New Construction After the Palisades Fire: Design and Permit Challenges in 2026

Quick answer: A Pacific Palisades new construction permit after the wildfire is a City of Los Angeles / LADBS file, not a Malibu file and not Los Angeles County Building and Safety. The hire decision is whether you stay on the city’s like-for-like expedite (Emergency Executive Order 1: substantially the same location, not more than 110% of the prior footprint and height) or you design a larger, zoning-compliant new house that can leave that track. Complete reconstruction applications on a Palisades Fire-damaged site are supposed to get a 30-day initial city review. That clock helps only if the first set is actually complete: soils, grading, LAFD hydrant and access, WUI construction, and, on many coastal lots, bluff or biological-resource flags. SB 9 lot splits and two-unit developments remain blocked in the Palisades Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone while the City of Los Angeles defends that ban in court. Split an architect from a separate contractor and the 110% test, the hillside report, and the fire-hardening details get designed three times. An Encino design-build team can run them as one file.

A rebuild in this article means replacing a home that was substantially damaged or destroyed by the January 2025 Palisades Fire on the same City of Los Angeles lot. New construction is the same ground-up house as a building type — new foundation, new structure, current code — whether you stay close to the old envelope or you design a different house. A like-for-like project, as the City of Los Angeles defines it under Emergency Executive Order 1, is a replacement in substantially the same location that does not exceed 110% of the prior footprint and height; square footage is not the 110% test. A Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ) is the State Fire Marshal / local fire-hazard designation. The City’s recovery FAQ states that Pacific Palisades has been designated VHFHSZ since 1999. Most Palisades parcels are inside the City of Los Angeles. Unincorporated edges of the Palisades Fire footprint (for example parts of Topanga) can fall under Los Angeles County. Malibu is a separate city. Confirm the jurisdiction on ZIMAS before you hire anyone.

Key Takeaways

• The hire decision is not “rebuild versus wait.” It is like-for-like expedite versus a larger new house that can drop you out of EO1 and, on a Coastal Zone lot that is not EO8-eligible, into Coastal Act and Planning clearances.
• Pacific Palisades is City of Los Angeles. File with LADBS (ePlanLA) and, when needed, City Planning. County EPIC-LA is the wrong window for a Palisades address. Malibu is the wrong city.
• CAL FIRE’s Palisades Fire incident page lists the fire as started January 7, 2025, contained January 31, 2025, with 6,845 structures destroyed and 975 damaged. Those counts include residential, commercial, and other structures, not a published “houses only” number.
• EO1 (issued January 13, 2025, revised March 18, 2025) is the like-for-like path: 30-day review of complete applications, 5-day permit clearances, temporary housing, and the ability to keep nonconforming setbacks. EO8 is the zoning-compliant single-family path in the Coastal Zone for homes that are not like-for-like. EO9 still blocks SB 9 in the Palisades VHFHSZ burn area.
• The city says it has eliminated about 70% of clearances for single-family rebuild permits. Soils/geology, grading, LAFD hydrants and access, and Planning bluff or biological-resource flags still sit on many lots.
• New buildings must meet current code unless you are resubmitting a plan approved under the 2019 building code or later. Statewide, the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Title 24, Part 7) took effect January 1, 2026 and relocated the old Chapter 7A / CRC R337 construction standards into CWUIC Chapter 5. Confirm with LADBS which edition applies to your application.
• SB 9 two-unit developments and urban lot splits are still not being accepted in the Palisades VHFHSZ. Malibu and Pasadena have settled the YIMBY Law lawsuit. The City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Governor Newsom, and Mayor Bass were still defending the restrictions as of mid-August 2026. ADUs remain a separate, still-open path under EO1 and EO8.
• Plan-check and permit fees are currently suspended only for owners who held the property as of the fire date, under Mayor Bass’s Emergency Executive Order 7. Buyers who purchased a burned lot after January 7, 2025 do not get that suspension on the city’s published FAQ. We are not publishing a typical Palisades permit total because the city does not publish one that fits every lot.
• 121 Design Build has not published a completed Palisades rebuild case study. An Encino office helping Westside owners is a service offer, not a fake job-site claim.

