If you own a home in Los Angeles in which you want to add another room, there is a chance you will need a building permit before starting construction. If your bedroom addition is 120 square feet or smaller, and has a 12 feet or less roof height, you do not need a building permit.
However, if you want to add a room bigger than 120 square foot to your home, a permit is required. The size of a room addition attached to the main house is limited to half the size of the existing residence or to a maximum of 1,200 square feet. The cost of building permits depends on the size of the room addition. For smaller jobs, such as adding plumbing and electrical with your room addition, the permit costs may range from $120-$600. Permits are not Plan Check fees and an approximation of the actual fees may be available by clicking here. In addition, if you want to have electricity and/or water in your room addition, take into consideration that you will also need electricity and plumbing permits as well. It takes 2 weeks for building permits to be approved and issued for residential projects, and 4 weeks for commercial projects.
The permit issued will be valid for only 180 days from the issue date. Building permits can only be issued to licensed contractors. Only in certain cases will permits be issued to homeowners. Although, there are some cases that allow residential projects to be completed by a homeowner, most construction projects require a licensed contractor.
Permits for simple projects that do not require Plan Check qualify for an express permit which could be approved the same day you submit your application. In your permit you will need to fill in who will be developing the project, where exactly the project is going to take place, when the project will take place, and how the project will be completed.