accepts and you get a 30-day review.

The big one is Ordinance O-21989, the City's 2025 ADU amendments. It is not in effect in the Coastal Zone yet, so its cap of four to six units by lot size does not apply there. Housing Action Package 2.0 is different: it has covered coastal lots since March 11, 2026. Check parking too. In the Beach Impact Area a new ADU generally needs one off-street space unless an exception applies.

Often, yes. You still need a permit, but the City of San Diego's No-Plan Building Permit works when you keep the walls and framing where they are and add no new plumbing fixtures. Inside the La Jolla Shores Planned District, interior remodeling needs no separate planned district permit. Interior work is also exempt from the City's 45-year historic screening.

Between the ocean and Interstate 5 you cannot go above 30 feet. Proposition D set that limit, and only a public vote can change it. In the Coastal Overlay Zone, watch the walls you take down. Remove half or more of the exterior walls, counted floor by floor in linear feet, and the project loses its exemption from a Coastal Development Permit. In La Jolla Shores, an addition also needs a planned district permit, which the Advisory Board reviews unless the City treats it as minor.

First find out if the lot is in the La Jolla Shores Planned District. There a new house needs a planned district permit, and a Hearing Officer usually decides it after the Advisory Board weighs in. Then look at the 30-foot Coastal Height Limit and the Coastal Development Permit. Steep hillsides or a coastal bluff bring a Neighborhood or Site Development Permit. If the house you'd tear down is 45 years or older, historic screening comes first.

Yes. Here the site moves the price more than the City's charges do. On a lot in a FEMA flood zone, height is measured from the base flood elevation. Bluff and beach lots carry extra setbacks. Del Mar's own ADU charges, a planning fee and an engineering review and inspection fee, are set in its FY 2027 schedule, and each one covers a single review cycle.

Every residential zone allows one, and so do certain residential lots in the Carmel Valley Precise Plan. A beach lot never does. On a single-family lot you get one ADU, plus a junior ADU inside the house in the zones that allow them. An existing duplex can add up to two. The City offers three sample floor plans from 446 to 955 square feet. They are layouts only, so you still need construction drawings.

Smaller than much of the county. The cap is 850 square feet of interior space, or 1,000 if the unit has more than one bedroom, and Del Mar measures from the inside face of the studs. An attached ADU can be no more than half the house's habitable space. A detached unit tops out at 16 feet, or 14 in the Bluff, Slope and Canyon Overlay Zone. Side and rear setbacks are 4 feet, and eaves can't cross them.

No hearing. Del Mar's Planning and Community Development Department treats every ADU as an administrative coastal development permit. The Planning Director decides after the site is posted, and a compliant application is approved within 60 days of being complete. If it meets the standards, it skips design review. After that, building permits go through True North Compliance, the firm the City contracts as its Building Department.

No rooftop deck, even one reached from a second-story ADU. Del Mar's ADU rules took effect June 12, 2025, as part of its Local Coastal Program, and they shape the look more than most cities' rules do. Outdoor lights have to be fully shielded, Dark Sky certified and rated 2700 Kelvin or lower. An attached ADU belongs on the first story, unless the lot has no room there for an 800 square foot unit.

You most likely need a permit, and here it takes two steps. The Planning Department reviews your plans first. Then True North Compliance, the City's contracted Building Department, issues the permit. Plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits can be filed online through eTRAKiT. Swapping like for like is exempt from design review. A new or enlarged window is not, and needs an Administrative Design Review permit.

Quite a lot. Adding a second story to a one-story house starts with the Citizens' Participation Program. You hold two neighbor meetings, put up story poles and file a summary report at least 28 days before you apply. The Design Review Board then holds a public hearing, usually on the fourth Wednesday of the month. In the R1-10 zone a house can reach 26 feet, or 14 feet in the Bluff, Slope and Canyon Overlay Zone.

Floor area and height come first. In R1-10, for example, floor area is 25 percent of the lot or 2,000 square feet, whichever is greater, and the height limit is 26 feet. A new house needs a Design Review Board permit. Where the City requires story poles, a licensed surveyor or civil engineer has to certify them before the hearing. The decision is final once a 10 business day appeal period passes.

The County's plan check and permit fees apply here, since its trial ADU fee waiver ended in January 2024. If you're on septic, plan for the system. The County's environmental health staff says an ADU almost always outgrows the existing tank and field. Inside the Covenant, the Association charges its own fees and deposits for Art Jury review and for its building permit.

