Building Permits & Fees to Build a Custom Home in San Diego
What is a Building Permit?
A building permit is your authorization from the municipality with jurisdiction over your property to build your project. If you are looking into building a custom home, it’s important to know the basics of building permits because you will need to get them to build your home. In this article, we will be covering the typical permitting process for a custom home.
Before you can begin construction on your custom home, the designs, construction documents, structural plans, and necessary reports will need to be submitted to the building department and other agencies in the municipality for approval. Once the plans are submitted, the municipality will review the plans, engineering, improvements, and other factors to ensure your design is in line with local regulations and codes. If your project is approved, you will receive “stamped” plans as proof of the permits being issued and all fees having been paid. Many people wonder, “how long are building permits valid?” This will vary by municipality, but San Diego County building permits are typically valid for 3 years, however, they often will expire within 2 years if no inspections are called, and construction has not begun. Each municipality is different, but City of San Diego building permits have a similar expiration schedule.
When Do I Need a Building Permit?
If you are building a custom home in San Diego, you will need to get a building permit; There is no way around it. You will also need additional permits for specific aspects of your project, such as grading, access to the public right of way, and others depending on the location and unique aspects of the property. Additional reports may be required, including but not limited to: soils, hydrology, geological, archeological, and biological reports. At Buildable, we advise our clients on what additional reports may be necessary after conducting due diligence and creating our Land Report. In this report, we will flag any additional requirements from a cost, time, or buildability perspective, so you know before you move forward with purchasing the land.
Each municipality will have its own process, fee schedule, and permit requirements. The location of the lot will determine the municipality you will need to work with. For example, if your project is in the County of San Diego, you will need San Diego County building permits. If your project is in the city of San Diego, you will need City of San Diego building permits. The issuance of these permits will also be contingent on the approval of the designs and on the payment of fees, including park fees, water connection fees, school fees, and other regional fees. We will cover these fees in more detail later on in the article.
How to Get a Building Permit in San Diego
The process for getting a building permit is different in every municipality, but this section will lay out the basic steps that you will need to follow. For more specific details, you can read about the City Of San Diego and County of San Diego processes. The builder or designer will be leading this process upon your approval of the final home designs, so you will not be on your own in this if you have the right team. A full description of obtaining county permits can be found here. It can be confusing for those not familiar with the process because the process can be opaque. In this article, we have outlined the general steps you will need to take in order to obtain a permit.
Document submission
To submit your custom home for permits, a finalized set of required documents can be provided in person to the building department counter or through an automated submission portal. The designer, builder, or owner will be the ones who submit these documents for permits. At Buildable, we oversee this process to ensure permits are submitted correctly and revisions are done in a timely manner.
Plan Check
At the plan check stage, the municipality’s building department will review the documentation to ensure they have everything they need and advise on additional reports necessary for intake. The municipality will send you an invoice for this stage of reviewing documents, outlining a fixed and/or hourly fee for review that you will be responsible for. Feedback on the submitted documents may be received during the process, and corrections may need to be made to complete the submission.
Plan Review
At the plan review stage, the municipality will review the documents and pass the plans along to different departments, including but not limited to zoning, planning, possibly even health and land development/engineering, to ensure the designs meet/exceed codes and standards. Additionally, the plans will be sent out to agencies with jurisdiction over the property, from the Fire Department to the Water District. Each of these agencies will have its own comments and corrections. During this phase, the designer and builder will be engaged to answer questions from the municipality and make corrections as necessary. Normally, the client isn’t involved in this process as the questions will be very specific and technical. In fact, you may not even be aware that communications are happening, so it’s essential that you have partners you trust involved in the oversight of the process. At Buildable, our expert team will make sure that we make all the necessary changes to the plan, without sacrificing your vision, so that this process goes as smoothly as possible.
Permit Issuance
Once your plans have finished the review process and have been conditionally approved, you will reach the permit issuance phase. At this point, you will need to pay some substantial fees for issuing the permits. These fees are generally accounted for in Buildable’s high-level build cost range, so they should already be accounted for in your budget. However, it’s important to note that some builders don’t account for these fees because it doesn’t pass through their books. Later in this article, we’ll go over in more detail what costs you can expect.
What Permits Do I Need for a Custom Home Build in San Diego?
If you are building a home in San Diego, you must submit your custom home plans for building permits. However, depending on the requirements of your home and the need for septic, well, grading etc. there will be additional permits that you will be required to get. Here’s an overview of some of these permits.
Building Permits
A building permit is an authorization from a city or county giving permission to construct a specific project. Building permits are required for new construction projects, along with renovation/remodeling projects. You will need a full set of plans for your project before you can apply for building permits within your municipality.
Grading Permits
In construction, the term “grading” refers to the process of adjusting the slope and soil elevation around a construction site before building. This ensures a stable surface for the house to be built on. Based on the nature of the lot, how much soil you are moving, and the required improvements, you will likely need a grading permit. At Buildable, we work with our clients to creatively review home placement and improvement options to reduce costs and necessary reports where possible.
Septic Permits
If your lot is not within the range of a city sewer, your custom home build will require a septic system. A consultant may need to be engaged to design the system and determine the requirements. These permits typically cost around $2,500, but you may need a consultant or civil engineer to draw up the layout, which can create additional costs. At Buildable, we will look at the requirements associated with a particular lot and advise how to keep costs down where possible.
Well Permits
If you are looking to build a well, you would be responsible for a well permit fee. A well-driller will help you navigate that process and pull the permit for you. The great thing about a well on property is that you don’t have to pay for water as you would if you connected to the water district. The downside is that you are responsible for monitoring the quality of the water.
