Pacific Palisades Fire Rebuild 101: An Architect’s Guide
For homeowners beginning the process of rebuilding after the Pacific Palisades fire, figuring out where to start can be overwhelming. There are architects, engineers, surveys, soils reports, insurance requirements, building codes, expedited permitting rules, and dozens of decisions that eventually need to be made.
The good news is that you do not need to figure everything out at once.
As an architect currently working on multiple fire rebuilds in Pacific Palisades, I have put together this guide to explain the overall process, from documenting the home that was lost through design, permitting, and eventually construction.
This is intended as a big picture overview. I will be publishing separate guides that go into much more detail on each part of the process.
1. Start With the Right Architect
One of the first and most important decisions is selecting the architect you will be working with.
Meet with a few architects and make sure you feel comfortable with the person you select. A fire rebuild is a long process. You may spend several months designing the house, several more months obtaining permits, and another one to two years in construction. You will be making hundreds of decisions together throughout that time.
It is important that you know, trust, and feel comfortable communicating with your architect.
Local experience is also extremely important.
Design is obviously a major part of an architect's role, but understanding how to navigate the City of Los Angeles can be equally important. I regularly receive projects from architects elsewhere in California and even other parts of the country because our office understands the local agencies, permitting process, and many of the issues that arise specifically in Los Angeles.
For a fire rebuild, I would strongly recommend working with an architect who has current experience with LADBS and, ideally, direct experience with the Pacific Palisades rebuilding process.
The architect is not simply designing the house. They are helping guide the project through a complicated process from an empty lot to a completed home.
2. Understand What Previously Existed
Before designing the new house, one of the first steps is establishing what existed on the property before the fire.
This can include reviewing previous building permits and city records, historic architectural drawings, assessor information, surveys, photographs, and available records of the home's footprint and height.
This information is particularly important when determining whether a project qualifies for the streamlined provisions available to fire rebuilds.
3. Understand the 110% Fire Rebuild Rules
One of the most important concepts for Pacific Palisades homeowners to understand is the 110% provision.
There is also a common misunderstanding about what the 110% applies to.
For purposes of the City's expedited like for like fire rebuild provisions, it is not simply a matter of taking the total square footage of the previous house and multiplying it by 110%.
The building footprint and height of the previous structure are critical.
Generally, a qualifying rebuild can be designed within 110% of the previous building footprint and 110% of the previous building height, subject to the applicable requirements.
This can create some interesting design opportunities.
For example, an older home may have had a relatively large first floor footprint with only a small portion of the house constructed as a second story. Depending on the specific property and applicable regulations, it may be possible to design a substantially larger second level while still keeping the new building within the allowable footprint and height parameters.
In many ways, this can be an ideal existing condition because it gives us considerably more flexibility to reorganize the house without necessarily increasing its footprint.
Height can be more limiting.
If the original home was entirely one story, the 110% height provision generally does not provide enough additional height to simply turn it into a conventional two story house.
That does not necessarily mean a two story home cannot be built. It may mean that the project needs to proceed as a new construction fire rebuild rather than through the streamlined like for like pathway. That distinction can significantly change the zoning review and permitting process.
Every property is different, so one of the first things we do is understand the previous building envelope and determine what opportunities it provides for the new design.
4. Understand the Site, Zoning, and Hillside Conditions
Not every Pacific Palisades fire rebuild follows the same permitting path.
A relatively flat property with a straightforward existing condition can be very different from a hillside property involving substantial grading, retaining walls, a basement, or shoring.
Zoning should therefore be evaluated very early in the process along with the physical conditions of the property.
Hillside projects can require additional coordination with LADBS Grading Division, geotechnical consultants, civil engineers, and structural engineers. Large retaining walls, basements, and shoring can substantially increase both the complexity of the drawings and the amount of City review required.
This is particularly important when establishing expectations for the project schedule.
As of this writing, we are seeing relatively straightforward Pacific Palisades fire rebuilds achieve building permits in approximately 90 days. Hillside projects requiring substantial grading review are taking closer to six months in many cases.
These are averages rather than guarantees, but the difference is significant.
Grading Division can be one of the more challenging parts of the Los Angeles permitting process. A project involving a basement, substantial retaining walls, shoring, or significant grading should therefore anticipate a longer permitting period from the beginning.
This does not mean those elements should automatically be avoided. It simply means homeowners should understand the potential cost and schedule implications before incorporating them into the design.
5. Gather the Site Information
While the architectural design is developing, several consultants may need to document the existing property and site conditions.
Depending on the property, this can include a boundary and topographic survey, geotechnical investigation, civil engineering, existing utility information, and grading information.
For hillside properties, the geotechnical, civil, structural, and architectural work becomes particularly interconnected.
Much of this work can happen simultaneously with architectural design, which helps keep the overall schedule moving.
6. Decide What Kind of Rebuild You Want
A fire rebuild does not necessarily mean recreating the exact same house.
