How Permits Work on a McDermaid Project

Skip a permit you needed and you can end up paying for it twice. Palo Alto charges a penalty equal to the full permit fee for work started without one, and finished work may have to be opened back up for an inspector. The city’s rules are written down and fairly plain. Painting your living room needs no permit. Replacing a window always does.

That handout dates from 2015, and the state codes change every few years. We check the current rules before we file anything.

From filing to final inspection

On a job with our project management, one team answers to you from planning to the final inspection, and the permit is part of that job.

1. We write the scope, prepare the documents, file the permit and deal with the building department.
2. We vet, schedule and oversee the specialty trades (electricians, plumbers, HVAC).
3. While the work is underway you get photo updates every week, and we book the inspections and sort out problems as they come up.
4. At the end come the final inspections, the punch list and closeout.

Scopes, change orders and budget updates are in writing, so you see each cost when the decision is made. When a project needs an architect or an engineer, we coordinate with them.

How long review takes

How long will you wait? Simple permits in Palo Alto are often issued over the counter in 1 to 3 days. Work that goes to plan check, where the city reviews the full drawings, typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. The real wait depends on the project and on how busy the department is that month.

When the house is old enough to matter

Palo Alto may ask for a Historic Resource Evaluation when a discretionary application proposes demolition, an addition or substantial exterior changes to a building more than 45 years old. In this city that describes most houses.

About 72% of Palo Alto homes were built before 1980, well past that mark. Exterior permits go to the Historic Preservation Planner for, among others, homes listed as Category 1 or 2 on the city’s Historic Inventory and every property in Professorville or Ramona Street. The city also has 16 properties individually listed on the National Register and 4 National Historic Districts.

Does every repaint go to review, then? No. The city says normal maintenance, interior work and like-for-like repair or replacement typically don’t need historic review, and it lists painting as exempt from permits altogether. If the house was built before 1978, lead-safe rules still apply to how the old paint is handled. Our article on getting historic district approval covers the work that does go to review.

Who does the work, and how to check us

We hold CSLB license #803672 with two classifications, B-2 Residential Remodeling and C-33 Painting. Changes to load-bearing elements are done by appropriately licensed contractors. Our guide on how to read a CSLB license shows how to check any contractor on your job, us included.

Can anyone promise the permit will be approved? No one can. The building department decides, and so does the Historic Resources Board where it applies. What we can do is send in complete applications and keep the project moving through review.

If earlier work on the house was never permitted, tell us early. It can change the scope and the inspections, and it’s far easier to plan for at the start than to discover with the walls open. If you’re planning a remodel, bring it up when you request an estimate or call us at (650) 961-7415.