Most designers draw what the planner asks for. I check whether the planner is right.

A correction is a claim, not a verdict

When the city issues a plan check correction, I read the code myself. Not the summary, not what the counter told you, the section. Most corrections are right, and those get fixed and resubmitted the same week.

When a correction is wrong, I show you the section that says so, put it in writing to the city, and request a formal determination if the planner will not move. If the city still will not follow state law, I take it to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. HCD has sided with my clients and put it in writing to the city. HCD’s letters to the City of Glendale and the City of Los Angeles came from my complaints.

A client hired me because I handed her the code references proving what the planner had told her was wrong. That is the job. The drawings are the part everyone else can also do.

I am the person I would want to hire if I were putting my trust in a designer.

1,500+ projects since 2015 across Los Angeles County, in nearly every city and jurisdiction in it. I have read a lot of correction letters. I know which ones hold up.

Three corrections, three answers

Details changed to protect the clients. The code sections are real.

None of this replaces a clean plan set. Most projects never need step two. But when a city gets it wrong, the difference between a designer who reads the code and one who does not is the difference between your project and no project.

You hear about it the day it happens

The timeline in your proposal assumes the city agrees with the plans as submitted. If the city issues a correction I believe is wrong, you get one paragraph that same day: what the city said, why I disagree, what I am doing about it, and what it does to the schedule.

Everything else on the project keeps moving. You get their answer the day I have it.

Sometimes I give away the answer and lose the work. I once walked an owner through exactly how to do a lot split in his city and watched him take it to someone cheaper.

That is fine. The ten clients who sign after that get the same thing he got, and they get me on the phone with the city when it matters.

Common questions

What should I do when the city rejects my ADU plans?

Bring me the correction letter. Most corrections are right, and those get fixed and resubmitted the same week. When a correction is wrong, I show you the section that says so, put it in writing to the city, and request a formal determination if the planner will not move.

Can a city require replacement parking when a garage is converted to an ADU?

No. State law says a city may not require replacement parking when a garage is converted to an ADU (Gov. Code 66314).

Which design standards can a city enforce on a garage conversion?

An ADU created inside an existing structure is exempt from local design and development standards (Gov. Code 66323(a)(1) and (b)). The city can enforce building, fire, and health and safety code. It cannot enforce taste.

Can a utility hold up an ADU permit?

Under state ADU law, a utility that has to sign off on a permit is a permitting agency and is bound by the same rules as the city.

What happens when a city will not follow state ADU law?

I file with the California Department of Housing and Community Development. HCD reviews the city’s position and puts its finding in writing.

Will I know when a correction is in dispute?

Yes. If the city issues a correction I believe is wrong, you get one paragraph that same day: what the city said, why I disagree, what I am doing about it, and what it does to the schedule. Everything else on the project keeps moving.