San Jacinto, CA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Section 15.04.020 of the San Jacinto Municipal Code adopts the California Building Code, 2025 Edition, including Chapter 1, as part of the Building Code of the City of San Jacinto and rewrites three exemptions in Section 105.2. One-story detached accessory structures used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses and similar uses are exempt when the floor area does not exceed 120 square feet, but a permit is required for any concrete flat work associated with them. Fences and walls accessory to Group R-3 occupancies on lots used exclusively for single-family residential purposes need no permit up to six feet measured from adjacent grade, if they comply with Title 17 and the California Building Standards Code. Retaining walls over eighteen inches, and any fence on top of a retaining wall over eighteen inches, require a permit. Water tanks supported directly on grade are exempt up to 5,000 gallons when the ratio of height to diameter or width does not exceed 2:1.

Permits expire where work has not commenced within one hundred eighty days of issuance or is suspended or abandoned for one hundred eighty days. The Building Official can grant a single extension for good cause not to exceed one hundred eighty days, and additional extensions need a written request and approval. Block walls are designed for a basic wind speed of one hundred miles per hour (§ 15.04.020).

Chapter 15.08 sets the application path. Section 15.08.010 requires a written application to the building inspector with plans and payment of fees before the permit issues, and § 15.08.015 requires electronic submittal in a format the Building Official approves. Fees are set by City Council resolution (§ 15.08.020). Section 15.08.100 adds a plan and permit storage fee of 0.02 percent of the permit valuation for all permits, and § 15.08.110 adds an energy conservation review fee of fifteen percent of the building permit fee. Building permits for work other than single-family dwellings and their accessory structures issue only to a licensed contractor with a City of San Jacinto business license, and owner-builder permits are limited to single-family dwellings (§ 15.08.130).