AXE CONSTRUCTION INC · CSLB Lic #1069232 · Class B General Building · Licensed and insured since 2020 · Verify our license
Axe Construction is a licensed Class B general building contractor that rebuilds homes and commercial buildings destroyed by fire across Los Angeles, including the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire areas. Design, engineering, rebuild permits, insurance-scope coordination and construction run under one contract, from the cleared lot to the certificate of occupancy. One team, one point of contact, for homeowners in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Malibu, Pasadena and the communities around them.
AXE CONSTRUCTION INC · CSLB Lic #1069232 · Class B General Building
A fire rebuild contractor takes a property from an empty, cleared lot to a finished, inspected building. Fire rebuild projects are new construction in every sense, with one difference: the lot, the insurance scope and the rebuilding efforts of a whole community set the terms. That means coordinating the architectural plans and structural plans, filing for rebuild permits, scheduling the subcontractors, and running every city or county inspection until the certificate of occupancy is issued. On an insurance-funded rebuild it also means reading the insurance scope against the lot and the building code so the homeowners know what is funded before design starts.
Here is what Axe Construction does on a fire rebuild in Los Angeles:
Here is what we do not do. We are not a restoration company. We do not clean smoke, soot or odor from a standing house, dry water damage, treat mold or board up windows. We do not take partial repairs, kitchen remodel jobs, renovations or room additions. If your home is still standing and needs repair, a restoration contractor is the right call. If it is gone, we are. Our services begin where the cleanup ends.
Every fire rebuild in Los Angeles County moves through the same sequence, whether the property is one of the single family homes lost in Altadena or a commercial building in Pacific Palisades. Knowing which step you are on tells you what to do next, and where our support and guidance begin.
Three different governments issue rebuild permits in the Los Angeles fire areas, and each has its own rules on top of California state law. The first job on any rebuild is confirming which one your lot sits in, because that location decides the approval process, the fees and the timeline.
Pacific Palisades is inside the City of Los Angeles, so permits come from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, with planning handled under the Mayor’s emergency executive orders:
Our Pacific Palisades fire rebuild page covers the City process step by step.
Altadena is unincorporated Los Angeles County, so Eaton Fire rebuilds go through the County, not the City. The County’s Disaster Recovery Ordinance created a streamlined Disaster Recovery Permit for fire survivors:
Our Altadena and Eaton Fire rebuild page walks through the County process.
Pasadena issues its own permits through the Pasadena Permit Center and passed its own rebuild ordinance and fee waiver for Eaton Fire properties inside city limits. See our Pasadena home builders page for those rules.
Coastal zones add a layer. Lots in the coastal zones of Malibu and the unincorporated Santa Monica Mountains follow the County’s like-for-like interpretation: a replacement that stays within 110% of the prior footprint and height avoids a new Coastal Act permit, while added decks or larger footprints do not. We confirm coastal status at the site walk.
Like-for-like rebuilds are the fastest path in every jurisdiction, because they skip discretionary planning review and, in the City of Los Angeles, Coastal Act review. For most homeowners the question is whether the 10% allowance, or 200 square feet in Altadena, is enough to fix what the old house got wrong.
Going bigger is allowed, but it changes the approval process. The project is measured against current zoning, hillside and setback rules apply, fee programs stop covering the excess, and plan check takes longer. We lay out both options against your lot, your insurance scope and the local regulations before design starts, so the decision is made with numbers rather than guesses.
A rebuild ordinance is a legal document first. I read it the way I was trained to, line by line, before we draw anything. That is how we know what a lot allows and what it does not, and it is why our plan checks run with fewer surprises.
Like-for-like rules relax zoning, not the building code. Every rebuild is built to the code in effect when the permit issues. For lots in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, that now includes the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Title 24 Part 7, which took effect on January 1, 2026 and absorbed the requirements that used to sit in Chapter 7A of the California Building Code. In plain terms, the code requires:
These are code requirements across California, and they are also the single biggest reason a rebuilt home performs differently from the one that burned. We design to them from the first sketch so they do not appear as corrections in plan check, and so the completion inspection has nothing to flag.
