Home Addition Contractor in Calabasas

Ask how the contractor will keep the addition at the right review tier. In Calabasas, an addition of 400 sq ft or less and under 20 percent of the house is a staff Zoning Clearance, while larger additions go to a public hearing, so the design decision is also a permitting decision. Then ask who handles LA County Fire, the oaks and the geologic study. Master Construction works under Lic. #1027281, licensed and insured and family owned since 1994, and carries Planning, Building and Safety, the fire items and the build on one contract with our own concrete, electrical and plumbing crews.

Size and type drive the base, and in Calabasas size also sets the review: a Zoning Clearance addition, a Director hearing and a Planning Commission hearing carry different design and approval work. Structure is next. A hillside pad needs a geologic study and stepped footings, clay soils may need deeper foundations, and a second story means engineering the existing walls and taking part of the roof off. An addition of half the house or more adds a fuel modification plan. Oak permits, panel capacity, HVAC, a school fee over 500 sq ft and finishes follow. After a walk of the lot, you get a written fixed-price scope.

The review tier sets the first part. A staff Zoning Clearance moves without a hearing; a Director or Planning Commission hearing adds notice, a public meeting and a 10-business-day appeal window after the decision. Building and Safety plan check follows Planning approval, with LA County Fire items and any fuel modification plan alongside, and an oak report wherever work reaches a protected zone. Plan check time varies by desk and season, so we do not promise a date we cannot control. On site, a bump-out is the shortest build and a second story the longest, since part of the roof comes off.

Planning goes first. A residential addition up to 400 sq ft and under 20 percent of the existing floor area takes a staff Zoning Clearance; larger additions, counted with any from the previous five years, go to an Administrative Plan Review or Site Plan Review hearing, and anything over 1,200 sq ft goes to the Planning Commission. In the Old Topanga and Calabasas Highlands overlays the Commission threshold is 250 sq ft. After Planning approves, Building and Safety issues the building permit through its portal, reachable at (818) 224-2534. Oak Tree, Scenic Corridor and LA County Fire approvals apply where the lot triggers them.

Usually, within the RS height limit of 35 ft; we found no RS story limit in the code text. The process is the real question. A second floor large enough to matter typically crosses the 400 sq ft or 20 percent line, so it goes to a Director or Planning Commission hearing, where the Commission must find it compatible with the surrounding area, and the Architectural Review Panel may advise on design. Scenic corridor lots add a permit and possibly a photo simulation, and mapped ridgeline homes are capped at a 1,200 sq ft addition. An engineer also reviews the existing footings and walls first.

Yes, on every lot. The City states that all of Calabasas is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and the City relies on the Los Angeles County Fire Department for fire review. LA County Fire's Forestry Division requires a fuel modification plan for an addition equal to 50 percent or more of the existing square footage: three managed zones out to 200 ft or the property line, a recorded covenant and a landscape inspection. Construction follows the 2025 California codes the City adopted for 2026, including the Wildland-Urban Interface Code where it reaches the addition, and we settle the exterior spec with Building and Safety during design.

For most ground-floor work, yes. A room addition or bump-out is built against the existing exterior wall, and the opening into the house is cut near the end, behind dust barriers, so the kitchen and bedrooms keep working. An over-garage room mainly takes the garage out of service for a stretch. A second story is harder, because part of the roof comes off and the rooms below become a work zone; many families move out for that phase. In a gated community we register crews and keep to its hours. Which rooms close, and for how long, is on the schedule you sign.

If the house is in an association, yes, and the board's review runs separately from the City's. The City's Housing Element notes that its association communities all have strong aesthetic and maintenance standards, and guard-gated communities such as The Oaks and Calabasas Hills are among them. Many older streets in the city have no association at all. Civil Code 4765 requires the board to decide in good faith and in writing, explain any denial and offer reconsideration, though it does not override the CC&Rs. We prepare the committee package and the Planning set from one drawing.

Build an addition when the space belongs to the household: a ground-floor primary suite, a room for a parent, an office over the garage. It shares the kitchen, keeps the two garage spaces the City requires, and only the added value is reassessed. Build an ADU when the goal is a separate unit with its own entrance and kitchen for a relative, a caregiver or a long-term tenant. Both carry LA County Fire review in Calabasas. The ADU rules, including the city's pre-approved plans, are on our ADU construction in Calabasas page, and we build both.