Not outright. State law voids any covenant term that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts an ADU. The Association and its Art Jury still have to approve a detached unit on Covenant land. Under County zoning you can add an ADU to any residentially zoned lot with a house, and pair a converted ADU and a junior ADU with a new detached one as large as 800 square feet. The Association's fine for renting guest quarters doesn't apply to a legally permitted ADU.

A detached ADU can reach 1,200 square feet no matter how big your house is, and 25 feet tall. An attached ADU is held to half the house's floor area, up to 1,200, but you're always allowed 850 square feet, or 1,000 with two or more bedrooms. The County asks for 4-foot side and rear setbacks. The local fire district's code is stricter near slopes: 15 feet back from the top, or 30 feet for two stories.

The County's Planning & Development Services issues the building permit, since Rancho Santa Fe is unincorporated. The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District reviews the plans on its own track, typically in about 30 business days. On Covenant lots the Association comes last. It issues its own permit only after the Art Jury approves and you send in the County-stamped plans.

If your lot is under the Protective Covenant, the Art Jury has to approve the ADU. Plans go through the Association's Building Department first. In 2026 the Jury meets about once a month, and applications are due roughly two weeks before each meeting. A preliminary approval lasts six months and a final one a year. The Association's building permit then runs a year. Grading of more than 100 cubic yards in two years needs its own Art Jury approval.

They can. The County permit comes first. Its exempt list covers painting and finish work, and an owner or licensed plumber can swap a toilet, faucet or showerhead without opening a wall, floor or ceiling. Moving plumbing, wiring or walls needs a County permit. In the Covenant area, a changed window or door opening or new exterior colors needs Art Jury approval. If the remodel significantly changes the interior or roof, the fire district may require sprinklers throughout.

Yes, any addition to a roofed area counts as Major Construction. That means Art Jury approval and an Association permit on top of the County's building permit. The Covenant allows two stories and 35 feet. The fire district wants sprinklers throughout the house once an addition is more than half the size of the existing building. One break: the County's wildfire building code exempts additions to homes first built before July 1, 2008.

Start with slope and grading. The Association bars grading or building on slopes steeper than 25 percent, with narrow exceptions, and limits cut or fill to 8 feet at any point. Move more than 200 cubic yards and you also need a County grading permit. On septic, the County's environmental health staff approves the system first. The fire district reviews landscaping and fuel modification plans and asks you to keep 100 feet of defensible space around buildings.

The City's Development Services fees are waived, but other costs remain. You still pay state fees, the County Recorder's fee for the ADU covenant and, in the Coastal Zone, postage for the coastal notice. Water and sewer hookup fees scale with the unit's size and fixtures. School fees begin above 500 square feet. A detached ADU also needs a geotechnical report.

They can. Most residential lots get one ADU per single-family home and a junior ADU inside the house or attached garage. On a Hillside or Inland Bluff lot, the ADU has to stay off natural slopes of 25 percent or more. In the Coastal Bluff Overlay, an ADU addition is limited to 10 percent of the existing home or 250 square feet, whichever is greater. You also can't sell an Encinitas ADU separately.

Generally no. The cap is 1,200 square feet or the main house's living area, whichever is less. You're always allowed 850 square feet for a studio or one bedroom, or 1,000 for more bedrooms. Side and rear setbacks are 4 feet, or the zone's setback if that's smaller. On those reduced setbacks a detached ADU stays at 16 feet, or 18 near major transit. An attached ADU can reach 22 or 25 feet depending on the zone.

Encinitas's Development Services Department handles the permit through its online Customer Self Service portal. The first review takes about 15 working days across building, planning, fire and engineering. Since most of the city lies in the Coastal Zone, many ADUs also need a coastal development permit. You post a sign, and a mailed notice opens a 10-day comment window. Since October 10, 2025 a coastal permit for an ADU alone can't be appealed to the Coastal Commission, though the City's pages still mention the old 10 business day period.

The City posts eight plans by Design Path Studio and DZN Partners, from a 224 square foot studio to a 1,199 square foot three bedroom. Since January 1, 2025, private designers can get their own sets preapproved too. You add a site plan for your lot, and a grading permit may apply. Change anything in the plan and it goes through standard plan check. A coastal permit is still needed where the Coastal Zone calls for one.

It depends on what you touch. Painting, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and countertops are on the City's exempt list. Replacing or rearranging pipes, valves or fixtures takes a permit, filed as an Alteration and Repair permit in the online portal. A kitchen also needs a lighting worksheet. In the Coastal Zone, an interior remodel that adds no floor area needs no coastal permit, unless the work is within 50 feet of a coastal bluff.

