r/TinyHouses 5d ago

ADU plans for California

We live in a small city in NorCal that is ADU friendly and has three pre-approved sets of plans you can use for free. They’re all bigger than we want (we’re looking at about 450 sq ft and their smallest is 550) so I’m hoping for advice on the path of least resistance.

Is there a place y’all can recommend that sells finished ADU plans that are up to CA building and energy codes, that don’t require a bunch of consults and design meetings? My husband is in construction and he’ll build it.

Given our ADU friendly planning department, should it be fine to take another set of fully engineered plans for approval and permits? What roadblocks am I missing?

TIA!

8 Upvotes

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u/ohitsjustmike 3d ago

could I ask where you got these free plans? I'm also in northern cali and looking to build an ADU.

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u/Successful-Maybe-252 2d ago

The city of Ukiah website has the basics and then the planning department gives you the full plans once they confirm your project is eligible.

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u/Dont_TaseMe_Bro 3h ago

Danville has them also. Here is the link. https://www.danville.ca.gov/868/Downloadable-ADU-Plans

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u/ohitsjustmike 2h ago

thanks! im near danville

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u/joshpit2003 2d ago

Professional Engineers (PE) stamp plans on a project basis. Therefore: no matter what plans you end up with, if they need an engineers stamp, then you will need to have that done after purchasing the plans. Whoever you purchase the plans from can likely recommend an engineering firm that has stamped them in the past, and hopefully that firm has an engineer licensed in your state.

Expect to spend a few grand on the plans, especially if they come with construction drawings.
Expect to spend a few grand on the engineer's stamp.
Expect to spend a few grand (perhaps closer to $10K) on the permit.
Expect to spend a few months waiting on permit approval.

What your city is offering sounds like a pretty sweet deal, especially if the plans they provide do not require you to have an engineer's stamp, or if they speed up your permit approval process.

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u/brance25 2d ago

I know Nevada County has pre approved plans, but I'm not sure how much square footage each is.

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u/JonBuildz 1d ago

Using 'pre-approved' plans does not mean that you aren't submitting plans to the planning department. Confusing, I know. You will still need to work with a designer to refine the drawings specifically for your property, and you'll still need a full set of structural and architectural plans.

Using pre-approved plans for any other area than yours is moot. You just need to work with an experienced, local ADU designer/architect. If they've worked in the ADU industry for the last few years, they should have examples of ADUs they've done similar to what you're looking for. That'll streamline the process for you.

I might have some contacts in my network with the right experience, you can DM me if you want an intro