What are the design challenges of new construction in Pacific Palisades in 2026?

The design problem is not “draw a nicer house than the one that burned.” It is to pick an envelope the city will actually permit on a hillside or coastal VHFHSZ lot, then harden that envelope against the next fire. Anyone selling a floor plan before they have pulled the prior records, the ZIMAS flags, and a soils read is guessing.

Start with what existed. Palisades owners can request original building plans from LADBS records (records.ladbs@lacity.org or in person at the One-Stop Rebuilding Center), with government ID, a recorded deed, and the city’s request form. Governor Newsom suspended the state-law consent requirement that used to block release of those drawings to the owner. LADBS may also use building permits, Certificates of Occupancy, County Assessor records, Coastal Commission records, and, case by case, aerial photos or LiDAR to reconstruct the pre-fire footprint and height. That evidence is how the 110% test is won or lost. If you cannot prove the old house, you cannot claim EO1.

Then test the new house against the site, not against a magazine. Hillside lots need engineering plans; a California-licensed civil engineer must stamp and sign grading. A geotechnical engineer enters if deeper footings are needed. Retaining walls, shoring, and drainage are part of the house, not extras. Coastal and canyon bluff parcels can trigger a 25-foot coastal-bluff setback or a 10-foot canyon-bluff setback. New detached ADUs in those flagged areas must observe those setbacks; a rebuilt ADU in substantially the same pre-fire location does not. Biological-resource flags on ZIMAS (“Medium” or “High”) can pull Planning into an EO8 file. HOAs can impose design rules the city does not. The city has not adopted new single-family design standards since the fire; massing is still height, residential floor area, and setbacks in the zoning code.

Wildfire-resistant design is not a finish schedule you pick at the end. The Palisades is VHFHSZ. LAFD clears hydrants, water supply, and access, including special fire lanes if the rear of the house sits too far from the roadway. Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 57.507 requires properties to be no more than 300 feet from the nearest hydrant, measured along the path a fire engine would take, not as a straight line. Options in lieu of a new hydrant can include upgrading the fire sprinkler system or the type of construction. LAFD does not assess defensible space on the plans except for property-line setbacks. That does not mean landscaping is optional. The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved a final draft of Zone 0 (ember-resistant zone within five feet of a structure) on August 19, 2026. As of this writing the package still had to go through the Office of Administrative Law and the Secretary of State. New construction is the class that would have to comply when the regulation takes effect. Design the five-foot band, the under-eave zone, and attached fencing as architecture, not as a later landscape punch list.

Parking follows the zoning path you are on. We did not find a Palisades-specific parking holiday for a larger new house. An EO1 like-for-like rebuild can keep the old garage arrangement within the EO1 rules, including relocating a detached garage and attaching it (the attached garage does not count toward the main dwelling’s 110% footprint if it stays at or under 400 square feet). A zoning-compliant EO8 house meets current parking. Do not assume “no parking because it is a fire rebuild.”

Materials, vents, roofs, decks, eaves, and glazing have to meet the WUI construction standards that apply to the permit application. People still say “Chapter 7A.” Statewide, that chapter was relocated into the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Title 24, Part 7, effective January 1, 2026. The City’s recovery FAQ is blunter: new buildings must be built to the current building code unless you are using a plan approved under the 2019 code or later. Confirm the edition with LADBS on your address. The all-electric ordinance has been repealed citywide; an EO1 house is not required to be all-electric. LADWP is undergrounding where feasible and has a Pacific Palisades Undergrounding Initiative that affects panel upgrades and service design. Coordinate power, water, and gas during design, not after plan check.

Foundations are a design decision, not a salvage assumption. The city’s published FAQ says existing footings and slabs in fire-damaged buildings are not typically permitted to be reused, because concrete and masonry properties can be irreversibly altered and because debris-removal equipment can damage what is left. A private structural engineer can evaluate a remaining foundation. The building official may still require removal at the owner’s expense before a new building permit. Budget for a new foundation on most lots.

