Calabasas ADU services
An ADU project here is rarely one trade. A unit on a hillside lot in a fire zone needs design, engineering, permits, site work and finish construction working from the same plan. This page lays out each service and how they connect.
All ADU services
Freestanding backyard cottages designed around the City's one-story height rule and rear-yard coverage limit, with foundations matched to flat pads or sloped ground and fire-zone construction where the parcel calls for it.
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Additions joined to the existing home that function as a separate household with their own entry. They suit sloped Calabasas lots and yards already taken by a pool, and they can rise to two stories under state law.
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Attached and detached garages rebuilt as legal living space, keeping the slab and roof. No replacement parking is required, and converted space is exempt from state unit-size caps.
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Units of 500 square feet or less carved from inside the house, often a bedroom suite with a kitchenette and outside door. Light construction and no impact fees at that size.
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Second-level units over attached garages, where state height rules allow up to 25 feet. Structural upgrades, fire-rated floors, stairs and privacy planning are part of the scope.
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Site preparation for factory-built units: foundations, utility stubs, crane and gate logistics, fire-zone checks and City inspections, coordinated with the manufacturer's delivery schedule.
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Added units on duplex and apartment properties through garage and storage conversions or new detached buildings, under the state's SB 1211 limits and local permitting.
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Site surveys, floor plans, elevations and full permit sets that account for slope, oak trees, fire code, HOA standards and the City's measurable zoning rules.
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Application packages, plan-check responses and deadline tracking with the City of Calabasas, Los Angeles, LA County, Ventura County or Hidden Hills, plus HOA and utility approvals.
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Grading, retaining walls, foundations, sewer and water connections, panel and service upgrades and sprinkler work, planned with soils reports and camera inspections up front.
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Compact kitchens and full bathrooms for small floor plans, with stacked plumbing, ember-resistant vent terminations in fire zones and accessible showers for aging in place.
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The first decision is what kind of unit to build, and the lot usually makes it for you. Flat tract parcels in the planned communities off Parkway Calabasas and Las Virgenes Road open the door to garage conversions, junior ADUs and backyard cottages. Sloped parcels in Calabasas Highlands or along Mulholland Highway tilt the choice toward attached units and interior conversions that avoid a new building pad.
Local rules narrow it further. The City's table, in the version HCD quoted, keeps a freestanding unit to a single 16-foot story and lets buildings take up no more than 30 percent of the back yard. That steers second-story plans toward attached designs. Outside the city, the rules change with the jurisdiction: Los Angeles for Woodland Hills and West Hills, the county for Monte Nido, Ventura County for Bell Canyon and Hidden Hills' own code for that city.
Design and permitting are where a Calabasas ADU gains or loses months. We prepare a full permit set, coordinate the structural engineer, soils engineer and energy analyst, and submit to whichever agency has jurisdiction. Then we track the state deadlines: 15 business days for a completeness answer and 60 days for a decision on a complete application.
Because the state found the City's ADU ordinance noncompliant in May 2026, permitting here currently takes extra care. Some local requirements, including a separate zoning clearance step and a design-matching rule, may be revised or may not hold up against the Government Code. We confirm the current process with each submittal.
Construction covers everything from the ground up. Site work means shaping the ground and getting services to the unit: grading, walls that hold back slopes, footings, the pipes that carry water in and waste out, bigger electrical service, and sprinklers on projects that need them. The building phase covers framing, roofing, windows, insulation, mechanical systems, kitchens, bathrooms and finishes, all inspected in stages by the building department.
Fire-zone construction runs through every phase on many Calabasas lots. Class A roofing, ignition-resistant siding, ember-resistant vents and tempered glazing are specified on the plans and built to them, and brush clearance around the finished unit completes the job.
You can hire us for a single piece, such as permit drawings for a design you already have or site work for a factory-built unit. Most clients use us from the first site visit through final inspection, because the pieces depend on each other. A foundation design depends on the soils report. The electrical plan depends on the kitchen layout. The permit set depends on all of it.
Having one team responsible for the whole scope means fewer gaps between trades and one point of contact for the City, the HOA and the utilities. It also means cost decisions get made with the full picture in view.
FAQs
Yes. Some clients come to us for permit drawings, site work for a prefab unit or plan-check responses only. Most use us for the whole project because the pieces depend on one another.
Start with a consultation and site review. We look at your lot, the house, the fire zone and the jurisdiction, then recommend which ADU types and services make sense.
We do. Our work extends to Hidden Hills, Monte Nido, Bell Canyon, Woodland Hills and West Hills, each under its own permitting agency.
We install them. We handle foundations, utilities, delivery logistics and inspections for factory-built units, and we do not sell or promote any particular manufacturer.
ADU consultation
Describe your property and the kind of unit you have in mind, and we will recommend where to start. A team member phones or emails you back in under 24 hours.