For many homeowners, rebuilding creates an opportunity to reconsider how the house worked. Room sizes, kitchen layout, indoor and outdoor connections, ceiling heights, windows, storage, energy efficiency, and the relationship between the home and the site can all be reconsidered.
At the same time, there can be significant advantages to keeping a new design within the parameters established for expedited fire rebuilding.
Early in the process, the architect and homeowner should determine how much of the previous house should inform the new design and where it makes sense to make changes.
7. Develop the Architectural Design
The architectural process generally moves from broad decisions to increasingly detailed ones.
Initially, the focus is on the major elements of the house, including the footprint, floor plan, massing, roof forms, exterior character, and relationship to the site.
Once those decisions are established, the design becomes progressively more detailed.
Windows and doors are located. Structural requirements are coordinated. Kitchens and bathrooms develop. Mechanical systems are considered. Exterior materials are selected. Lighting, cabinetry, and interior details begin to take shape.
The goal is to resolve as many decisions as practical before construction begins, when changes become significantly more expensive.
8. Coordinate the Engineering and Consultants
A new home requires considerably more than architectural drawings.
Depending on the project, the design team may include structural, civil, and geotechnical engineers along with energy consultants, surveyors, and other specialists.
The architect typically coordinates information from these disciplines so that the individual systems work together as one building.
This coordination is an important and sometimes underestimated part of preparing a complete permit and construction set.
9. Prepare and Submit the Permit Drawings
Once the design and engineering have progressed sufficiently, the project can be submitted to the City of Los Angeles for review.
The permit drawings document the proposed building and demonstrate compliance with applicable building, zoning, energy, fire, and other requirements.
The City reviews the drawings and may issue corrections or request additional information. The architect and consultants respond to those comments until the necessary approvals and clearances are obtained and the project becomes ready to issue.
For a straightforward fire rebuild, the permitting process can move surprisingly quickly compared with a conventional new home in Los Angeles. More complicated hillside, grading, and zoning conditions can add substantial time.
10. Understand the Property Tax Considerations
Property taxes are another issue homeowners should understand early in the rebuilding process.
It is important to separate the Los Angeles County Assessor's treatment of a fire rebuild from the City of Los Angeles building and zoning rules. They are different agencies applying different standards for different purposes.
As of this writing, the Los Angeles County Assessor has indicated that a reconstructed property may generally retain its existing assessed value when the replacement is considered comparable to the property that was destroyed. The County currently uses a 120% measure when evaluating comparable replacement value.
This should not be confused with the City's 110% fire rebuild provisions.
The City's 110% provisions relate to the physical characteristics of the rebuild and the applicable approval process. The County's 120% threshold relates to property tax assessment.
If the value of the reconstructed home falls within the County's applicable comparable replacement provisions, the reconstruction itself may not trigger reassessment. If the new home exceeds those limits, the portion considered additional or excess improvements may be subject to reassessment.
This is an evolving issue.
At the time of this writing, only a very small percentage of the thousands of homes lost in the Palisades fire have actually completed reconstruction. There is therefore limited real world precedent showing exactly how the Assessor will evaluate the wide variety of rebuilt homes now being designed.
Homeowners making major design decisions based on potential property tax consequences should confirm their individual situation directly with the Los Angeles County Assessor or their tax advisor.
11. Prepare for Construction While the Permit Is Being Reviewed
Permit review does not necessarily mean everything else has to stop.
This period can be used to continue developing construction details, obtain contractor pricing, select materials and fixtures, coordinate interior design, and identify long lead items such as windows and exterior doors.
For homeowners trying to rebuild quickly, using the permit review period effectively can save valuable time later.
12. Obtain the Permit and Begin Construction
Once the required approvals are complete, the building permit can be issued and construction can begin.
The architect's involvement does not end when the drawings are approved.
During construction, questions inevitably arise. Conditions in the field may differ from what was anticipated, products may change, and details may need clarification. Continued involvement from the design team can help maintain the intent of the project as the drawings become an actual building.
Where to Start
For most homeowners, the first step does not need to be complicated.
Start by gathering whatever information you have about the previous home and the property. Then meet with an architect who understands both residential design and the Pacific Palisades rebuilding process.
Ask questions. Make sure you communicate well. Make sure you understand how they work. Most importantly, make sure this is someone you trust to guide you through what will likely be a multiyear relationship.
From there, the architect can help identify what additional information is needed, assemble the appropriate consultant team, evaluate the opportunities presented by the previous home, and establish a realistic path forward.
Over the coming months, I will be expanding this Fire Rebuild Guide with more detailed articles covering the 110% provisions, permitting, hillside properties and grading, surveys and soils reports, WUI construction, consultants, costs, timelines, property taxes, and other issues we are encountering while working through the rebuilding process in Pacific Palisades.
This guide is intended as general information based on our experience with residential projects and ongoing Pacific Palisades fire rebuilds. Regulations, agency interpretations, timelines, and individual property conditions can change. Requirements should be confirmed for each individual property with the applicable agencies and consultants.