What is the permit path for a Palisades Fire rebuild or new house?

Most owners apply online through LADBS’s Wildfire Rebuilding & Recovery page and ePlanLA. In person, the City of Los Angeles One-Stop Rebuilding Center is at 1828 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025, Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with LADBS, City Planning, Bureau of Engineering, LAFD, LADWP, and other departments under one roof. The Palisades Inspections and Permitting Support Center at 16925 Marquez Avenue, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, same hours, is the in-neighborhood hub (opened for this recovery; the Emergency Management Department posted it February 27, 2026). Appointments and virtual counter sit on BuildLA. Formal plan check is still ePlanLA. The Archistar AI pre-plan check (E-Check) is a free Palisades preliminary tool. It does not start the official file and it does not review soils or structural calculations.

All reconstruction on a site with a structure substantially damaged or destroyed by the Palisades Fire is supposed to receive expedited initial permit review under EO1, completed by city departments within 30 days. That applies to residential and commercial. Like-for-like EO1 files and zoning-compliant single-family EO8 files both use a reduced clearance list. The city says it cut about 70% of the clearances that used to sit on a single-family rebuild. What remains, when triggered, includes Bureau of Engineering sewer availability (“S” permit), roof and site drainage, driveway/curb (“A” permit), lateral support (“E” permit) if you affect the public right-of-way, LAFD hydrants and access, LADBS geology/soils, compaction, grading, and grading inspections on hillside homes, LADWP encroachment if you are near easements or lines, and City Planning if you are close to a coastal or canyon bluff or biological resources. Low Impact Development is suspended for many single-family replacements of homes built before September 2, 2002; the city expects fewer than 5% of Palisades single-family projects to need a LID clearance. Street-tree (parkway) clearance still applies to beyond-110% projects. Private-property tree clearances are not required on EO1 and EO8 files.

Eligible EO1 projects may obtain building permits within seven years of EO1 (LADBS’s homeowner page states permits must be obtained before January 13, 2032). Work must be completed within three years of permit issuance, subject to later extension. Building-code changes mid-rebuild do not pull the house to a newer code unless the permit expires. A 1976 house is not rebuilt to the 1976 code. If the house had been designed and approved under the 2019 building code or later, state and local emergency orders allow those plans to be resubmitted without further plan check if they are re-stamped by the original architect of record.

Two optional city tools can shorten LADBS’s own review, with limits. Emergency Executive Order 6 created a Self-Certification Pilot Program: a California-licensed architect assumes responsibility that like-for-like single-family reconstruction meets the California Residential Code as adopted by Los Angeles and the California Energy Code. LADBS does not review those plans for code compliance. Other departments still review. Geologically sensitive sites, as mapped in Information Bulletin P/BC 2025-157, do not qualify. The Pre-Approved Standard Plan Pilot Program is a public library of pre-approved, fire-resilient single-family and ADU designs. A standard plan still has to fit the lot. Hillside, bluff, and custom programs usually need a custom set.

Debris clearance is a rebuild gate, not a courtesy. The city’s recovery FAQ, as fetched August 24, 2026, says nearly all City of Los Angeles properties damaged or destroyed by the Palisades Fire have been cleared and have received final sign-off. Los Angeles County reports that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed Phase 2 government-sponsored debris removal in September 2025. Owners who used that program may still have to remit insurance proceeds earmarked for debris removal so there is no FEMA duplication of benefits. Temporary housing (RVs, mobile homes, manufactured homes) is allowed for up to three years or while a rebuild permit is active, whichever is longer, under Information Bulletin P/BC 2025-156. Mobile and manufactured homes need a foundation; an RV on wheels needs to sit on grade not exceeding 5% slope or it needs a foundation. Utilities for temporary housing are permitted separately.

