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Plain answers to the questions Los Angeles homeowners ask us most: what the insurance company pays for after a fire, whether the old foundation can stay, who issues the rebuild permit, how an ADU fits in, how long an ADU takes, whether the state grant is still open, what design-build changes, and how much a contractor can ask for up front under California law. Every answer is reviewed by Tomer Fedida, founder of Axe Construction, licensed California attorney and qualifying general contractor on CSLB License #1069232. If you only read one note on this page: the project goes faster when the important documents (policy, scope of loss, assessor records, prior plans) are in one folder before the first site visit. Stay organized and the rest of the process follows.
Answers reviewed by Tomer Fedida, founder, licensed California attorney and qualifying general contractor · Last updated Nov 5, 2026
AXE CONSTRUCTION INC
CSLB Lic #1069232 · Class B General Building
Current and active · Workers’ comp on file
Usually yes, up to the policy’s dwelling limit, and the details of your insurance coverage decide how far the money goes. Coverage A pays to rebuild the house; code upgrade (ordinance or law) coverage pays for code requirements that changed since the house was built; additional living expense pays rent while you are out. Replacement cost policies pay what it costs to rebuild today, while actual cash value policies deduct depreciation. After the January 2025 emergency declaration, the California Department of Insurance ordered insurers to give fire survivors at least 36 months from the first payment to collect full replacement cost, an advance of at least four months of living expenses, and a contents advance of 30% of the dwelling limit, up to $250,000, without an itemized inventory. Those rules are published by the Department. You are not required to rebuild on the same property: California Insurance Code Section 2051.5 lets a policyholder collect replacement cost by rebuilding elsewhere or buying an existing home. Report the loss promptly, document everything, and expect the rebuild funds to be released in stages tied to construction milestones rather than in one check. Two more things to know: construction costs rise after a major disaster, which is why many Palisades and Altadena families are underinsured; and the new house must meet current code requirements, including the wildfire safety code (Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, noncombustible siding, a five-foot ember-resistant zone and defensible space) that older homes never had, which is exactly what code upgrade coverage is for. If the payout does not reach the construction costs, the usual answers are a like-for-like design, an ADU for rental income, and construction financing. Our fire rebuild insurance claim guide walks through the scope of loss line by line, and our cost guide explains the factors that drive the overall cost.
In most cases, no. Concrete loses strength when it is heated past roughly 300°C, the damage is often invisible, and the steel inside the slab can be compromised without a visible crack. A structural engineer can core and test a slab and sign off on reuse, but the building department will still require a soils report and a foundation that meets current code, and most engineers will not stamp a new building on a slab that went through a structure fire. In the Palisades and Eaton fire areas the government debris removal program removed foundations by default; keeping one required an engineer’s evaluation and the jurisdiction’s approval. A new foundation does not cost you like-for-like status, and it is the moment to decide on a different layout or a slightly larger footprint within the allowance, because the slab is drawn to the new design. Plan on new footings, and treat any contractor who promises to build on the old slab without an engineer’s report as a warning sign. The full sequence, from debris removal to final inspections, is in our guide to rebuilding a house after a fire in Los Angeles.
Yes, always, and the agency depends on the address. Pacific Palisades is inside the City of Los Angeles, so permits come from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety under the City’s emergency rebuild orders. Altadena is unincorporated Los Angeles County, so permits come from County Regional Planning and the Building and Safety Division of Public Works through a Disaster Recovery Permit filed on the EPIC-LA portal. Pasadena addresses go through the City of Pasadena Permit Center under the city’s own ordinance. In each case the permitting process for a like-for-like rebuild is ministerial, with no hearing, and LA County allows the new home to be up to 10% or 200 square feet larger than the one that burned. A demolition or grading permit, and a retaining wall permit on hillside lots, can be required alongside the building permit, and a permit can be issued to the owner or to the contractor. Expect inspections at every stage, from footings to final. Timelines run from several months to more than a year: pre-construction (clearance, the claim, design and plan check) commonly takes 3 to 12 months, and construction 6 to 12 months by our estimate; the County’s like-for-like track and the City’s self-certification program are the local actions that shorten it. Building without a permit means no certificate of occupancy, no final insurance payment, and a house that cannot be legally sold or insured. As your licensed contractor we file and manage the permit; see our Pacific Palisades and Altadena and Eaton Fire pages for each process.
