Your ADU Contractor in Ventura

Ask the builder which two city maps they check before drawing anything. In Ventura the answer should be the Fire Hazard Severity Zone map adopted in July 2025, where the city's FAQ says only a JADU is allowed in High and Very High areas, and the Coastal Zone boundary, where an Administrative Coastal Development Permit may be required. A builder who skips those lookups draws a unit the city will not approve. Master Construction designs, permits and builds ADUs across Ventura under Lic. #1027281, family owned since 1994, with electrical, plumbing, concrete and roofing on our own crews.

Type first: a garage conversion reuses walls and a roof, a detached unit buys a foundation, framing and a roof of its own, and a JADU inside the house sits between them. Size sets the next tier, with the 750 sq ft line deciding whether sewer, water and school impact fees apply. Then the utility runs: distance to the sewer lateral, whether the panel carries a subpanel or needs a 200-amp upgrade, and any Orangeburg sewer pipe in the older tracts. Coastal or hillside overlays add reports and review time. Finishes and a pre-approved versus custom plan set finish the list. We walk the lot, then write a fixed-price scope.

Plan check and construction are two separate halves. As of 2026 the city has 15 business days to confirm a complete package and 60 days from a complete application to approve or deny, or 30 days when a detached unit uses a Ventura pre-approved plan. In Pierpont or the Keys the coastal permit runs concurrently on its own 60-day clock with no public hearing, and the city's 10-day local appeal window closes before the building permit issues. Construction runs a few months for a garage conversion and longer for a detached unit, with the panel upgrade and sewer tie-in scheduled inside that window. We date both halves before you sign.

Yes. Building and Safety has pre-approved three free plan sets: a one-bedroom at 700 sq ft, a two-bedroom at 900 sq ft and a three-bedroom at 1,188 sq ft. The drawings download from the city's ADU plans page, and using one reduces plan review fees and review time. Facade materials can change; the structure cannot. They apply in the R-1, R-2, R-3 and residential mixed-use zones, and a Coastal Zone parcel may still need a coastal permit. Only the 700 sq ft set sits under the 750 sq ft impact-fee line, and the three-bedroom exceeds the city's 1,000 sq ft multi-bedroom cap, so confirm it with Planning first.

Yes in the residential zones, and the city's ordinance makes it the easiest path. A converted garage has no size limit, keeps its existing setbacks, and needs no replacement parking. State law allows up to 150 sq ft of added floor area for a proper entry. The build is about what a garage lacks: a slab with a vapor barrier or a floor system over it, insulated walls and ceiling, egress windows, a kitchen and bath drained to the lateral, and a panel that can feed the unit. Older Avenue and Downtown garages often need the electrical service upgraded first. A VenturaOPS permit is always required.

The city's ADU FAQ states that ADUs are not allowed in the High and Very High fire hazard areas, and that JADUs are. The zones come from the CAL FIRE map adopted July 1, 2025 and cover much of Clearpoint, Ondulando, Skyline and Ventura Hills. On a mapped lot the path is a junior ADU of up to 500 sq ft inside the house, with its own entrance and an efficiency kitchen. The city's page still asks for a recorded owner-occupancy statement. Since January 2026 (AB 1154) state law requires that only when the JADU shares a bathroom with the house, and the state standard overrides a conflicting local rule.

Yes, for terms longer than 30 days. Under SBMC 24.430.041, once a property has an ADU both the main house and the unit may only be rented for more than 30 days, and the city will not issue a short-term vacation rental permit for either one. That rule was folded into the certified Local Coastal Program in 2026, so it applies in Pierpont and the Keys the same as in Midtown. There is no owner-occupancy requirement for a standard ADU, so a non-resident owner can build and rent one. Tenants for a long-term unit here come from the Government Center, the hospitals, Ventura College and the naval base commute.

No. California 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, with no fees allowed as a condition since 2025. What a board keeps is reasonable architectural review: materials, colors and placement that do not add unreasonable cost or block the unit outright. In the Ventura Keys that review runs next to the coastal permit, so we prepare one package that answers both. Boards that call us get the same written feasibility read an owner does.

Yes, under one contract. The feasibility read comes first: zoning, fire zone and coastal lookups, setbacks, panel capacity, sewer lateral and whether a city pre-approved plan fits the lot. Design-build follows, with the budget updated at each drawing milestone, the permit package assembled to VenturaOPS's five-file PDF rule and any coastal application filed at the same time. Our own crews then run the concrete, framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall and roofing through final inspection. One schedule and one fixed price carry from drawings to keys. Call (805) 667-8800 to start with the feasibility read.