Fees: under Emergency Executive Order 7, plan-check and permit fee collection is currently suspended for repair, restore, demolish, or replace work on property substantially damaged or destroyed by the wildfires, and only for owners who held the property on or before January 7, 2025. The Los Angeles Times reported on February 3, 2026 that the City Council instructed the city attorney to draft an ordinance making that relief durable. We could not independently confirm, on August 24, 2026, that the ordinance has been adopted, so we are reporting the live city FAQ and the LADBS homeowner page: fees are currently suspended for fire-date owners. Post-fire lot buyers should assume they pay. Other agency charges can still appear (for example, the city states LADWP does not charge for the encroachment process, but quotes a $6,420 fee for quitclaims). We are not inventing a Palisades permit-cost average. Price the stack on the address.

Track live permit volume on recovery.lacity.gov. That dashboard updates from LADBS. We are not publishing a count here because the public page did not yield a stable figure in our August 24, 2026 fetch, and a stale number is worse than no number.

Should you rebuild like-for-like or design a larger new house?

Stay on EO1 if the old house, plus 10% of footprint and height, is the house you actually want, including its nonconforming setbacks. That is the fastest Planning-light path, and it is the only path that lets you keep a nonconforming setback. Adding a basement can still be EO1-eligible if the basement does not exceed 110% of the existing building footprint. Adding a second story usually blows the height cap unless you can fit it inside the old height plus 10%. You cannot combine two lots into one house and call it like-for-like. No lot ties, consolidations, or subdivisions on EO1 or EO8.

Leave EO1 if you need more house than 110% of the old footprint and height, a different location on the lot, or a different massing. In the Coastal Zone, EO8 is the next door: a zoning-compliant single-family house, including one that exceeds 110%, can still bypass local Coastal Act and CEQA review, with streamlined bluff and biological-resource checks when ZIMAS flags them. Only single-family houses in the Coastal Zone get EO8. Condos, townhomes, and multifamily can use EO1 like-for-like; they do not get EO8. Outside the Coastal Zone, a zoning-compliant house that is not EO1-eligible still files with Building and Safety and still gets the reconstruction expedite, but it must meet current zoning. If you are neither EO1 nor EO8 and you are inside the Coastal Zone or the Pacific Palisades Commercial Village and Neighborhood Specific Plan, expect Coastal Exemption or Coastal Development Permit process and Planning clearances. That is the slow file. Check ZIMAS, Additional tab, “Coastal Zone.”

Square footage is the insurance and lifestyle number, not the city’s 110% number. You can sometimes add livable area inside the old footprint (a basement, a tighter plan) and stay EO1. You can also add an ADU without using the main house’s 110% budget. Under EO1 and EO8, new or rebuilt detached ADUs are allowed whether or not an ADU existed before the fire, and they are not subject to the 110% footprint or height cap. New attached ADUs under EO1 may exceed 110% and do not count against maximum residential floor area. ADUs still have to meet state and local ADU law. An ADU can take a Certificate of Occupancy before the main house if it is EO1- or EO8-eligible; the main-house permit then needs to be obtained within seven years of the applicable order, with construction finished within three years of issuance. That is a phasing tool, not a density loophole. For ADU fees and the 2026 Planning surcharge, see our ADU permit cost post. For the citywide extra-unit math, see how many extra units you can put on one LA lot. Do not treat those posts as a Palisades SB 9 green light. They are not.

Insurance will often pay toward replacement of what existed, not toward the larger house you now want. The gap between a like-for-like envelope and a bigger new house is usually owner equity, a construction loan, or both. Design that gap on purpose. Do not discover it in plan check.

How do hillside soils, geology, and fire code change a Palisades new-construction file?

Grading is the difference between a flat lot and a Palisades hillside lot. If the house is in a geologically sensitive area, you need a geology and soils report submitted to the LADBS Grading Section. The named bulletin is Geological and Geotechnical Considerations for Rebuilding in the Palisades Fire Area (P/BC 2025-157). Report contents follow the Grading Division bulletin. Geologically sensitive sites do not qualify for self-certification. Grading review happens in building plan check. Shoring for wildfire rebuilds is supposed to get the same streamlined treatment as the house. An architect can draft grading; a California-registered civil engineer must stamp it.

