LADBS Clearances for Multifamily Permits

What a clearance is

A building permit in the City of Los Angeles is issued by the Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), but LADBS is only one of the departments that has to approve a multifamily project before the permit is issued. Each of the others signs off on the part of the project it governs: zoning conditions, fire access, the street frontage, the sewer, stormwater, trees, affordable unit covenants. Those sign-offs are the clearances.

LADBS lists them on the "Clearance Summary Worksheet", which is created with the permit application. The plan check engineer decides which clearances apply using the City's Building Permit Clearance Handbook, a document prepared by the City's Development Services Committee so that plan check engineers "can consistently determine what kinds of departmental clearance are needed based on the type of project and its location" (LADBS Building Permit Clearance Handbook, rev. June 2026). Unless the handbook says otherwise, a clearance takes the form of a sign-off entered in the Department's Plan Check and Inspection System (PCIS) by the reviewing department.

The permit cannot be issued until every clearance on the worksheet is signed off. The standard correction sheet for apartment buildings puts the point in its first clearance item: obtain sign-off for all clearances on the worksheet, and apply immediately, "as it can take months for some departments to review the project" (LADBS R1 and R2 correction sheet).

Clearance status

Each clearance, its status and the date it was cleared appear under "Permit Application Clearance Information" on the Department's online permit and inspection report, which can be searched by permit application number, plan check number or parcel number (LADBS online services). That report is the shared record of where the permit stands, and it is the first thing to check before calling a department.

When a department needs something the application does not show, the clearance stays open. The Bureau of Engineering's own procedures describe the consequence: when information on the application is inadequate, the Bureau does not approve the clearance and the applicant goes back to LADBS to furnish it, and a requirement that cannot be cleared "may necessitate changes in design and/or building layout" (Bureau of Engineering Permit Manual, clearance worksheet procedures). That sentence is the reason the clearances belong in the drawing schedule from the first submittal.

The departments that commonly clear a multifamily building

The handbook sets the triggers. The table lists the clearances a new multifamily building in the City most often needs, what triggers each, and what the reviewing department reads from the drawings. Which ones apply to a given project is decided by the plan check engineer and shown on its worksheet.

Department	Clearance	Trigger in the handbook	What it reads from the set
City Planning	Existing case conditions, T, Q and D conditions, specific plan and CPIO approval	A prior case or a condition on the parcel; a site in a specific plan or overlay	Every quantifiable condition of approval (uses, height, yards, parking) drawn and noted on the plans
City Planning and Housing	Density bonus sign-off (LAMC 12.22 A.25 as the handbook labels it; the program is now LAMC 12.22 A.37)	A housing development using a density bonus	The unit count, the affordable units and the incentives the approval grants
Fire Department	Hydrant and access	New buildings valued at $50,000 or more; any portion more than 150 feet from the edge of the public way	Hydrant locations, fire lanes, access routes on the site plan
Fire Department	LAFD plan check	Apartment or condominium buildings over 2 stories or over 15 dwelling units; high-rise buildings over 75 feet	The fire and life safety sheets
Bureau of Engineering	Highway dedication (LAMC 12.37)	A lot subject to street dedication	Property lines, dedication lines and setbacks measured from the new line
Bureau of Engineering	Sewer availability (LAMC 64.16.1)	New construction	Fixture and unit counts that set the sewer discharge
Bureau of Engineering	Work adjacent to the public way; driveways, curb ramps and sidewalks	Construction or shoring that loads or removes support from the right of way; new driveways and frontage work	Shoring, the frontage, the driveway and curb cut
LA Sanitation	Low Impact Development (LID)	Projects that add or replace 2,500 square feet or more of impervious area (submitted after April 1, 2024)	Roof, paving and drainage areas and the stormwater measures
Street Services, Urban Forestry	Protected trees; parkway trees	Construction within a 15-foot radius or the drip line of a protected tree, or near trees in the parkway	Tree locations and protection zones on the site plan
Department of Transportation	Driveway approval	New construction other than a single-family dwelling on a Boulevard or Avenue class street	Driveway location and width; not required where the project has no parking or new driveway
Housing Department	Reduced parking for affordable housing; demolition of rental units; public housing	A lower parking ratio under the density bonus program (12.22 A.37, formerly A.25); demolition of rental units under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance; publicly assisted projects	Parking counts, the existing buildings and the affordable units
Water and Power	Power lines and easements	Construction inside or within 10 feet of power lines or easements flagged in ZIMAS	Building and wall locations relative to the lines
Cal/OSHA	Permit	Projects more than 36 feet in height; excavations over 5 feet deep	Building height and excavation depth

