Question 1

Does the city's green code go beyond the state's?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Santa Monica has consistently adopted energy and green building requirements that reach past the state baseline, and what applies depends on project type and the year of submittal. We confirm the current standard with the department rather than working from a prior cycle, because it lands directly on the drawings and the calculations.

Question 2

Do you work on older Santa Monica houses?

Accepted Answer

Frequently. Much of the housing here predates the drawings supposedly on file for it, and additions over the decades rarely made it back to the record. We scan the house so the remodel is designed against what is standing rather than against the paperwork.

Question 3

Will our project go through design review?

Accepted Answer

A good deal of discretionary work does, and it runs on its own timeline ahead of plan check. Review looks at massing, materials and how the building meets the street. Where a designer or architect is leading, we produce the measured existing drawings the submittal is built on and the documentation behind it.

Question 4

Will our project go to architectural review?

Accepted Answer

Much of the discretionary work does, and it runs on its own timeline ahead of plan check. Review looks at massing, materials and how the building meets the street. A set that is only code-compliant clears one process and not the other, so we prepare for both.

Question 5

Do you do ADUs and garage conversions here?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and they are a large share of the residential work. Conversions turn on ceiling height, slab level, header heights and where the existing services run. We scan those and confirm them by hand before the design assumes anything, because they are exactly what plan check queries.

Drafting and Permit Documents in Santa Monica

01Does the city's green code go beyond the state's?

02Do you work on older Santa Monica houses?

03Will our project go through design review?

04Will our project go to architectural review?

05Do you do ADUs and garage conversions here?