The LADBS Rebuild Permit Process, Step by Step

Where things actually stand

Permitting in the Palisades is moving far faster than normal Los Angeles construction — the City has reported rebuild permits being approved close to three times faster than single-family projects before the fire, with more than 70 percent of single-family permit clearances no longer required at all. The first Certificate of Occupancy for a rebuilt Palisades home was issued in November 2025.

And yet most lots are still empty. That is not a contradiction. The permitting pathway got dramatically faster, but the work before the permit application — insurance settlement, design, soils, engineering, financing — is where nearly everyone is stuck. Understanding the sequence is how you stop losing months.

The sequence, in order

Step 1 — Confirm your lot is cleared

Army Corps of Engineers debris removal has been completed across most of the burn area. Lots that opted out and used private clearance have had varying timelines. Confirm your specific parcel's clearance status with LA County before you spend money on anything else.

Step 2 — Soils and geotechnical

On most Palisades lots this gates the entire project, because it determines your foundation design, which determines your structural drawings, which determine your budget. Start it early. Homeowners who wait on this lose entire quarters.

Step 3 — Choose your design path

Two doors. A custom set of drawings from your own architect, or one of the City's pre-approved standard plans through the Standard Plan Pilot Program. The standard plan route trades design freedom for speed and predictability. Either way, decide before drawings start whether you are rebuilding like-for-like or materially changing the envelope, because that choice determines which review pathway you fall into.

Step 4 — Assemble the plan package

Architectural, structural, civil, Title 24 energy, and the reports supporting them. Incomplete packages are the number one cause of plan check delay, and every round trip costs weeks.

Step 5 — Submit to LADBS

Two routes: online through the EPIC-LA / eplan portal, or in person at the One-Stop Rebuilding Center at 1828 W. Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. For complicated lots, the in-person route is often worth the trip — you get triage and direct answers instead of an emailed correction list.

Step 6 — Plan check and corrections

Expect at least one correction cycle. Recent LADBS data analyzed publicly put the average wait from application to permit at roughly 49 days across all permit types. Well-prepared packages land near the low end; incomplete ones far exceed it.

Step 7 — Permit issued, then build

Two deadlines to write down. To qualify for the Executive Order 1 streamlined path, permits must be obtained before January 13, 2032. And once your permit is issued, you have three years to complete the rebuild. Missing the 2032 date means losing the fee waivers, the expedited review, and the other fire-specific benefits. Inspections run throughout, and the final step is your Certificate of Occupancy.

One more protection worth knowing: LADBS targets 30 business days to review a complete application, and under AB 253, if they miss that window you may use a third-party reviewer. Most homeowners have never heard of this.

Fees and relief worth knowing about

• Permit fees are waived, not just suspended. Mayor Bass's Emergency Executive Order 7 suspended collection, and the City has since moved to a fee waiver ordinance. The waivers are capped at an aggregate $90 million over three years and apply only to individuals or entities that owned the property on January 7, 2025. LADBS has been working out procedures to refund fees already paid on qualifying projects — if you paid, ask about a refund.
• Building code vintage. The Governor suspended the 2025/2026 building codes for this rebuild, allowing homeowners to build to the more familiar 2022 California Building Code.
• Property tax. AB 245 extended property tax relief for victims of the 2025 fires, giving affected owners additional years to complete a like-for-like rebuild while retaining their prior base year value.
• SB 9 does not apply here. Emergency Executive Order 9, issued July 30, 2025, prohibits SB 9 urban lot splits and duplexes within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone inside the Palisades fire boundaries. Do not plan around it. ADUs are a separate question and are still available.
• The 110 percent rule. You may increase footprint and height by up to 10 percent and stay inside the streamlined pathway. Exceeding 110 percent triggers the full 2025 California Building Code. Executive Order 8 does extend streamlining to zoning-compliant non-like-for-like projects, but the code question is separate from the streamlining question.

Resources we actually point clients to

• One-Stop Rebuilding Center — 1828 W. Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. In-person permit triage and plan check coordination.
• LADBS homeowner rebuild information — the authoritative source for standard plans, fee suspension, and submittal routes.
• LADWP Unified Utilities Rebuild Operations Center — coordinates water and power restoration.
• Pacific Palisades Community Council — community rebuilding bulletins and neighborhood-level updates.
• PaliBuilds — homeowner-facing rebuild information and cost data.

The mistakes that cost the most time

1. Waiting on the insurance settlement before starting design and soils. These can run in parallel, and running them in sequence costs you six months or more.
2. Submitting an incomplete package to save two weeks, then losing eight in corrections.
3. Deciding to expand the footprint after drawings are underway, and falling out of the streamlined pathway.
4. Hiring a builder who has never worked through LADBS plan check on a fire rebuild and is learning the process on your project.