Pacific Palisades Fire Rebuild Permits: 2026 Step-by-Step LADBS Process

Rebuilding a home lost in the January 2025 Palisades Fire runs through the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety under two emergency orders: Executive Order 1 for like-for-like projects within 110 percent of the original footprint and height, and Executive Order 8 for larger zoning compliant single family homes in the Coastal Zone. The sequence in 2026 is consistent even when the timelines are not, and owners who bring in design and permitting services before the first drawing tend to move through it fastest.

You confirm debris sign off, pull your property records, choose a pathway, produce plans, run the free AI pre-check, submit through ePlanLA, clear the handful of departments that still review rebuilds, receive the permit with plan check fees suspended, and build within three years. Pali Builds recorded a 141 day average from application to permit in June 2026 and a 23 day fastest case, which is the gap between a complete submittal and a messy one.

Key Takeaways

Pacific Palisades is inside the City of Los Angeles, so LADBS issues the permit. Malibu, Topanga and other Los Angeles County parcels in the burn area follow different rules.

Like-for-like projects under EO1 skip CEQA, the Coastal Act, the Specific Plan and more than 70 percent of the usual clearances; EO8 extends the coastal and CEQA relief to larger zoning compliant single family homes.

Plan check and permit fees are suspended under Emergency Executive Order 7, but only for people who owned the property on the day of the fire.

In June 2026 the City issued 99 rebuild permits against 111 new single family applications. The average was 141 days and the fastest permit took 23 days.

Lots in the orange and yellow Palisades Geohazard Risk Assessment Zones need a geology and soils report and cannot use the self-certification program.

Where the Palisades rebuild permit process starts

Jurisdiction is the first thing to confirm, because the Palisades Fire burned across three of them. Pacific Palisades itself is a City of Los Angeles community, so LADBS handles building permits and City Planning handles zoning and coastal questions. Parcels in Malibu go through the City of Malibu, and unincorporated areas such as Topanga and Sunset Mesa go through Los Angeles County Public Works, which applies its own 110 percent rule to floor area as well as footprint and height. Everything below describes the City of Los Angeles process for the 90272 area.

The City runs two staffed support centers where LADBS, the Bureau of Engineering, LAFD, City Planning and LADWP sit together. The One-Stop Rebuilding Center is at 1828 Sawtelle Boulevard in West Los Angeles, and the Palisades Inspections and Permitting Support Center is at 16925 Marquez Avenue in the Palisades, both open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most owners still apply online, but the counters are the fastest place to get an eligibility question answered before you spend money on drawings, and they can release the original plans of your lost home once you show ID and a recorded deed.

The step-by-step LADBS process in 2026

Step 1: Confirm your debris removal sign off

No building permit issues on a lot that has not been certified clear. The federal program finished the Palisades work when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reached the last opted-in parcel on August 26, 2025, having removed more than one million tons of debris from roughly 4,010 properties. If your lot went through that program, the final sign off is already on file and you have cleared the first gate. If you opted out and hired a private contractor under the County’s private property debris removal permit, you need the County’s completion certification before LADBS will proceed, and you should have it in hand before you commission plans.

The foundation question follows immediately. Concrete and masonry that went through a total loss are usually not accepted for reuse, and heavy equipment during debris removal often damaged what survived. If you want to keep a slab or footings, a California licensed structural engineer or architect has to evaluate the foundation and document its condition for LADBS approval, and the Building Official can still require removal at your expense. On lots inside the geohazard zones, additional soil investigation is normally needed before any reuse is considered.

A house that is still standing but badly damaged takes a different first step. Demolition of a fire damaged structure needs its own permit under LADBS bulletin P/BC 2025-155, and the repair or demolish question follows the same economics as our knockdown rebuild vs remodel guide, with one difference that works in your favor: a home taken down to the studs by the fire counts as significantly damaged under EO1 and qualifies for the same expedited path as a total loss.

Step 2: Pull your property records and a Rebuild Letter

Before anyone draws a line, establish what the City believes existed on the lot on January 6, 2025. LADBS uses building permits, the Certificate of Occupancy, County Assessor records and Coastal Commission files, and on a case by case basis it will look at Google Maps imagery and LiDAR. Request your original plans by email from the records unit or at the One-Stop Center, and generate a Rebuild Letter through the LADBS online services portal, which confirms the pre-fire use and dimensions the Department will measure your project against.

The same afternoon, open ZIMAS and read the Additional tab for your parcel. The fields that decide your path are Coastal Zone, Coastal Bluff Potential, Canyon Bluff Potential, Biological Resources potential, and the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone flag, which has applied to the whole community since 1999. Then check the Palisades Geohazard Risk Assessment Zones map published with LADBS Information Bulletin P/BC 2025-157, reissued in February 2026 as P/BC 2026-157. Orange zones are lots on or beside steep slopes or potential landslides, yellow zones sit at the base of slopes exposed to mudflow debris, and both require a combined geology and soils report approved by the LADBS Grading Division before a permit can issue.

