Montebello, CA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Code adopted
- California Building Code, Title 24
- Enforcing division
- Building Division, Sec. 15.04.012
- Plan check trigger
- valuation over $1,000
- Appeals body
- City Council as Board of Appeals
- Unpermitted work penalty
- misdemeanor, up to $1,000/6 months
Summary
The City of Montebello enforces building permits through its adoption of the California Building Code rather than a separate local permit statute. Section 15.04.010 adopts the CBC to govern the erection, construction, alteration, repair and use of every building and structure in the city, and Section 15.04.030 then sets the local permit and plan check fees the building division collects before work can start.
Subject to certain changes and amendments as hereinafter set forth in this chapter, the city council does adopt as the building regulations for the city, the California Building Code (Title 24 or "CBC") based on the International Building Code, and as thereafter amended and published from time to time, by the California Building Standards Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "code"). ... The code ... shall govern, regulate and control all of the activities therein referred to be conducted within the city. ... Building Permit Fees. ... A fee for each building permit shall be paid to the City in an amount set by City Council resolution. Plan Checking Fees. When the valuation of the proposed construction exceeds one thousand dollars and a plan is required to be submitted by subsection 107, a plan checking fee, in an amount set by City Council resolution, shall be paid to the City at the time of submitting plans and specifications for checking.
Full Breakdown
Because California cities administer building permits through the state's adopted model code, Montebello's own text does not repeat the CBC's permit-application mechanics; instead Section 15.04.010 adopts the California Building Code, Title 24, based on the International Building Code, subject to changes and amendments set out in the chapter, and declares that the code shall govern, regulate and control all of the activities it covers within the city, including erection, construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, removal, demolition, conversion, occupancy, equipment, use, height, area and maintenance of every building and structure.
The building division administers and enforces that adopted code under Section 15.04.012, with the code enforcement division authorized to assist subject to the building division's approval. Section 15.04.030 then layers on the city's own permit fee: a fee for each building permit in an amount the city council sets by resolution, plus a plan checking fee once a project's estimated valuation tops one thousand dollars, with an added fee if incomplete or revised plans require extra plan checking. Section 15.04.020 carves out the code's only enumerated exemption from the permit requirement, for low fences and short garden walls, meaning every other building, alteration or structure covered by the adopted CBC needs a permit before work begins.
Disputes over how the adopted code applies to a specific building go to the city council, sitting as the Board of Appeals under Section 15.04.031, or through the variance procedure in Section 15.04.060 for practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship.
Violations & Fines
Constructing, altering, or occupying a building without the permit the adopted California Building Code requires is a misdemeanor under the code's general penalty, Section 1.12.010, punishable by a fine of up to one thousand dollars, imprisonment for up to six months, or both, with each day of continued unpermitted work counted as a separate violation. Chapter 1.14 also lets the city pursue the same violation through an administrative fine and citation process as an alternative or additional remedy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Montebello have its own building permit ordinance?
Who issues building permits and sets the fees in Montebello?
Is anything exempt from the building permit requirement?
Where do I appeal a building permit decision?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Montebello
California rules heatmap·Compare Montebello to another location·View the California building safety overview
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