A Thornton Development Group residence under construction in the Hollywood Hills

Fire Rebuild Permits · Los Angeles

LA fire rebuild permits:
which track applies to your lot.

The City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County run two separate self-certification programs. They have different rules, different exclusions and different contacts. Most guides treat them as one thing. Getting this wrong is how families lose months.

Last updated 8 September 2026. Both programs are active pilots — see what has changed.

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City or County decides everything.

Before anything else, establish which jurisdiction your parcel sits in. It is not about which fire took your home — it is about who issues your permit.

Pacific Palisades is in the City of Los Angeles. Your permit comes from LADBS, and the City’s self-certification pilot is the one that applies.

Altadena is unincorporated Los Angeles County. Your permit comes from County Public Works, under a separate County program, and City rules do not apply to you at all.

A handful of Eaton-affected parcels fall inside incorporated cities rather than unincorporated County. If you are near a city boundary, confirm the jurisdiction before you engage anyone — it changes which program, which forms and which department signs off.

The Two Programs

Same idea, materially different rules.

Both let a licensed professional certify that plans meet code, skipping the traditional plan-check queue. What each one covers, and refuses to cover, is where they diverge.

City of Los Angeles — LADBS

Launched June 2025 for homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire. A licensed architect — and, after an expansion, a licensed civil engineer — certifies that plans meet the California Residential Code, and the project skips plan check.

Limited to single-family reconstruction on sites substantially damaged or destroyed in the January 2025 wildfires, on like-for-like eligible projects.

Excluded: geologically sensitive areas of the Palisades do not qualify and still require geological and soils reports. On a hillside parcel this is the first thing to check, not the last.

LA County — Public Works

A separate Building Plan Self-Certification pilot covering unincorporated County communities, Altadena chief among them. Licensed architects and engineers may certify plans directly.

The trade is explicit: the certifying professional assumes full liability for code compliance, which requires enhanced professional insurance. Not every architect will take that on, and the ones who do may price it in.

Still required: sign-off from other County departments — Regional Planning, Public Health and Fire — before a building permit issues. Self-certification removes plan check, not the rest.

County self-certification questions go to selfcert@pw.lacounty.gov. City questions go through LADBS, which opened an online portal for the program in September 2026.

Where Timelines Stand

Faster than before the fires — and still not fast.

City plan check is running about six days

LADBS reports completing plan check review in roughly six days, about twice as fast as before the wildfires. That is the plan-check step alone, not the whole permit, and not the whole project.

Altadena permits are averaging around five months

Reported approval timelines for standard County rebuilds sit near five months end to end — markedly better than pre-fire norms, and still long enough that it should be in your plan from day one rather than discovered at month three.

The pilots are pilots

County Public Works was directed to report back on performance and on whether the program should become permanent. Neither program is settled policy yet, and eligibility rules have already been widened once. Do not assume today’s rules are next quarter’s.

The Part Nobody Writes Down

Self-certification moves risk, it does not remove it.

Skipping plan check is genuinely valuable. It is also a transfer of liability, and that is worth understanding before you ask for it.

When a professional self-certifies, they are attesting to code compliance in place of the city or county doing it for them. On the County program this is stated outright: the certifier carries full liability and needs enhanced insurance to match. That cost does not vanish — it shows up in fees, or in a designer declining the work.

It also means errors surface later and cost more. A plan check that catches a problem on paper is cheaper than an inspector catching it in framing.

For a straightforward like-for-like rebuild on a flat lot, the math usually favors self-certification comfortably. For a hillside parcel, a modified design, or anything with geological complexity, it often does not — and in the Palisades those parcels are frequently excluded anyway.

Ask Us Which Applies To You What It Costs To Rebuild

What Has Changed

Program changes, most recent first.

These rules keep moving. We update this page as they do, and log what changed so you can see whether anything affects a decision you already made.

September 2026 · City portal, and a citywide extension

LADBS launched an online portal for the self-certification program. Separately, under Executive Directive 19, self-certification was extended citywide to eligible commercial tenant improvements that do not involve a change of use — outside the fire-rebuild context, but a signal the City intends to keep the mechanism.

Earlier · City program widened to civil engineers

The City pilot originally admitted only licensed architects as certifiers. It was expanded to include licensed civil engineers, which materially widened the pool of professionals who can take a project through it.

2025 · Both programs established

The City launched its pilot in June 2025 for Palisades reconstruction. Los Angeles County established its separate Building Plan Self-Certification program for unincorporated communities including Altadena, taking effect immediately in affected areas.

Good Questions. Straight Answers.

Before you file anything.

Do I need a permit to rebuild after a fire?

Yes. Losing a home to fire does not exempt the rebuild from permitting. What the post-fire programs change is how quickly plans are reviewed — not whether a permit is required, and not whether inspections happen.

What is the difference between the City and County programs?

They are separate programs with separate rules. The City of Los Angeles program, run by LADBS, covers Palisades reconstruction and excludes geologically sensitive areas. The County program, run by Public Works, covers unincorporated communities including Altadena and requires the certifying professional to carry full code-compliance liability with enhanced insurance. Which applies depends on the jurisdiction your parcel sits in, not which fire affected it.

Does my hillside lot in the Palisades qualify for self-certification?

Possibly not. Geologically sensitive areas of the Palisades are excluded from the City program and still require geological and soils reports. On hillside parcels this should be established first, because it changes the whole schedule — and hillside site conditions frequently drive more of the outcome than the permit path does.

How long does a fire rebuild permit take now?

City plan check is reported at roughly six days, about twice as fast as before the fires. County approval timelines for standard Altadena rebuilds have been reported averaging near five months end to end. Both are meaningfully better than pre-fire norms, and both are estimates that vary with scope, site conditions and how complete the submitted set is.

Is a rebuild covered by the TDG Builder Warranty?

Ground-up new construction carries the TDG Builder Warranty under California SB 800. Remodels and conversions are not covered; workmanship on those is governed by the applicable construction contract. See the TDG Builder Warranty page for full terms.

Program details summarized from City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County guidance current at the date above. Both programs are pilots and have already been amended once. Confirm current rules with LADBS or County Public Works before relying on any of this for a filing decision.

Rebuilding in the Palisades or Altadena?

Send us the address. We’ll tell you which track applies, whether the parcel is likely excluded, and what the schedule realistically looks like.

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LA fire rebuild permits:which track applies to your lot.