Your ADU Contractor in Ojai

Ask which side of the city line the parcel sits on before anything else, because the answer changes the permit desk, the rules and often the utilities. A builder who does not know that Meiners Oaks, Oak View and most of the East End go through Ventura County rather than Ojai City Hall has not worked the valley. The second question is whether converting the existing guest house or garage beats a new build once the sanitary district capacity charge is counted. Master Construction has built in the Ojai Valley for over 30 years, family owned since 1994, Lic. #1027281, with electrical, plumbing, concrete and roofing on our own crews.

Conversion or new build is the first driver, and in Ojai it carries a second meaning: the Ojai Valley Sanitary District waives capacity charges on a conversion of existing space and charges them on a newly built unit. Size comes next, with the 750 sq ft line deciding whether impact fees apply and the 500 sq ft line deciding school fees. Then the runs: sewer lateral or septic, subpanel or service upgrade, and whether the Casitas meter has to be enlarged. A fire-zone parcel adds WUI construction. Finishes and the free city plan versus a custom set finish the list. We walk the lot, then write a fixed-price scope.

Two halves: approvals and construction. As of 2026 the city has 15 business days to confirm your application is complete and list any missing items, then 60 days from a complete application to approve or deny; a detached unit built from the city's pre-approved plan gets a 30-day decision. A unit that meets the design criteria is approved by the Community Development Director without a hearing. One that does not goes to a Design Review Permit, and that is where Ojai calendars stretch. Construction typically runs a few months for a conversion and longer for a detached unit, with sewer, meter and panel work scheduled inside that window.

Yes, one, and it is free. The city posts a detached one-bedroom plan at 499 sq ft by Design Path Studio in three exteriors, Ranch, Spanish and Traditional, each drawn with or without a porch. Roof, trim, wall and window colors must match the main house. The set still needs a site plan, a Title 24 report, a grading checklist, a FEMA flood-zone check, a sewer or septic selection and a PV system running before final inspection. State law gives a pre-approved detached unit a 30-day decision. It fits a flat in-town lot well; on a sloped or oak-covered parcel a custom set may pencil better once grading is counted.

Yes, and inside the city it is the low-fee path for a reason specific to Ojai: the sanitary district exempts conversions of existing space from its connection fees and capacity charges. A garage conversion keeps its existing setbacks, needs no replacement parking and can grow up to 150 sq ft for an entry under state law. The build is about what the garage lacks: a vapor barrier under the slab, insulation, egress windows, a kitchen and bath tied into the lateral, and a panel that can feed the unit. A JADU carved from an attached garage is a separate option with no parking requirement. A building permit is always required.

On a mapped parcel, yes. CAL FIRE released new Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps for the city and the unincorporated valley on March 10, 2025, and the Ventura County Fire Protection District adopted them effective July 1, 2025. The foothills toward Nordhoff Ridge, Shelf Road, Upper Ojai and the East End groves are the parcels to check on the Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council map. In a Very High zone the unit goes up under the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (formerly Chapter 7A), which governs roof class, vents, siding, eaves and the first five feet of ground, and the city's pre-approved plan adds sprinklers on any parcel in that zone.

Yes, as long as each stay runs more than 30 days. Ojai bans short-term rentals citywide: Resolution 16-07 confirmed the ban in 2016, rentals of 30 days or less are illegal in residential and village mixed-use zones, only hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts are exempt, and advertising a unit for shorter stays draws warnings and citations from Community Development. No owner-occupancy rule applies to a standard ADU, so a non-resident owner can build and rent one; a JADU sharing a bathroom with the house is the exception. Tenants come from the valley's hospitality and retail workforce or a family placing a parent close by.

No. Civil Code 4751 makes any CC&R provision that prohibits or unreasonably restricts an ADU or JADU on a single-family lot void and unenforceable, and Civil Code 714.3 applies the same rule to deed covenants outside an association; since AB 130 took effect in mid-2025, 714.3 also says a reasonable restriction cannot include fees or other financial requirements. HCD's October 2025 letter reminded the city that HOA review cannot be a condition of city approval either. What a board keeps is objective architectural review, and in Ojai the city already requires the unit's roof, trim, wall and window colors to match the house, so one package usually answers both reviewers.

Yes, under one contract. The feasibility read comes first: city or county jurisdiction, fire-zone and flood lookups, setbacks and oak locations, sewer lateral or septic capacity, the Casitas meter and the panel. Design-build follows, drawn to the city's color-match criteria or the county's standards and priced as it is drawn, with the permit set folded and packaged the way the Ojai counter wants it. Our own crews then run the concrete, framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, stucco and roofing through final inspection, with fire-rated details wherever the map or the setback calls for them. One schedule and one fixed price. Call (805) 667-8800 to start.