Redlands, CA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Redlands City Code section 18.188.010 makes it unlawful to commence erection, construction, reconstruction, moving, conversion or alteration of any building, or an addition to one, before a building permit is secured from the Director of Building and Safety. Section 18.188.020 requires the application itself to go on a printed form from the Department of Building and Safety, accompanied by accurate lot dimensions, the size and location of existing buildings, and the dimensions of all yards and open spaces; the department can demand a licensed surveyor's survey if existing records are incomplete, and the original application stays on file at the department.

Issuance is restricted in several ways. Section 18.188.030 voids any permit that does not conform to the zoning title, an approved site plan, or a conditional use permit. Section 18.188.040 bars a permit that would deprive neighboring property owners of the use of their land or invalidate the general plan. Section 18.188.050 requires a minimum thirty-foot (30') lot frontage on a dedicated street or way for a residential building permit, with hillside lots referred instead to section 18.152.020. Section 18.188.060 requires the applicant to dedicate any undedicated half streets or additional right-of-way shown on the general plan, up to a thirty-foot half street on a sixty-foot right-of-way. Section 18.188.070 requires the applicant to install street paving, curbs, gutters and sidewalks abutting the lot. Section 18.188.080 lets the Director of Building and Safety refuse a permit where the lot is a flood hazard, appealable to the Planning Commission and then the City Council. Separately, section 15.04.020 of the adopted 2025 California Building Code exempts limited work from a permit altogether, including fences up to six feet, masonry or concrete fences up to three feet, retaining walls up to three feet, and flagpoles up to thirty feet on residential lots.