Existing soils reports are not automatically reusable. EO1 implementation materials say an existing approved soil and geology report and approval letter dated within 10 years of EO1 may be resubmitted if restamped by the original engineer or engineering geologist, but reports approved before the 2020 Los Angeles Building Code need updates for seismic design parameters, including seismic slope stability and seismic lateral earth pressures for retaining walls more than six feet high. After a fire, slope vegetation is gone and debris-flow risk is a live issue. The report has to speak to post-fire conditions, not just recycle a 2018 letter.

Fire code is both construction and access. Construction standards live in the current WUI / CWUIC path discussed above. Access and water live with LAFD. Hydrant distance, fire-lane geometry, and water supply can kill a pretty site plan. Defensible space and Zone 0 are moving from “landscape later” to “design now,” even though LAFD is not the defensible-space plan checker on the building set. Put ignition-resistant walls, Class A roofing, ember-resistant vents, decks, eaves, and the five-foot band on the drawings. Do not treat them as an allowance line the contractor will value-engineer out.

Parking, construction staging, and haul routes are Palisades-specific logistics. LADOT asks that rebuild truck deliveries run 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. weekdays and 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturdays. Building-materials storage in the public right-of-way needs a Building Materials Permit. Overload permits apply when loads exceed legal limits. Driveway work in the right-of-way still needs an “A” permit, including repairs after Army Corps debris removal. A design-build team prices those items with the house. An architect-only set often does not.

Is SB 9 still blocked for extra units in the Palisades fire zones?

Yes, in the City of Los Angeles Palisades VHFHSZ burn area, as of August 24, 2026. On July 30, 2025, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-32-25, which suspends Government Code Sections 65852.21 and 66411.7 (SB 9 two-unit developments and urban lot splits) in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones within the Palisades and Eaton fire boundaries, and then leaves local agencies the discretion to allow SB 9, limit it, or refuse it. The same day, Mayor Bass issued Emergency Executive Order 9: the City of Los Angeles will not accept or process those SB 9 applications in a VHFHSZ within the Palisades Fire area. Complete applications already vested under LAMC Chapter 1A Section 13B.10.1.B.2(a) before N-32-25 are carved out. The city’s recovery FAQ is explicit: besides ADUs, projects eligible under the emergency orders cannot increase density, and EO9 suspends SB 9 in the burn area.

That is still being litigated. YIMBY Law sued the Governor, Mayor Bass, and the local governments that used the order. As of August 2026, Malibu and Pasadena had signed settlements to repeal their local SB 9 suspensions and process pending applications (Pasadena’s council moved on July 20, 2026; Malibu’s settlement gives it until September 29, 2026). The City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, Newsom, and Bass were still defending. Pacific Palisades is the City of LA side of that fight. Unincorporated Altadena is the County side. Do not copy a Malibu settlement onto a Palisades lot.

SB 1090 is not a Palisades bill. It is the Keep Altadena Land in Altadena Hands Act, aimed at ZIP codes 91001 and 91003, because most of Altadena was not covered by Newsom’s VHFHSZ-only order. As of early August 2026 it was still moving through the Assembly; it was not a signed law. Palisades owners should not wait on SB 1090, and they should not design an SB 9 duplex as if EO9 were already gone. If the lawsuit or the city changes that, the file changes. Until then, the extra-unit tools that are actually open on many Palisades lots are ADU and JADU under EO1/EO8 and state ADU law, not a lot split. Our SB 9 eligibility checklist is the citywide rulebook. Palisades VHFHSZ is the exception.

Should you hire a design-build contractor or an architect plus a separate builder?

Hire one team that will own the 110% test, the soils report, the WUI detailing, the LAFD access, and the construction price. Split design and construction is how a beautiful set fails hydrant distance, how a contractor “value-engineers” ember-resistant vents, and how an owner discovers in week twelve that the basement they wanted blows EO1.

