Do I need an ADU permit in Los Angeles? Plan check, the 60-day rule, and 13,265 permits

The rule in Los Angeles

LADBS's ADU page (read 24 October 2026) says the City adopted Ordinance 186,481, effective 19 December 2019, which added LAMC Section 12.22 A.33 covering ADUs, junior ADUs (JADUs) and movable tiny houses. Two state rules sit on top of it, as quoted by the California Department of Housing and Community Development in its November 2024 review of the City's ordinance:

The 60-day clock starts at a completed application, so corrections from plan check push it out. An ADU is never an Express Permit job: it needs plan check.

How to apply

1. Check zoning first. Setbacks, height and the number of units allowed on your lot are zoning questions; LADBS links zoning information and an AI pre-plan check from its ADU page.
2. Pick custom plans or a Standard Plan. The Standard Plan Program offers plans LADBS has pre-approved. You buy one from its owner, add site-specific plans, and submit a signed, wet-stamped copy; LADBS says a standard plan "greatly reduces the time required for plan check", and site conditions can still add foundation or engineering work.
3. Submit for plan check through ePlanLA. Plan check and permit fees are based on total project valuation; LADBS publishes a permit fee calculator for an estimate.
4. Get the permit, then the inspections. Request inspections through LADBS online services. A new detached ADU needs inspections through to final before it can be occupied.

California lets an owner build as an owner-builder, but most ADUs go through a licensed general contractor; check the license with the CSLB before you sign.

What 13,265 Los Angeles ADU permits show

The split in permit types matters: about a third of LA ADUs are filed as alterations, which is what a garage conversion looks like, and those are what pull the usual declared value down to $75,000. Two in five permits from the first year had not finaled a year or more later, so an ADU permit still open at ten months is normal, not a red flag. Monthly counts are on Los Angeles ADU permits, days by kind of work on how long a Los Angeles permit takes, and every category on Los Angeles permit statistics.

Before you start

Check what is already permitted on the lot (an old garage conversion without a permit changes your plan) using the Los Angeles building permit search, or browse recent rows on Los Angeles permits. Other cities' ADU rules are in do I need a permit for an ADU, and what ADU permits are filed at elsewhere in ADU construction cost.

What this does not tell you

The LADBS open file names no contractor, so we cannot say who built which ADU. A final date is when the permit finaled or got its certificate of occupancy; the 286 days start at issue, not at application, so plan check time comes on top. Other cities in Los Angeles County and unincorporated county land permit their own ADUs and are not counted.