Step 3: Choose your rebuild pathway

Every Palisades rebuild falls into one of three tracks. Eligible Projects under EO1 rebuild in substantially the same location within 110 percent of the previous footprint and height, keep any nonconforming setbacks, height or density they had before the fire, and are waived from CEQA, Coastal Act and Specific Plan review. Zoning compliant single family homes that exceed 110 percent inside the Coastal Zone can use EO8, which removes the local Coastal Act and CEQA review as long as streamlined environmental protection measures are met. Everything else is a non-eligible project that files under normal zoning, with full coastal review if it sits in the Coastal Zone and the same expedited LADBS review as everyone else if it does not.

The choice affects how many clearances you carry, whether a slope band analysis is needed on a hillside lot, and whether a Coastal Development Permit enters the picture. Square footage is not part of the City’s 110 percent test, but height and footprint are measured strictly, and basements, second stories, attached garages and ADUs each have their own treatment. We take the whole decision apart in our companion article on like-for-like vs larger rebuild, so this guide stays on the sequence.

Step 4: Decide how your plans get produced

You have three routes to a stamped set. The conventional route is your own architect and structural engineer, with a civil engineer stamping any grading plan. The second is the Standard Plan Program launched under Executive Directive 13, a public library of pre-approved single family and ADU designs from participating architects that LADBS has already checked; Pali Builds noted in June 2026 that a pre-approved plan can put a permit in hand in roughly 21 days, a claim the June data supports with its 23 day fastest case.

The third is the Self-Certification Pilot under Executive Order 6, in which a registered California licensed architect certifies the plans against the Residential Code and the Energy Code and LADBS does not review them for those codes at all, while other department clearances still apply. Lots in the geohazard zones are excluded from self-certification.

Whichever route you take, the drawings have to be resolved before submittal, because incomplete sets are the single largest cause of long permit times. Plan check comments in the Palisades cluster around fire resistant assemblies under Chapter 7A, enclosed eaves, tempered glazing and structural detailing, all of which are cheaper to answer on the first sheet than in a second cycle. A custom home builder who has already run rebuild sets through this exact process can pre-empt most of those comments in the design meetings.

Step 5: Run the free AI pre-check

The City’s Archistar E-Check portal is available at no cost to any applicant with a Palisades address. You upload the drawings, even in preliminary form, and the system flags zoning and building code conflicts before you formally apply. The more complete the set, the more checks it can run, and it will not catch soils or structural issues, which is why it is a pre-check rather than a plan check. It does not initiate the LADBS process and it does not replace ePlanLA; treat it as a way to catch setback, height and egress errors while they are still free to fix.

Step 6: Submit through ePlanLA with the wildfire checklist

Formal submittal goes through ePlanLA using the Plan Submittal Requirements for Rebuild Projects, LADBS Information Bulletin P/GI 2025-036. Architectural sheets carry the stamp of the licensed architect who prepared or reviewed them, structural sheets carry a California structural engineer’s stamp, and geology and soils reports for geohazard lots go to the Grading Division for approval. Grading review happens inside building plan check rather than as a separate track, and shoring plans tied to a rebuild receive the same streamlined treatment as the house. If your plans were approved under the 2019 code or later before the fire, state and local orders allow them to be resubmitted without further plan check once the original architect re-stamps them.

Step 7: Clear the departments that still review rebuilds

Emergency action removed more than 70 percent of the clearances a single family permit normally needs, and the remaining list is short. The Bureau of Engineering handles the sewer availability clearance, roof and site drainage, the driveway and curb clearance, and lateral support or easement reviews only where your work touches the public right of way. LAFD reviews hydrant distance and access, and the City requires a hydrant within 300 feet of your property line under LAMC 57.507, with sprinkler or construction type upgrades available as alternatives when the nearest hydrant is too far. LADBS itself signs off geology, soils and compaction reports, with compaction outside the geohazard zones normally self-certified by a licensed civil or geotechnical engineer.

Several clearances exist only for larger or unusual projects. StreetsLA reviews street trees only when you build beyond 110 percent, LAHD’s Replacement Unit Determination applies only when you build two or more units, LADOT reviews driveways only on major or secondary highways, LADWP needs an encroachment review only near its lines and easements, and City Planning reviews only bluff and biological resource questions. Low Impact Development stormwater rules are suspended for single family homes built before September 2, 2002 that were destroyed, and the City expects fewer than five percent of Palisades homes to need a LID clearance. Departments are directed to issue clearances within five business days.

Step 8: Fees, issuance and the three year clock

Plan check and permit fees are suspended under Emergency Executive Order 7 for anyone who owned the property on the date of the fire, and the LADBS fee suspension page walks through the application. Owners who bought a lot after the fire pay standard fees. A rebuild permit is valid for three years from issuance, subject to extension by a later order or Council action, and a code change during construction does not force the design to catch up unless the permit expires. Under Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-29-25, rebuilds may be designed to the 2022 California building standards rather than the 2025 edition that took effect on January 1, 2026, rooftop solar is not required, and the City’s all electric ordinance has been repealed for everyone.

