West Covina, CA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Sec. 7-16(a) adopts Title 26 of the Los Angeles County Code, current as amended and in effect January 1, 2023 and built on the 2022 California Building Code, as West Covina's own Building Code. That adoption reaches the erection, construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, removal, conversion, demolition, occupancy, use, equipment, height, area, security, abatement, and maintenance of buildings or structures citywide, and it is the source of the requirement to obtain a permit and pay fees before that work begins. A complete copy of Title 26 and the 2022 CBC is kept on file at the building official's office under Sec. 7-16(b); where the adopted code conflicts with a locally added amendment, the local amendment controls.

Sec. 7-19 sets the fee mechanics: the building permit fee is based on the total value of the construction, and a separate plan review fee equal to 85 percent of the permit fee is charged when plans are submitted. Anyone who starts work before obtaining the required permit faces a doubled fee under Section 107.1, plus a separate investigation fee under Section 107.3 equal to the permit fee that would otherwise apply. A cancelled, unused permit can be refunded up to 80 percent under Section 107.4, and an uncommenced plan check can be refunded 80 percent under Section 107.5.

Plan check applications expire after 180 days with no permit issued, though the building official can grant up to two 180-day extensions for a fee under Sec. 7-18. Once issued, a permit itself expires one year after the last required inspection or if work has not started within one year of issuance. Violating any provision of this article, including working without a required permit, is a misdemeanor under Sec. 7-24, though the city attorney can instead prosecute it as an infraction, or a code enforcement official can issue an administrative citation under Chapter 15, Article X.