An owner can collect prior plans, photos, insurance scope, and the debris sign-off. An owner can open an Angeleno account, use E-Check, and walk into 16925 Marquez Avenue. An owner cannot, on a Palisades hillside or coastal lot, tell whether the project is EO1, EO8, or a Coastal Development Permit, whether P/BC 2025-157 requires a new geology report, or whether the self-certification pilot even applies. That classification is the job. A California-licensed architect is required to stamp architectural plans; a structural engineer stamps structure; a civil engineer stamps grading. Self-certification, where it is available, still needs a registered self-certified architect, not a designer and a handyman.

The city publishes contractor-license and scam-avoidance guidance through CSLB and a Bureau of Contract Administration list. Verify the license. Do not pay a deposit to someone who will “handle permits” from a truck. Design-build is not a magic stamp. It is one contract in which the people drawing the WUI wall are the people who have to build it and pass inspection.

If you already have an architect you trust, you can still hire construction separately. Just force a single permit strategy in writing before schematic design hardens: EO1 or EO8, ADU or no ADU, reuse or replace the foundation, hydrant plan, and a soils scope. If that memo does not exist, you do not have a Palisades new-construction team. You have a drawing.

How can 121 Design Build help with Pacific Palisades new construction and permits?

121 Design Build is an Encino design-build firm that helps City of Los Angeles owners turn a Palisades lot into a permit path and a buildable house, not a mood board. For a ground-up replacement, our New Construction service is the direct fit: prior-records review, EO1 versus EO8 classification, hillside and coastal flags, WUI detailing, and construction pricing in one file. We have not published a completed Palisades rebuild on 121designbuild.com. We are not going to invent one. What we will do is tell you whether like-for-like is actually the house you want, or whether a larger zoning-compliant house is worth leaving the 110% track.

If the right first move is a secondary unit while the main house is designed, our ADU & JADU team can sequence an EO1/EO8-eligible ADU, including occupancy before the main house when the orders allow it. If you are repairing a standing structure rather than replacing it, Addition & Remodel is the better door. If someone has promised you an SB 9 duplex on a Palisades VHFHSZ lot, we will read EO9 with you instead of taking a design retainer to fight a door the city is not opening. Citywide SB 9 rules are covered in our SB9 service and the 2026 eligibility checklist. Palisades is the exception until the city or the court says otherwise. For the broader recovery context, see our June 2026 Pacific Palisades rebuild post. This article is the 2026 hire decision on new construction and permits, not a second copy of that recovery overview.

We do not sell a fake “average Palisades rebuild cost.” We sell a scoped path: jurisdiction, EO track, soils, fire access, envelope, and a construction number that includes the retaining walls and the hydrant conversation. Bring the address, any prior plans, the debris sign-off, and the insurance scope.

121 Design Build is at 17801 Ventura Blvd, 2nd floor, Encino, CA 91316. Call (424) 600-1100 or (424) 600-2100, email info@121designbuild.com, or visit https://www.121designbuild.com/. To review a Pacific Palisades new-construction or rebuild permit path, contact 121 Design Build or call (424) 600-2100.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Pacific Palisades under Los Angeles County or Malibu for a building permit?

Neither, for a typical Pacific Palisades address. Pacific Palisades is in the City of Los Angeles. The building permit is LADBS. Planning, when it is in the file, is Los Angeles City Planning. Malibu is a separate city. Los Angeles County Building and Safety is the window for unincorporated land, including some edges of the Palisades Fire footprint. Confirm the parcel on ZIMAS.

What is like-for-like under EO1?

A replacement in substantially the same location that does not exceed 110% of the prior footprint and height. Square footage is not the test. Nonconforming setbacks can be kept only on this path. Complete applications are supposed to be reviewed within 30 days, with permit clearances targeted within five days.

Can I build a bigger house than I had?