Wildfire rebuilds are also reviewed for what surrounds the house. The fire code requires defensible space and vegetation management around the structure, fire department access, and a water supply that meets the local standard. On hillside and canyon lots these items can shape the site plan, so we check them before the architect draws anything.
Our estimate, based on past projects, is that most fire rebuilds take 6 to 12 months from demolition to move-in. That is construction time. Design and plan check come before it, and the jurisdiction sets that pace: the City of Los Angeles, LA County, Malibu and Pasadena each publish permit counts and average review days on the state’s Rebuilding LA dashboard, updated weekly.
Two things shorten the total timeline more than anything else: a complete, code-checked plan set that earns fewer correction rounds, and a decision on like-for-like versus bigger made before design starts. Both are part of our process, not extras. Complex lots, hillside, coastal or shared-driveway, take longer, and we say so at the site walk rather than after the permit.
See our guide to the cost to rebuild a house after a fire in Los Angeles.
An insurance-funded rebuild has two sets of numbers: what the policy pays and what the rebuild costs. We put them side by side early. We review the scope of loss, compare it with the current building code and the wildfire code, identify items that ordinance-or-law coverage may fund, and flag gaps so you can take them to your carrier before construction, not after. Throughout the build, we coordinate directly with your adjuster to keep the scope aligned and resolve discrepancies as they come up.
We are contractors, not public adjusters or attorneys for your claim, and we cannot change what your policy covers. What we can do is make sure nobody is surprised by the difference.
Read our guide to the fire rebuild insurance claim process.
An insurance scope is a contract too. I read it against the lot and the building code before anyone picks a floor plan, so the homeowner knows where the numbers land before they commit.
Often, yes, and for many families it is the right time to do it. LA County allows a new accessory dwelling unit or junior ADU as part of an Eaton Fire like-for-like rebuild. In the City of Los Angeles, an ADU that did not exist before the fire needs its own planning clearance alongside the like-for-like main house. In Pasadena, the city’s fee waiver does not cover new structures, including a garage rebuilt as an ADU. A new ADU is new construction on the same permit timeline as the house, so it is cheapest to plan at the start. See our ADU construction and garage conversion ADU pages for how we build them.
Yes. Commercial structures destroyed by fire can rebuild under the same like-for-like rules in the City of Los Angeles, and Emergency Executive Order 10 added options for businesses in the Palisades Village area, including a tenant-improvement self-certification program. In LA County, the Disaster Recovery Ordinance covers commercial rebuilds as well. We coordinate the plans, run the permits and build, the same way we do for single family homes and accessory structures, so the property can reopen as soon as the approval process allows.
Founder Tomer Fedida is a licensed California attorney and the qualifying general contractor on CSLB License #1069232. He earned his law degree at Loyola Law School and spent 14 years in Los Angeles real estate development before leading Axe Construction. On a fire rebuild that background shows up in three places most builders leave to chance: the contract you sign, the ordinances your permit depends on, and the insurance scope that funds the work. Axe Construction does not provide legal services; it builds with the fine print already read.
Most construction disputes start in the contract, not on the job site. I went to law school before I became a contractor, so every agreement we write spells out scope, allowances, change orders and the schedule in plain terms. When nothing is left vague, there is nothing to argue about later.
Learn more about Axe Construction
Contractor recommendations on neighborhood forums are a starting point, not a check. Hiring the wrong company is the most expensive mistake a fire rebuild can absorb. Before you sign anything with any company, including us:
Lost a home or building to fire in Los Angeles? Call (323) 729-3140 or Schedule a rebuild consultation through our contact page. Bring your insurance scope and lot details. We will walk the site, map the permit path for your jurisdiction, and show you where the numbers land before you commit to anything.
AXE CONSTRUCTION INC · CSLB Lic #1069232 · Class B General Building 8383 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 363, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 · (323) 729-3140
Whether you’re just beginning the insurance process or ready to break ground, Axe Construction is here to help you rebuild with confidence. We streamline every phase from permits to construction with expert legal support, design excellence, and total transparency.