The triggers in the table are quoted in short from the Building Permit Clearance Handbook (sections IIA to IIF) and the Bureau of Engineering clearance list. The handbook also covers conditions that apply to fewer multifamily sites, such as the coastal zone, historic preservation overlay zones, hillside streets, flood zones, methane and oil wells, and each has its own clearance.

Items that sit beside the worksheet

Some requirements a multifamily set meets before issuance are not department clearances in the same sense, but they belong on the same schedule.

The replacement unit determination. Under the Housing Crisis Act, a housing development project obtains a Replacement Unit Determination letter from the Los Angeles Housing Department, as part of the City Planning application or, where no Planning application is needed, through the LADBS clearance process (City Planning, Housing Crisis Act and Resident Protections).
School fees. The Los Angeles Unified School District collects school impact fees under a contract with the City as a condition of the building permit for developments in the City (LAUSD Impact Fee Program Office).
Park fees. New dwelling units pay a park fee or dedicate land under LAMC 12.33, subject to its exemptions. For a project without a subdivision, the fee is calculated and collected before the Certificate of Occupancy; for a subdivision, before final map approval (Recreation and Parks, park fee instructions). It is a condition of occupancy for most apartment buildings, so it belongs on the closeout schedule.
Water sub-meters. The R1 and R2 correction sheet notes that multi-unit projects applying for LADWP water service may be subject to Senate Bill 7 and required to meter each unit, and asks for the sub-meter locations on the plans.
Green building. The same sheet lists a clearance from the LADBS Green Building Division.

A sequence from first submittal to the issued permit

Clearances are slow when they start late. The sequence below keeps them moving with plan check, and each step has a drawing behind it.

Read the worksheet the day it is issued. List every clearance, the department, its contact and what the department needs. Where an item surprises your office (a dedication, a tree, a power line), it is a design question, and it goes to your architect of record first.
Draw the conditions into the set. City Planning's review looks for the conditions of approval on the plans. The handbook tells plan check to confirm that the quantifiable conditions of a specific plan, overlay or case are incorporated in the plans, and that changes during plan check go back to the planner for approval.
Apply for the long clearances in parallel with plan check. Fire hydrant and access, the Bureau of Engineering items and LID each have their own review. They do not need the building plan check to be finished to begin.
Keep one clearance log. One row per clearance: department, date applied, reviewer, what was sent, what came back, date cleared. Compare it with the online permit report every week.
Send changes both ways. A plan check correction that moves a driveway, a wall or a unit count can reopen a clearance, and a clearance condition can create a correction. The log is where the two meet.
Watch the dates. A plan check expires 18 months after the plan check fee is paid, with six-month extensions available by modification. When an extension is granted, clearances whose approval letters state their own expiration date are re-entered and re-approved by their agencies before issuance (LADBS Information Bulletin P/BC 2026-120).
Assemble the issuance set. Plan check approved, every clearance signed off, fees paid: the approved sheets and the clearance record go to your office and the owner together.

The plan check corrections guide covers the correction sheet and the response letter that move in step with this sequence.

Where the studio fits

In the City of Los Angeles, TECTO Studio manages this sequence for your office: the clearance log, the drawings and forms each department asks for, the resubmittals when a clearance changes a sheet, and the issuance set at the end. Your architect of record signs the application and decides every design question a clearance raises, and the owner keeps the relationship with the City on anything that needs the owner's signature. See Los Angeles permits and the Los Angeles page.

LADBS clearances on a multifamily permit, department by department