Los Angeles ADU Fees

[Patrick Fidell]

Hello, we are converting our garage to a 1200sqft, 3 bed 2 bath ADU. The process has been a slog to say the least but we are now 99% of the way through the permitting stages. The only thing left is an $8943 permit fee from LA County which we were never told about. We have already paid:

LAUSD Development fee- $4896

City fees: City Water, ect. - $3610

Fire flow test fee- $287

Submission of plans to city- $665

Building and Safety for new address-$804

Property site survey - $1300

Structural Engineer/structural plans- $2500

Architectural plans and design- $7150

ADU consultant- $4400

So we are $25,600 into this project and now this unexpected permit fee of $8943 is required. This puts us at $35k before the project even starts. 

Our question is: Have others experienced similar LA County permit fees($8943)? Or may there are programs in place to help out with this fee or ways to reduce the fee? We feel like we are being taken advantage of.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! 

Thank you, Patrick

[Daniel Kellogg]

@Patrick Fidell

Hey Patrick,

Congrats on getting started! I just completely finished an ADU in Northern California and my experience was similar but not as expensive. If you are not already familiar, these expenses that you listed are classified as "soft costs". They are often overlooked or totally surprising to people looking to build. I see you had paid an ADU consultant, did they mention that CalFHA has an ADU grant program that dishes out up to $40,000 for these "soft costs"?

If I were in your position I would first call multiple listed lenders on the CalFHA ADU Grant list on their website. I would inquire about recouping your costs even though you have already paid for them. (From my understanding, you have to first qualify, be approved, receive the grant and then start paying for these soft costs)