Redwood City building permits

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Department contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Redwood City, California.

Last verified 2026-09-20 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history

Building department

Address: 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: (650) 780-7350 (Building Division direct); fax (650) 780-7348; (650) 780-7361 (inspection line, being phased out but still taking cancellations); (650) 780-7577 (Code Enforcement Hotline)
Email: permits@redwoodcity.org
Office hours: THE COUNTER HAS TWO DIFFERENT SPANS DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOU TURN UP OR DIAL IN, and the virtual one is wider. "Building Counter Hours (Except Legal Holidays) - In person: Monday - Thursday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Code Enforcement Services: Please call to schedule an appointment). Virtual: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m." That is 24 hours a week in person against 45 virtually. The city explains why: "Majority of counter staff is working remotely to continue to provide electronic permitting services." Walk-in service is "available on first come first service basis based on staff availability and open appointment slots", and the city "strongly encourage[s] electronic submittals."
Website: Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Redwood City — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.

Codes adopted

California publishes its building standards as Title 24, adopted by state agencies and republished on a three-year cycle. A city or county may change those standards only after its governing body makes an express finding that the change is reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions, and no change becomes operative until the finding and the change have been filed with the California Building Standards Commission.

THE EDITION, THE AMENDMENTS AND THE DATE ARE ALL STATED IN ONE SENTENCE: "The city adopted the 2025 California Building Standards Code with local amendments, which becomes effective on January 1, 2026, and replaces the current 2022 code." It names what it adopts, that it amended it, when it starts and what it displaces.
That date matches the statewide position - the 2025 edition was published 2025-07-01 and takes effect 180 days later under Health & Safety Code 18938(b), which is 2026-01-01.
THE CITY GIVES A ROUTE FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT IT: "For more information, contact the city's Building Division by phone at 650-780-7350 or by email permits@redwoodcity.org".
THE AMENDMENTS THEMSELVES WERE NOT READ FOR THIS RECORD - the sentence confirms they exist but does not enumerate them, and no municipal code chapter was opened.

Permit types & fees

Building Permit
Redwood City takes submittals through a Box.com folder and will refuse files that are not named after the project address. Inspections are booked three to eight days ahead - far longer than the next-day norm.
See fee schedule

Redwood City's permit history isn't searchable here yet

This page covers what the permit requires. What we don't have for Redwood City yet is the record of permits actually issued — the history you'd search by street address. That is a gap in our coverage, not a statement about any particular property.

Your email, and the place — never an address. We only use it to tell you when Redwood City lands. Privacy.

Tips & gotchas

INSPECTIONS ARE BOOKED THREE TO EIGHT DAYS AHEAD, WHICH IS A DIFFERENT PLANNING PROBLEM FROM A CUT-OFF TIME. Most cities in this corpus ask you to request by some hour for the next business day; Redwood City publishes a lead time instead - "Online requests are currently scheduled between 3- 8 days in advance." A trade that finishes on Monday may not be inspected until the following week, and the spread between three days and eight is itself a week of uncertainty. The word "currently" is doing real work: it is a workload figure, not a policy.
FILES ARE REJECTED ON THEIR NAMES, AND THE CITY SAYS SO TWICE: "The filename for the application must include the project address along with the words 'Permit application'" and "Make sure to name the files with the address; otherwise, we will not accept the application or files." This is the only jurisdiction in this corpus that refuses a submittal purely on filename. Roseville warns that special characters break its plan-check database and that bookmarks must be sheet numbers; Redwood City goes further and makes the address in the filename a condition of acceptance.
ONE PROJECT, THREE SYSTEMS, NONE OF THEM A PERMIT PORTAL IN THE USUAL SENSE. Submittal goes to a Box.com folder, confirmation goes by email to permits@redwoodcity.org, and status is checked in eTRAKiT. The upload does not register the application by itself - "please email permits@redwoodcity.org to confirm the complete submittal" - so a submittal that stops after uploading is invisible.
THE PAGE CARRIES TWO DIFFERENT RESPONSE COMMITMENTS AND THEY DO NOT AGREE. Under Counter Operations: "there is currently a large volume of requests. During this time, it may take up to 3 days to receive a response." Under Permit Submittal: "please email permits@redwoodcity.org and staff will respond to you within two business days." Three days against two business days, on the same page, for the same mailbox. The first is framed as a temporary surge and the second as the standing rule, which is the most likely reading - but both are published and neither is marked as superseding the other.
THE VIRTUAL COUNTER IS OPEN NEARLY TWICE AS LONG AS THE PHYSICAL ONE: in person Monday to Thursday 10:00-4:00 (24 hours a week), virtual Monday to Friday 8:00-5:00 (45 hours). The city explains it plainly - "Majority of counter staff is working remotely". Where other cities in this batch shortened the week and left it there, Redwood City moved the hours rather than losing them, and the useful consequence is that Friday and the early morning exist if you do not need to be in the room.
THE INSPECTION PHONE LINE IS BEING RETIRED MID-TRANSITION, and one function outlives the rest: requests move to eTRAKiT, but "Until the transition is complete, cancellations can be made by calling the Inspection Line at (650) 780-7361." A contractor who has been cancelling by phone for years can keep doing so - for now - while booking has already moved.
THE DAY-OF RULE IS UNUSUALLY PRECISE AND WORTH USING: the estimated time is posted after 9 am and "Inspections will occur within two hours of the posted time." Two hours either side of a posted time is a far better commitment than the AM/PM split most of this batch offers, and it costs nothing to check.
COPIES OF PLANS AND PERMITS GO THROUGH A PUBLIC RECORDS ACT REQUEST, not through the Building Division: "To request copies of plans, permits, or building documents, please create a request through our PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (PRA) REQUEST PORTAL." That is a formal statutory process with its own timescales, for something several other cities in this corpus hand over at the counter.
THE CODE SENTENCE IS A MODEL OF WHAT TO PUBLISH, and it is worth naming because so many pages in this batch do not: "The city adopted the 2025 California Building Standards Code with local amendments, which becomes effective on January 1, 2026, and replaces the current 2022 code." Edition, amendment status, effective date and what it displaces, in one sentence, with a phone number and an email for follow-up.