Los Angeles County

A county of many jurisdictions

Los Angeles County is not one permitting system but many. The City of Los Angeles runs its own process — permits there are issued by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) — while dozens of independent cities and the county's large unincorporated areas each run theirs. Which counter a project goes to depends entirely on the exact address.

That matters more than it sounds. Setbacks, height, parking, and review timelines can differ between two lots a mile apart. Reading the right rule set at the start is what keeps a design grounded in what is genuinely buildable rather than a scheme that unravels at plan check.

Hillside work is the specialty

Much of LA's character — and much of its difficulty — lives on its slopes. Hillside lots add grade, access, drainage, and hillside-ordinance considerations that a flat-lot design never faces. Kevin's directed design research on the subject earned an Outstanding Directed Design Research Award for the project “Hillside Los Angeles,” and that thinking carries into the practice's hillside commissions across the county.

The full scope, under one process

Kevin Cohen Design is a design-build practice: architecture, interior and exterior design, and general construction coordinated together rather than split across separate contracts. That covers ADUs, home additions, whole-home remodels, kitchen and bath remodels, permit drawings and plan-check, and general construction — with a single point of accountability from the first sketch to the final inspection.

Working remotely, with visits as the project needs them

Most of the work — design, drawings, and coordination — is handled remotely, which is what lets the practice serve a region this large without thinning the attention any one project receives. On-site visits are scheduled when a project genuinely calls for them: reading the site at the start, checking key moments during construction, and resolving the things that are better seen in person. For many homeowners this is a practical way to work with an architect whose approach fits, regardless of where the lot sits.

Rules, zoning, and permit requirements differ from one jurisdiction to the next and change over time. Nothing here is a substitute for confirming the specifics for your exact address with the local building department early in the project — which is where every engagement starts, so the design is aimed at the right requirements from the first drawing.