Yes. Proposition A caps every building at two stories and 30 feet, and zoning goes lower: 26 feet in the RR to RR-1 zones and 22 feet in RR-2 and denser zones. In the Coastal Zone, taking out more than half the exterior walls triggers a coastal permit. Between the ocean and the first public road, or within 300 feet of the beach, an addition needs one unless it adds under 10 percent of floor area, or 10 percent or less of height.

It can, if you build into natural steep slopes. A custom single-family home is otherwise exempt from design review, but steep-slope building requires design review and a Planning Commission decision. Expect a coastal development permit, since most of the city is in the Coastal Zone. In the R-3 to R-25 zones, a lot with more than 10 percent slope has a 12-foot height limit above the street on the uphill side. Proposition A still caps the house at two stories and 30 feet.

Utilities move the price most here. If the house has fire sprinklers, the ADU needs them too, with a water meter of at least 1 inch and a backflow device. The City's handout allows one sewer lateral per lot, so the ADU usually ties into the house's line. Keep the unit under 750 square feet and the City's 2026 ADU article charges no impact fee. The City's four pre-approved plans can also cut design cost.

Yes. Ordinance 2026-13R, adopted July 29, 2026, replaced the City's ADU article, and every ADU and junior ADU inside city limits is now approved through the building permit alone, with no hearing. The City has 15 business days to say whether your application is complete and 60 days to decide. A single-family lot can hold a converted unit, a junior ADU, a detached unit up to 800 square feet, and one Standard ADU on top. BHI's 2025 work in the City includes a 320 square foot garage-to-ADU conversion.

Under the article adopted in July 2026, a Standard ADU inside the City can have up to 1,200 square feet of interior living space, a detached unit under the state's streamlined rules up to 800, and a junior ADU up to 500 inside the house. Side and rear setbacks are 4 feet for a new unit and none for converted space. A detached ADU can stand 24 feet tall beside a one-story house, an attached one 25. BHI's two 940 square foot detached ADUs there in 2025 fit inside the limit.

Inside city limits, the City of Escondido's Building Division issues the permit. Email the Division first, then upload your plans to its ProjectDox portal. The City quotes about 30 calendar days for each plan check cycle. Picking one of its pre-approved plans doesn't skip that step, since a pre-approved plan still goes through the same permit.

Your mailing address doesn't settle it. What counts is whether the parcel is inside city limits. Inside, the City's Article 70 and its Building Division apply, and a Standard ADU can reach 1,200 square feet. On unincorporated land the County issues the permit under its own ordinance, and it posts standard plans from 600 to 1,200 square feet. BHI has built on both sides, including a two-story 1,152 square foot detached ADU on County land.

Possibly. Once you move plumbing, wiring or walls, you usually need a building permit. The City's permit exemption guideline frees only finish work such as painting, tiling, cabinets and countertops, and even that can need separate plumbing, electrical or mechanical permits. In the Old Escondido Neighborhood or on a Local Register property, work exempt from a building permit may still need a Certificate of Appropriateness from Planning. Call before you start.

In the R-1 zone, buildings can cover 40 percent of the lot, so the coverage you have left usually decides an addition first. A house can reach 35 feet, and the rear setback is 20 feet. Add 500 square feet or more and you pay school fees. On septic, County Environmental Health has to sign off before the permit. In Old Escondido, the City's historic design guidelines shape the exterior.

First confirm whether the City or the County permits the parcel. Inside the City, Planning checks zoning and setbacks, and Engineering handles grading, drainage and driveways. The Fire Department sets sprinkler and fire hazard zone requirements. The Building Division takes plans only electronically. If the lot uses septic, plan on County Environmental Health approval before the City issues the permit.

Size is the first line. In Carlsbad an ADU of 750 square feet or less pays no impact fees, and a larger one pays them in proportion to your house's size, from 2027 counting only the space past 750 when the lot holds one or two ADUs. A new detached ADU must have solar panels. If the lot is in the Coastal Zone, a detached ADU also needs a minor coastal development permit, decided by the City Planner without a hearing.

No, an HOA can't forbid one. Carlsbad allows one attached or detached ADU on a single-family lot, plus a junior ADU inside the house, with no minimum lot size. The lot needs a house, or one planned along with the ADU. The City must approve a conversion of existing space paired with a new detached ADU of up to 800 square feet. Near the coast, the ADU still has to respect bluff setbacks and habitat buffers.

Since the City Council rewrote the ADU section on February 3, 2026 there is no story limit, only a height: 16 feet for a detached ADU, or 18 within half a mile's walk of Carlsbad Village or Poinsettia Station, and the zone's height above a detached garage. Detached units go up to 1,200 square feet, an attached one to half your house's floor area up to 1,200 and never under 800, a junior ADU to 500. Side and rear setbacks are four feet. The City's August 2026 bulletin still prints the old one-story line.