Yes. LA County’s Disaster Recovery Ordinance lets a like-for-like rebuild project include a new accessory dwelling unit or junior ADU, with no replacement parking required, and putting the ADU on the same permit timeline as the house is the least expensive way to build one. In the City of Los Angeles an ADU is approved ministerially under state law and can be designed and filed alongside the rebuild. Two cautions: fee waivers for fire rebuilds generally cover the house that stood before the fire, not a new structure, so budget normal permit fees for the ADU portion; and in Pasadena the city’s fee waiver specifically excludes converting a destroyed garage into an ADU. On March 3, 2026 the LA County Board of Supervisors approved $3.8 million in state funds for ADU grants to 35 to 50 households in unincorporated areas, with a focus on the Eaton Fire community, administered by San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity; the units must stay affordable for ten years, and application details were still pending when this page was updated. Our ADU builder page covers sizes, heights, setbacks and our design-build services for every ADU type.
For a garage conversion, plan on roughly four to six months from the day the plans are approved to completion: state law gives the city 60 days to approve or deny a complete ADU application, our garage-conversion permits have typically run 6 to 8 weeks at LADBS, and construction runs 10 to 14 weeks by our estimate from past projects. A new detached or two-story ADU takes longer because the foundation, framing and utilities begin from scratch, and the design phase in front of both adds time for the architect’s drawings, structural calculations, Title 24 energy documents and utility checks. The three things that stretch an ADU timeline are correction rounds at plan check, sewer or electrical upgrades discovered late, and finish materials chosen after framing. We give every client a dated schedule at the complimentary site visit and report against it every week. Permit steps and the regulations by city are on our ADU plans and permits page.
Not as of this writing. The California Housing Finance Agency’s ADU Grant Program paid up to $40,000 toward pre-development costs such as plans, permits and soils reports for income-qualified homeowners. CalHFA’s program page states that the latest round of funding was fully allocated in December 2023, and no new round had been announced when this page was last updated. CalHFA also warns that anyone charging a fee to “get you the grant” is running a scam, so protect yourself and check calhfa.ca.gov directly before counting on it. For Eaton Fire households in unincorporated LA County, the County’s new $3.8 million ADU grant program described above is the one to watch. Otherwise, ADUs in Los Angeles are financed with home equity lines, renovation loans and construction loans; we partner with construction lending companies and can assist with the introduction at the site visit.
A general contractor, or builder, builds from plans someone else drew; you hire an architect first, the drawings go out to bid, and cost is discovered after the design is finished. A design-build firm holds one contract for both design and construction, so the plans are priced while they are drawn and the same company answers to the client for scope, budget and schedule. An architect hired separately typically charges a percentage of construction cost, commonly cited at 10 to 15%, on top of the builder’s price, and the owner coordinates the two. A design-build firm also handles the permits and inspections as part of the same contract. The usual objection to design-build is that the builder prices its own design, with less independent review. The answer is a written line-item estimate with allowances spelled out, plans you own once they are paid for, and the right to have a third party review the numbers before you sign. Design-build is not more expensive; it replaces two contracts between three parties with one, and it avoids the redesign that happens when a bid comes in above the budget. For example, a hillside lot that needs a retaining wall gets priced during design, not after the permit. Our licensed architect and engineering partners prepare the stamped drawings under our contract. See design-build in Los Angeles for how we run it.
For a home improvement contract, California law caps the down payment at $1,000 or 10% of the contract price, whichever is less, under Business and Professions Code Section 7159, and no progress payment may exceed the value of the work performed or materials delivered. A request for 30% or 50% up front is a violation on a home improvement job and a warning sign on any job. Ground-up construction on a cleared lot is not always a “home improvement” contract under the statute’s definition, which is why some rebuild contractors ask for more; Axe Construction applies the same cap to every rebuild, ADU and custom home contract and ties progress payments to completed milestones, with lien releases at each one. Before hiring anyone, check the contractor at the Contractors State License Board: status current and active, classification B General Building, workers’ compensation on file. Ours is License #1069232, and our license and insurance page links to the live record.
Call (323) 729-3140, email info@axeconstruction.com, or schedule a consultation and site walk. We review the lot, the rules that apply to it, and the path to a permit before you commit to anything.
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Answers are summarized from official sources as of November 2026 and the rules change often; confirm current requirements with your building department and insurer. Axe Construction is a licensed general building contractor (CSLB Lic #1069232) and does not provide legal, insurance-adjusting or remediation services.