How Long Do Permits Take With Ready-Made Plans?
It is the first question almost everyone asks, and the honest answer is the one no one wants: it depends. Permit timelines are set by your jurisdiction, not by the plans, and they vary too much to promise a number. Here is what actually moves the clock.
Why we won't quote you a fixed timeline
Permit review time depends on your city or county, the type and size of your project, how complete your submission is, current staffing and backlog at the agency, and whether extra layers of review apply. Those factors differ from one address to the next and change over time. Any single "it takes X weeks" figure would be misleading more often than it is right, so we don't publish one. The reliable move is to ask your local building department what review is currently running for a project like yours.
Where ready-made plans can help — and where they can't
Starting from a ready-made plan can shorten the design phase, because the drawings describing the building already exist. What it does not change is the jurisdiction's review process. Your city still checks the submission against its codes, and site-specific items — foundation, utilities, and local details — still have to be prepared and reviewed. So a plan set can get you to the point of applying sooner; it does not shrink the agency's queue or its standards.
What actually drives the timeline
- Completeness of the submission. Incomplete or inconsistent drawings generate correction cycles, and each round adds time. A clean, complete package is the single biggest thing within your control.
- Project type and scope. A simple, by-right project is generally reviewed differently from one needing discretionary approvals.
- Extra layers of review. Hillside areas, fire hazard zones, historic districts, coastal zones, and HOA review can each add steps.
- Agency workload. Backlogs rise and fall; the same project can clear faster or slower depending on when you apply.
- Pre-review programs. Some jurisdictions run pre-approved or pre-reviewed plan programs that are intended to streamline certain standard plans. Whether one applies to your address and plan is a question for your local agency.
Our earlier piece on why home projects take longer than expected covers the design-to-construction arc, and when a remodel needs a permit covers which projects trigger review at all.
How to get a real answer for your project
Contact your local building and planning department and ask what current review times look like for your project type, what submittal they require, and whether any pre-review or expedited path applies. For statewide ADU context see the California Department of Housing and Community Development's ADU information; for the City of Los Angeles see LADBS and LA City Planning. We also help coordinate permits and plan-check as part of our services.
Ready-made plans can get you to the door sooner. They don't decide how long you wait once you're there.
See the ready-made plan sets in progress and join the early-access list.
General information only, not legal, engineering or code advice. Permit processes and timelines differ by jurisdiction and change over time; confirm current requirements and timing for your property with your local building and planning departments.