Permits in Glendale vs Burbank vs LA: how they differ

One region, three separate building departments

"Getting a permit in LA" means three different things depending on which side of an invisible line your house sits on. Burbank runs its own Building & Safety Division. Glendale runs its own through Community Development. The City of Los Angeles runs LADBS — a department serving 469 square miles, from San Pedro to Sylmar. Different counters, different plan checkers, different fee schedules, different moods.

We are based in Burbank and permit projects in all three. Here is how they actually compare from the contractor's side of the counter.

Burbank: small, structured, predictable

Burbank's process has a rhythm you can plan around. Within about the first 48 hours of a submittal, the Planning Division screens the project against zoning — a quick viability check before real plan review starts. After that, reviews move on a weekly cadence.

For timelines: a straightforward kitchen or bathroom remodel typically clears plan check in 2–6 weeks; additions, ADUs, and pools run about 4–8 weeks of initial review, plus correction cycles. Simple like-for-like permits can be issued in days. We covered the full process in our post on how long a permit takes in Burbank.

The Burbank quirk to know: predictability cuts both ways. The weekly review cadence means progress comes in weekly steps — a small correction can still cost you a full cycle.

Glendale: similar promise, longer tail

Glendale quotes a standard plan-review cycle of 4–8 weeks for additions, ADUs, and hillside work, and for a clean submittal that is realistic. But Glendale's own published turnaround averages have run much longer — initial building plan review has averaged around 109 days, and ADU permits in the last published table averaged 257 days start to finish. Averages include messy submittals, so treat them as a warning about correction cycles, not a guarantee of doom.

Two Glendale specifics worth knowing: plan check approval stays valid for a full year from submittal, and a large share of the city is hillside — which layers grading, drainage, and fire-access review on top of the building review. If your project is in the Verdugo foothills, the hillside review, not the building department, is the schedule. More on the housing stock side in our post on remodeling in Glendale.

City of LA: the biggest queue, the widest spread

LADBS is a different animal. It is the only one of the three with a true express lane — simple permits (water heaters, reroofs, some kitchen/bath work) can be issued same-day online or over the counter. That is the good news.

The other end of the spread is where LA earns its reputation. Anything that needs the Planning Department — hillside ordinances, Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, Conditional Use Permits — leaves Building & Safety's control entirely, and 4–8 months is a normal range for those projects. A standard commercial tenant improvement plan check runs 6–12 weeks. Multiple agencies can each hold their own review: Planning, Fire, Sanitation, DWP.

The LA quirk to know: the department is genuinely two systems in one. If you can structure a project to stay within express or standard plan check, do it — the difference is measured in months.

What this means when you hire

Ask any contractor bidding your job one question: how many projects have you permitted in this city? A schedule built on LADBS assumptions will be wrong in Glendale, and vice versa. When we bid kitchen or addition work, the permit path — which department, which reviews, realistic cycle count — is part of the bid, because in this region the department your address belongs to is one of the biggest schedule variables in the whole project.

Timelines above are typical published and observed ranges as of mid-2026, not a promise — all three departments' queues move with workload. Confirm current times with the city before you build a schedule around them.

---

DN Builders Group Inc is a licensed, bonded general contractor based in Burbank (CA Lic. #1139710), permitting and building across Burbank, Glendale, and the City of Los Angeles. Request a walkthrough or call (323) 687-7775. This is general information, not legal advice — confirm current requirements with your city's building department.

Questions

Can I choose to permit my project through LA County instead of my city?

No. Jurisdiction follows the property line. If the house is in Burbank, only Burbank Building & Safety can permit it; same for Glendale and the City of LA. County Public Works only handles unincorporated areas. The practical takeaway is to make sure your contractor has actually permitted jobs in your specific city, because fluency in one department does not transfer automatically.

Which of the three cities is cheapest for permits?

Fee schedules differ, but for a typical remodel the permit fees track the project valuation similarly in all three — usually a few percent of construction cost once plan check, permit, and school or utility fees stack up. The real money difference is time, not fees. Two extra months of plan check costs more in carrying costs and contractor scheduling than the fee delta between cities ever will.

Does the 60-day state ADU rule apply in all three cities?

Yes. California law caps ADU plan review at 60 days from a complete application in every jurisdiction — Burbank, Glendale, and LA included. The catch is the word "complete." An application with missing items does not start the clock, and each correction cycle effectively restarts the wait. That is why published ADU averages can far exceed 60 days without any city breaking the law.