Remodeling in San Diego, Answered

There are two clocks, and they run one after the other. The first is permit review at the San Diego Development Services Department, which happens before anyone lifts a tool — a straightforward submittal moves quickly, and one that draws plan-check comments can add weeks.

The second is construction, and that depends entirely on scope. Replacing cabinetry inside the existing footprint is a different job from moving plumbing, relocating the range, or taking out a wall. Those changes trigger inspections, and inspections have to be booked and passed before the next trade starts.

We give you a dated schedule at the planning stage, once the scope is fixed. Anyone quoting you a duration before that is guessing.

The single biggest fork is whether drain lines move. Leaving them where they are keeps the job inside finish work. Moving them means a permit and a rough plumbing inspection that must be passed before the walls close — and nothing proceeds until it is.

So a new shower inside the existing layout runs faster than expanding the room or relocating fixtures. We work out which one you are actually doing at the first design meeting, then schedule from there.

Four things, in roughly this order of frequency:

• Plan-check comment cycles at the permit office, each round adding time before work starts
• Inspector availability between phases during construction
• Conditions found when walls open in older housing stock
• Long-lead materials ordered late rather than at design stage

The first two are the city's timeline, not ours, but they are predictable enough to plan around. The last one is entirely avoidable, which is why we identify long-lead items before demolition rather than during it.

For structural or plumbing changes, yes. Relocating water lines, moving a wall, altering framing or changing the electrical service all require a permit.

Cosmetic work does not. Painting, replacing cabinet doors, swapping a faucet or laying new flooring inside the existing layout are not permit triggers.

One thing worth knowing: the San Diego Development Services Department covers the city limits only. Neighbouring incorporated cities — La Mesa, Santee, El Cajon, Del Mar, Carlsbad and others — run their own building departments with their own rules. Which one governs your parcel is the first thing we confirm.

Additions and ground-up work run the full sequence: foundation, framing, rough utilities, insulation, drywall, then final. Each one has to be passed before the work it covers can be closed in.

Kitchen and bathroom remodels use a subset. A bathroom where drains move will see a rough plumbing inspection and a final; one that stays inside its existing services may see very little.

The sequence is not negotiable and it is not a formality. Covering work before it has been signed off means opening it again.

It is the document confirming a structure is legally fit to occupy. Ground-up construction and accessory dwelling units require one.

Most kitchen and bathroom remodels do not — they close with a final inspection instead. Room additions sit in between, and the building official settles it when the permit is issued.

The inspector verifies the completed work meets code. Passing closes the permit.

That last part matters more than most people expect. An open permit shows up in a title search, and it becomes a problem at exactly the wrong moment — when you are trying to sell. Closing it out properly is part of the job, not an optional extra.

Separately from the city, we walk the site with you and work through a punch list until you sign off.

Yes. Every accessory dwelling unit needs one, issued after the unit passes its final inspection.

Without it the unit cannot legally be occupied or rented. It is the document that turns a finished building into a dwelling.

Use the Contractors State License Board at cslb.ca.gov. The public database shows licence status, classification, bond, and workers' compensation coverage. It takes under a minute and you should do it before signing anything, with us or anyone else.

Ours is License #1083621, Class B General Building, active with workers' compensation in place. Joseph and Didi Sheiner founded Sheiner Construction in 2012; the company has held this licence since 2021.

Yes, and yes. Nearly every general contractor works this way, because a single crew cannot hold every specialty at the level the work requires.

We coordinate licensed specialty trade partners on each project — electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, framers, tile setters — each holding an individual California state licence in their own classification.

What does not get delegated is management. We run the site directly, sequence the trades, and book the inspections. You deal with us, not with six separate companies.

We are. The general contractor of record carries single-point contractual responsibility for the project, so a defect gets resolved through us regardless of whose hands were on it.

The specialty trades remain independently accountable under their own state licences, which is why using licensed trades matters — it means there is a licence behind the work as well as a contract.

From your side, this is the practical benefit of hiring a general contractor rather than managing trades yourself: one agreement, one number to call, and no argument between vendors about whose problem it is.

No. A preliminary notice is routine, and receiving one is a sign the paperwork is being done properly.

Subcontractors and material suppliers send them to the property owner, generally within about twenty days of first supplying labour or materials, under California Civil Code section 8200. It preserves their right to file a mechanic's lien later if they are not paid. It is not a claim, and it is not a warning.

Keep them. As the job progresses, match each notice against a lien release so you can see that everyone who supplied the project has been paid.

It covers planning and building under one contract, rather than you hiring a designer, then finding a builder, then discovering the two do not agree.

In practice it means the person who will build the job is in the room while it is being designed — so what gets drawn is buildable, and the budget is set against real construction costs rather than an estimate made before anyone had priced it.

Our planning session covers scope, feasibility and budget before any formal agreement is on the table.

Yes. Scope changes on most projects, either because you want something different or because opening a wall revealed something that has to be dealt with.

Changes are handled through a written change order rather than a conversation. It records what is changing, what it costs, and what it does to the schedule, and both parties sign before the altered work starts.

A formal amendment to an active construction contract. It states the change to the scope, the price adjustment, and any extension to the timeline.

Both parties sign it before the work begins. That sequence is the entire point — a change agreed verbally and priced afterwards is the single most common source of disputes in residential construction.

Work in that area stops, we document what was found, and we price the remedy as a change order before continuing.

In San Diego's pre-1980 housing stock the usual finds are asbestos-containing materials, lead paint under later coats, galvanised supply lines corroded from the inside, and undersized or outdated electrical panels. None of these are exotic. They are common enough that we assess for them before demolition rather than discovering them during it.

Because two square-footage thresholds decide what you pay in fees, and they are worth designing around.

• Under 750 sq ft — local agencies cannot charge impact fees
• Under 500 sq ft — school district fees do not apply; above it, districts may levy on the assessable area

The difference between a unit at 505 sq ft and one at 495 sq ft is five square feet of floor and, potentially, a fee that buys nothing. Which thresholds apply, and how they interact with your parcel's ordinance, is something to settle before drawings are produced.

Our San Diego ADU ordinance guide goes through this in detail.

Because 500 is a threshold, and 498 is under it. Staying below that line keeps the unit outside school district fees entirely.

Two square feet is not a design compromise at that size — it is a slightly shorter run of cabinetry or a marginally tighter hallway. The fee it avoids is not marginal.

We built exactly this: a 498 sq ft detached ADU in San Diego, from slab through to certificate of occupancy.

Call 619-577-3749 or email info@sheinerconstruction.com. Both reach the people who will actually run your project, not a call centre.

You can also use the form on our contact page. Tell us the project type, the address, and roughly when you are planning to start — that is enough for us to come back with something useful rather than a generic reply.