The coastal permit, or both together. Carlsbad's Building Division issues the building permit, and in the Coastal Zone its Planning Division handles the coastal permit. The coastal permit has to be approved before or alongside the building permit. That review is ministerial, so there is no discretionary hearing to wait for.

Parking is the one that's specific. West of the rail line, and in a coastal strip between it and I-5, any parking you lose to an ADU has to be replaced. A detached ADU in the Coastal Zone also needs a minor coastal development permit, which the City Planner decides without a hearing after notifying neighbors. Attached and junior ADUs are mostly exempt. No detached ADU can have a roof deck. The City's free permit-ready plans are offline while they're updated to the 2025 codes.

It's exempt only if the layout stays the same. Swapping cabinets and countertops, tiling, flooring and painting are fine without a permit when no plumbing or wiring changes. Moving a sink, adding a circuit, replacing concealed drain or supply pipe, or removing a wall needs a building permit from the City's Building Division. Exempt work still has to meet the building code.

Yes. In Carlsbad's R-1 zone a two-story house can reach 30 feet with a roof pitch of 3:12 or steeper, but only 24 feet with a flatter roof. Buildings can cover 40 percent of the lot. Most Coastal Zone additions skip the coastal permit. The exceptions are additions between the sea and the first public road that grow floor area 10 percent or more, and any within 50 feet of a bluff edge.

Check both, after the zoning. Carlsbad's R-1 zone sets a 20-foot front yard, a 30-foot, two-story limit and 40 percent lot coverage. A new home in the Coastal Zone usually needs a coastal development permit. Hillside design standards apply on slopes of 15 percent or more with over 15 feet of rise. The 2025 fire maps matter too: in high or very high zones, a new home needs ignition-resistant construction.

Mostly the coast and the drawings. A lot in the Coastal Zone adds a coastal permit to the schedule. On a shoreline lot you must stay behind the City's stringline setback, which can shape the design. Oceanside's pre-approved ADU library lists no plans yet, so plan on custom drawings. Impact fees start only above 750 square feet, in proportion to the house; once SB 1117 applies on January 1, 2027, they reach only the footage beyond 750.

The state's, for now. Oceanside's ADU page says the City is certifying its ADU section with the state, that its earlier local guidance no longer applies, and that HCD's 2026 handbook sets the standards in the meantime. On most residential lots with a house or one planned, approval is ministerial under state law. Before you design, look up your zoning on the City's map viewer and check the Coastal Permit and Appeal Jurisdiction Map.

Under the state rules Oceanside now points to, a detached ADU can reach 1,200 square feet. An attached one can be half the house, but it can't be capped below 850 square feet, or 1,000 with more than one bedroom. Side and rear setbacks for a new ADU can't exceed 4 feet. In June 2026 the state told the City its March 2026 ordinance applied zone heights and the 50 percent rule more strictly than the law allows.

Oceanside's Development Services Department handles it in two parts. Planning covers zoning and any coastal permit, and the Building Division checks the plans. The Building Division says new residential plans usually take 7 to 21 calendar days per review, depending on how much work it has in.

Not since October 10, 2025. If your lot is in Oceanside's Coastal Zone, you likely need a coastal permit unless the project is exempt or excluded. Oceanside has a certified Local Coastal Program, so the City decides that permit itself, without a public hearing, within 60 days of a complete application. Its ADU decision can no longer go to the Coastal Commission on appeal. The City's jurisdiction map shows where your lot sits.

So it can check energy and egress rules. Oceanside's Building Division says every window replacement needs a permit. Beyond finishes, most work does too, such as moving plumbing, adding circuits or upgrading the electrical panel. SDG&E disconnects the panel before that work. If you aren't sure, the City asks you to file its Permit Exemption form with a plot plan.

It is if the lot is in the Townsite area south of Downtown, or in South Oceanside outside the Coastal Zone. Those lots are limited to two stories or 27 feet. Oceanside's inland residential districts otherwise allow up to 36 feet. If a wall rises above 25 feet on a lot 60 feet wide or more, that side or rear yard grows by 5 feet. The first building plan check for an addition takes 10 to 20 working days.

It depends on where the lot sits. In the Coastal Zone a project lands in one of five coastal permit categories, from exempt to a Commission permit. Height there is measured from the lot's average finished grade, and a shoreline lot can't build seaward of the stringline. Inland, single-family zones cap coverage between 30 and 45 percent. Check for an overlay such as the Historic district too.