Yes, if you leave the EO1 envelope. In the Coastal Zone, a zoning-compliant single-family house can use EO8 even above 110% and still avoid local Coastal Act and CEQA review, with bluff and biological-resource checks when flagged. Outside those orders, Coastal and Specific Plan rules can return. There is no citywide “build whatever you want because of the fire” rule.

Do I need a Coastal Development Permit?

Not if the project is EO1-eligible, or EO8-eligible in the Coastal Zone. Check ZIMAS for Coastal Zone, Coastal Bluff Potential, and Canyon Bluff Potential. A non-eligible project in the Coastal Zone can need a Coastal Exemption or a Coastal Development Permit. Email Planning.PalisadesRebuild@lacity.org for a planner’s read on a flagged lot.

Are SB 9 duplexes or lot splits allowed in the Palisades burn area?

Not in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone within the Palisades Fire area, under Mayor Bass’s Emergency Executive Order 9, issued July 30, 2025 after Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-32-25. The City of Los Angeles was still defending that ban in the YIMBY Law lawsuit as of August 2026. ADUs are a different, still-available path.

Do I have to rebuild all-electric?

No. The city’s recovery FAQ states the all-electric ordinance has been repealed citywide. Buildings are no longer required to be all-electric, including EO1 projects.

Can I reuse my old foundation?

Usually no. The city says existing footings and slabs in fire-damaged buildings are not typically permitted to be reused. A private engineer can evaluate what remains. The building official may require removal before a new permit.

Are permit fees waived?

Plan-check and permit fees are currently suspended for owners who held the property as of the fire date, under Emergency Executive Order 7. Post-fire purchasers are not on that list in the city’s FAQ. Confirm current status with LADBS. We are not publishing a typical fee total.

How long do I have to pull a permit and finish the house?

EO1 materials and LADBS’s homeowner page describe a seven-year window to obtain the rebuild permit (before January 13, 2032) and three years from issuance to complete the work, subject to later extension. Confirm on your order and your permit.

Is this legal advice?

No. This article is general information from a design-build and permitting perspective. Confirm eligibility, fees, soils, fire, and coastal requirements on your specific address with LADBS, City Planning, LAFD, and, if needed, your own attorney.

Sources

• CAL FIRE: Palisades Fire incident
• Los Angeles County: Eaton and Palisades Fires anniversary fact sheet
• City of Los Angeles, LA Strong: Rebuilding
• City of Los Angeles, LA Strong: Rebuilding FAQs
• LADBS: Wildfire Rebuilding & Recovery
• LADBS: Implementation Guidelines (EO1, EO8)
• LADBS: Homeowners / Palisades rebuild tools
• Los Angeles City Planning: Palisades Rebuild and Recovery
• ZIMAS: Zone Information and Map Access System
• BuildLA customer portal
• City of Los Angeles Emergency Management: Palisades Inspections and Permitting Support Center
• Mayor Bass: Emergency Executive Order 9 (SB 9 prohibition)
• Governor Newsom: Executive Order N-32-25 announcement (July 30, 2025)
• Governor Newsom: Executive Order N-32-25 (signed PDF)
• Mayor Bass: EO8 and standard-plan actions
• California Building Standards Commission: CALCode Quarterly Spring 2025 (CWUIC Title 24 Part 7)
• 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Title 24, Part 7
• Board of Forestry and Fire Protection: Defensible Space Zones / Zone 0
• Los Angeles County: Debris removal (USACE Phase 2)
• LAist: Malibu and Pasadena SB 9 settlements; City of LA still defending
• YIMBY Law: SB 9 executive-order lawsuit status
• Los Angeles Times: Palisades building-permit fee relief (February 3, 2026)
• 121 Design Build: Pacific Palisades Rebuild Los Angeles (June 2026)
• 121 Design Build: Extra units on one LA lot (ADU, JADU, SB 9)
• 121 Design Build: ADU permit cost in Los Angeles 2026

This article is general information from a design-build and permitting perspective and is not legal advice. Confirm current LADBS bulletins, emergency executive orders, fees, soils, fire, and coastal requirements on your specific address.

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