Step 9: Utilities, inspections and the Certificate of Occupancy

Utility coordination starts during design, not after the permit. LADWP’s future ready electric service requirements prepare each lot for the neighborhood undergrounding initiative and can change panel location and conduit routing, SoCalGas has a separate rebuild process for restoring service, and the City publishes septic and sewer connection pathways for the canyon lots that never had a lateral. Once construction starts, LADBS inspections are scheduled for the day after the request, and the Certificate of Occupancy closes the process. The first Palisades rebuild received its Certificate of Occupancy on November 21, 2025 at 915 North Kagawa Street, and Pali Builds counted two more in June 2026, which is the metric to watch as projects move from permit to move-in.

What the 2026 numbers say about timelines

The City targets 30 days for initial department review of a complete application, and the real world average has swung well above and below that. Pali Builds, the resident-run tracker that reviews each 90272 permit individually, reported 77 days in August 2025, Homes.com reported 93 days for November 2025, Crosstown LA’s analysis of LADBS data found about 49 days across all permit types in early January 2026, and Pali Builds measured 141 days in June 2026 as hillside, coastal and grading heavy projects entered the queue. The June report also logged a 23 day fastest permit, 99 permits issued, 111 new single family applications, and a cumulative count above 1,000 new single family building permits since the fire.

Reporting period	Average application to permit	Source and measure
August 2025	77 days	Pali Builds, new single family permits in 90272
November 2025	93 days	Pali Builds via Homes.com, new single family permits
Early January 2026	About 49 days	Crosstown LA analysis of LADBS data, all permit types
June 2026	141 days (fastest 23)	Pali Builds, new single family permits, 99 issued

The measures differ, which is why the numbers jump around. City totals include grading, electrical, plumbing, pool and demolition permits, so one home can generate several, while Pali Builds counts only new single family building permits. The City’s own dashboard on the LA Strong site updates hourly and is the right place to read the current count. What the spread tells an owner is simple: the process has no fixed length, and the variables you control, a complete set and fast responses to correction notices, move you toward the 23 day end rather than the 141 day end.

What slows Palisades permits down

Hillside geology is the slowest step for the lots that have it. A geohazard zone lot needs a combined geology and soils report, sometimes a slope stability analysis with a 1.5 static factor of safety on bluff sites, and geotechnical firms in 2026 are selective about which Palisades projects they take. Our hillside construction guide explains why shoring, caissons and drainage design on these lots take longer to engineer than the house above them. Order the soils work the week you confirm debris sign off, because it runs in parallel with design and nothing else in the sequence can absorb its delay.

Coastal Zone status is the second multiplier, but only for projects outside EO1 and EO8. Eligible Projects can apply for a coastal exemption, while a non-eligible project inside the Coastal Zone or the Pacific Palisades Commercial Village and Neighborhood Specific Plan area goes through State and City coastal procedures with their own timelines. Hydrant spacing, a corner lot whose primary entrance moves to a different street and triggers a new address, and homeowners association design reviews that run outside the City process all add weeks. Insurance is the quiet drag on the whole community: owners waiting on replacement cost settlements hold back applications, which is one reason permit issuance dipped between September and November 2025.

Zone 0 and the fire code you will build to

Every Palisades rebuild is new construction in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which means Chapter 7A ignition resistant construction applies regardless of pathway: Class A roofing, ember resistant vents, enclosed eaves, tempered glazing and noncombustible or ignition resistant exterior wall assemblies. LAFD does not review defensible space at plan check beyond property line setbacks, but the landscape design still has to anticipate the new state rule, and our guide to home hardening in Los Angeles covers the assemblies and materials in detail.

On August 19, 2026, the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection adopted emergency Zone 0 regulations under AB 3074, creating an ember resistant zone in the first five feet around structures in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones within local responsibility areas. The rules were filed with the Office of Administrative Law in late August, and they are expected to apply to new construction first with existing homes phasing in over three to five years, so design the perimeter with hardscape and noncombustible materials now rather than replanting it later.

Conclusion

The Palisades rebuild permit process in 2026 is shorter on paper than any prior California wildfire recovery and longer in practice for the lots that carry slopes, bluffs or coastal complications. The sequence itself is stable: debris sign off, records and ZIMAS, pathway, plans, AI pre-check, ePlanLA, a short list of clearances, suspended fees, a three year permit, utilities and inspections through to the Certificate of Occupancy. The variables are how complete your set is when it enters the queue and how quickly your team turns corrections.

An owner working with a general contractor in Pacific Palisades who has already carried rebuilds through LADBS, the geohazard review and LADWP’s new service standards starts with those variables under control, and the June 2026 data shows that is the difference between three weeks and five months.