Antioch building permits

Tips & gotchas

• ANTIOCH EXPLAINS ITS OWN FEE BASIS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN THIS CORPUS, AND IT SPLITS THE QUESTION IN TWO. Permit and plan review fees are "based on the valuation of the proposed construction project, which includes the estimated cost of labor and materials". Impact fees and other surcharges are "calculated based on square footage" - net new finished floor area times a rate. Anyone asking whether a city charges by valuation or by square footage is asking a question that has two answers in the same city, for two different fees, and Antioch is the one that says so out loud.
• AND IT NAMES A FEE THAT HAS NO BASIS OF ITS OWN: the Accessibility Fee is "a percentage of a valuation-based fee" - 2% of the building permit fee. A fee calculated from another fee inherits that fee's basis and adds nothing; the city classifies it correctly rather than listing it as valuation-based.
• THERE IS A FLOOR UNDER THE VALUATION YOU DECLARE: "the City may establish a minimum project valuation using recognized construction cost data and industry standards." Declaring a low project value does not produce a low fee if the city's reference data says otherwise. Concord, Vallejo, Pasadena and Fremont put similar floors under declared valuation; Antioch states the mechanism.
• THE NEXT-DAY INSPECTION GUARANTEE WAS WITHDRAWN ON A NAMED DATE: "As of August 1, 2023 there is no guarantee of next day inspections." The 1:00 PM day-prior cut-off still exists, so the deadline and the delivery have come apart - meeting the cut-off no longer buys you the next day, and the city recommends three business days instead. A rule that survives the promise it was written for is the kind of thing that catches out anyone working from an older instruction sheet.
• BRING A LADDER OR FAIL. "Ladder(s) must be provided and available on-site for roof access if needed", and the absence of any listed item means "the inspection will fail and re-inspection fees... will be charged." Roseville states the same fact more gently - "Our inspectors do not have ladders" - without the failure and the fee attached. Two cities, one physical reality, very different consequences for forgetting.
• THE SOLAR INSPECTION LIST IS THE MOST SPECIFIC IN THIS CORPUS and every item carries the same failure penalty: a verifiable Ufer or 8-foot ground rods with gas and water bonding, legible placards and conduit stickers, dead-fronts removed before the inspector arrives, and photographs of open junction boxes on the roof, wire management under the panels and panel attachment. Turning up with the equipment closed up is a failed inspection.
• TWO STATE HOUSING STATUTES ARE APPLIED HERE AND THE CITY EXPLAINS BOTH, WHICH IS RARE. SB 330 "freezes" development standards at the moment a complete Preliminary Application is filed, and limits hearings and zoning changes; SB 937 lets eligible residential projects defer certain City impact fees to final inspection or the Certificate of Occupancy. Both shift real money and real risk, and neither is discoverable from a fee schedule.
• BUT THE DEFERRAL HAS A HARD EDGE: only City fees qualify. "Pass-Through Fees (Not Eligible for Deferral)" are the school district, Contra Costa Water District and Delta Diablo - and their deadlines differ from each other. School fees are due "prior to building permit issuance", water district fees "prior to water meter installation", and City and Delta Diablo fees before the first Certificate of Occupancy. Three different moments in one project.
• A DEFERRED SUBMITTAL IS NOT A LATER PROBLEM - IT IS A PRIOR PERMISSION. Under CBC 107.3.4.1 deferred items "must be identified on the approved construction documents and receive prior approval from the building official before being deferred", the design professional must confirm conformance first, and "such items cannot be installed until they are formally approved." Trusses, solar, fire protection and prefabricated components are the named examples, and additional fees apply to all of them.
• THE COUNTER CLOSES FOR LUNCH AND SHUTS ENTIRELY ON FRIDAYS: "Monday through Thursday 8 am to 4:30 pm (Closed noon to 1 pm for lunch)", "Fridays By Appointment Only". City Hall keeps Monday-to-Friday hours, so the building being open is not the division being available - the same trap Santa Rosa's lobby hours set.
• COMMERCIAL WORK NEEDS TWO APPROVALS THAT ARE NOT THE CITY'S: "All commercial projects need to be submitted to the Fire District for plan review and approval", and anything serving food needs "an Environmental Health inspection and approval." Both sit outside the building permit and outside the city.