Pool Permits
If you are looking to build a pool, you will need to pay for a pool permit which can range in the thousands of dollars. A pool-contractor can help you through the details of this process. You can also find more information on this here.
Coastal Commission Permits
Building your custom home near the coast comes with additional considerations due to the delicate beach environment and state regulations. Along the coast of San Diego, there are areas under the jurisdiction of the coastal commission which will require additional fees, permits, and time. Prior or during due diligence, we will review the location to determine if your lot is within the coastal zone.
How Much Do Building Permits Cost in San Diego?
Overall, we estimate that building permit fees will make up about 3% of your total project budget. However, this number can vary based on the size of the home, the municipality, and the requirements of the custom home. The largest driver of cost is the size of the home, as school fees, park fees, and permit costs are all tied to the square footage of the home. It’s important to note that not all these fees are due at document submission. Fees can be due at different times throughout the process or at the end of the application process right before issuance.
Below is a permit cost example for a 3,166 SF home with a 462 SF 2-car garage in the county of San Diego in 2021. Permit fees and schedules change often, but this should illustrate a baseline for this type of project.
The total permit fees for this build amounted to $33,261, not including water or power connections. Now let’s break down each set of permit fees, so you can have more visibility into what makes up that total fee.
Find out how much a custom home may cost with our free cost calculator below.
Plan-Check Permit Fees
The first set of permit fees you’ll pay is for a plan check, which covers the initial cost for the municipality to review your building plans. These fees will be due shortly after submission. For this example of a 3,166 SF home with a 452 SF 2-car garage in the county of San Diego, the fees are as follows:
In this example, the owner had to pay an initial screening fee of $60, a $130 fee to have a technician apply an address to the property, a plan check fee of $2,641 to initiate the process, and finally, and a grading plan check & screening fee. Once plan check is complete, you will be issued a series of invoices that need to be paid to proceed through the process. The plan check process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
Building Permit Fees
The building permit fees for this home (a 3,166 SF home with a 462 SF 2-car garage in the County of San Diego in 2021) are as follows:
In this example, the owner had to pay for permit fees of $1,129 and $473 for a septic system, $651 for a minor grading permit, and $2,576 for the building permit. In addition to those fees, a construction permit for creating a curb on a county-maintained road was $179, with the need for an inspection deposit of $1,116. This does not include the cost of creating the curb, just the fee for the right to.
Regional and Infrastructure Fees
For every resident within a municipality, there are needs for services and infrastructure to support that new resident. Municipalities use the building permit process to collect fees to be used to improve the local area, including Schools, Parks, Fire, and transportation. Here’s an example of what you can expect.
In this example, the owner had to pay over $7,000 for park improvement and acquisition fees. Additionally, $12,601 was paid toward school fees, which is solely based on home’s square footage and the cost per square foot set by the school district. There were also $4,000 in fees for traffic and other local improvements. The fees will all vary by location and size of the home. At Buildable, we help our clients factor these costs into their total build budget so that you know up-front what kind of fees you can expect to pay.
Who Applies for a Building Permit?
Typically, you will work with your design partner or builder to submit your project for building permits. At Buildable, we work with you and all partners to streamline the process and help you navigate it without stress. Rather than going back and forth between your designer, your builder, and the municipality, you will have a cohesive team working together to ensure all plans and permits are aligned. However, a critical point to remember is that in most cases, any fees or invoices from municipalities should be paid directly by you and not through an intermediary. It’s possible that your builder may pay for certain permits or plan changes directly to the agency to expedite the process. But you will want to verify that everything has been paid prior to the reimbursement of a 3rd party.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Building Permit in San Diego?
This is fully dependent on the design of the custom home and the jurisdiction it's in. Receiving building permits can take anywhere from a few months to over a year, depending on the municipality. Some municipalities have outsourced parts of the process 3rd parties, which has the potential to speed things up. The number of corrections required during the process will also impact the time it takes to receive your permits. You may not always get notifications when plans are ready for pickup or corrections, but if you choose to work with Buildable, we will help you stay on top of the whole permitting process to ensure that our team moves as quickly as possible through this process.
Consequences of Building Without a Permit in San Diego
It goes without saying that building permits are necessary when building a custom home. Building a custom home may be the biggest investment of your life, and you don’t want to do it the wrong way. It is a violation for a licensed general contractor to build a home (or renovate one) without obtaining the required permits, which could result in them losing their license. If someone is willing to lose their livelihood for your project, it should make you think twice. Fines and potential legal and civil penalties range from $100 to a maximum of $2,500 per day (County of San Diego Example). and potentially the structure being demolished.
What Municipality or Jurisdiction Do I Need to Go to for Permits?
The municipality you will need to receive a permit from depends on the location where your home will be built. Each municipality has jurisdiction over the issuance of building permits within its limits. Below we have created a list of the various building permit jurisdictions in San Diego. You can refer to this list to see where you would be applying for permits. It’s also important to note there are unincorporated areas of each of these cities which may fall under the jurisdiction of the county.
Build Your Home in San Diego With Buildable
Building a custom home takes an immense amount of time and effort, and it can appear overwhelming when not working with a team like Buildable. However, building your dream home can be simple when you approach the process with experts by your side who can guide you through every step, and the result will be well worth it. Our team is experienced in working within all the cities of the greater San Diego metro area, so you can trust that we know what we’re doing. Buildable specializes in custom home construction, meaning we have the experts on our team that you need to have a stress-free home build, and create the home of your dreams. We have over 40 years of home-building experience within our team, and over 1,000 homes built. Read about our team, talk to us, and get the answers to questions you may have about starting the custom home-building process in San Diego.
