City of Campbell

A city address is usually permitted by the city, not the county — but not always, and some authorities keep building and hand electrical to someone else. Getting this wrong costs the whole submittal, because every requirement below belongs to whoever actually holds jurisdiction. Check the overlays in the same pass: an HOA, a historic district, a windstorm certification or a system-size cap can reshape the design, and all of them are cheaper to find now than after the array is laid out.

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? Yes 95% · authority page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 90% · building application guide
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 95% · municipal code
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 85% · building application guide
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No 55% · municipal code
• Is there a historic-district review? No dedicated historic-district review for solar found 55% · municipal code
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 55% · municipal code
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Not required for qualifying small residential rooftop PV (ministerial review under CMC 18.04.060/GC §65850.5); could be triggered for non-qualifying scope (e.g., system exceeding the 10kW AC/30kW-thermal ministerial threshold, or unusual siting) that falls back to standard discretionary review, though no specific SUP/Council-approval trigger for solar was found in Title 21. 55% · municipal code
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? 10 kW AC nameplate (or 30 kW thermal) is the threshold for the ministerial 'small residential rooftop solar energy system' expedited-review track under CMC 18.04.060; this is an eligibility cap for expedited/ministerial treatment, not a hard prohibition on larger residential systems (which would undergo standard, non-expedited review). 85% · municipal code

Several authorities require the electrical permit to be pulled by a licensed electrician, or require the contractor to be registered with them BEFORE applying. Registration is not same-day. This is second on the list rather than fourth because it is the step most likely to stop the job before the drawings matter.

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? Either 90% · building application guide
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 75% · building application guide
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 90% · building application guide

Almost everywhere wants a site plan, a one-line or three-line electrical diagram, equipment cut sheets with listings, and a structural attachment detail. Build it against the published checklist rather than the last jurisdiction you worked in — the checklist is what the reviewer marks against.

• What documents make up a complete submittal? Cover sheet (site address/APN/scope, ESS quantities/listings, required notations incl. CRC R324/CEC 690&705 conformance, torque-wrench note, meter height); Site plan; Floor plan (if indoor equipment); Roof plan (PV only, incl. pathway/access per State Fire Marshal & SCCFD guidance); Details incl. signage detail; Line diagram & electrical calcs; signed Acknowledgement Statement. Combined into a single PDF. 95% · building application guide
• How many copies, and in what format? Digital only — a single combined PDF (unlocked, not JPEG/PNG/DOC) uploaded through MyGovernmentOnline (MGO); a printed set must be kept on the jobsite once the permit is approved. Paper submittal is not accepted (a public kiosk exists for account setup only, not for downloading/emailing materials). 90% · building application guide
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes. Must show property lines/dimensions and building setbacks; driveways/walkways/parking; existing structures/equipment (A/C, W/H, generators); location of new PV/EV/ESS/panel equipment; all interconnected equipment incl. existing utility service and sub-panel (labelled existing vs new, overhead vs underground); required 30"x36" working clearances; existing/proposed utility runs and points of contact; and location/method of rapid shutdown with conduit/cable routing. 95% · building application guide
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 90% · building application guide
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Yes 85% · building application guide
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No fixed published PE-stamp threshold found for qualifying small-residential-rooftop systems. CMC 18.04.060(D)(1) only requires the applicant to 'verify...through the use of standard engineering evaluation techniques that the support structure...is stable and adequate' before submittal — self-verification, not a mandated PE stamp, for systems within the 10kW AC/30kW-thermal ministerial-review scope. A PE stamp would presumably be required case-by-case once a project falls outside that ministerial scope (e.g. ground mount, structural concern), but no such published numeric threshold was found. 55% · municipal code

Most authorities now take the whole application through a portal, and several states cap or constrain what a residential solar permit may cost. Check whether plan check is billed separately before you quote the job.

• Which permit portal does this authority use? MyGovernmentOnline (MGO) / MGO Connect — mygovernmentonline.org and mgoconnect.org 95% · authority page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes 90% · building application guide
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $477 flat for a Photovoltaic permit (with or without ESS/EVCS/Panel Rework); $228 flat if ESS/EVCS/Panel Rework is filed stand-alone as a basic electrical permit; $477 for a combination permit spanning ≥2 electrification disciplines; plan-check revisions $226 each. 80% · building application guide
• How is the fee calculated? Flat 85% · building application guide
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No 80% · building application guide

Interconnection is a separate process from the permit and usually the longer pole. Where the utility does not depend on the permit being issued, running both at once is the single biggest saving available on a residential job.

• What is the stated plan-review turnaround? Automatic (SolarAPP-style) track: permit issues in 1 day upon payment. Non-Automatic (standard plan check) track: 5-10 days. 85% · building application guide
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? 365 days from issuance 70% · building application guide
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Note: Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) is Campbell's Community Choice Aggregator for electricity generation/supply, confirmed by the City's own 'Silicon Valley Clean Energy' page, but PG&E remains the wires-owning utility that handles interconnection/PTO. 85% · building application guide
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? After permit / parallel-but-gated 65% · municipal code

The NEC edition a jurisdiction enforces is often a cycle behind the newest one published, and local amendments sit on top of it. Rapid shutdown, conductor sizing and labelling all change between editions, so the edition in force is the first thing to establish, not the last.

• Which NEC edition is in force? 2022 CEC (based on the 2020 NEC / NFPA 2021 edition text) is what is currently codified in Campbell's Municode text (CMC 18.16.010, Ord. No. 2290, 11-15-2022), and that is the latest codified edition as of Municode's most recent supplement (Supplement 41, published 15 Oct 2024, posted online 11 Jun 2025). Statewide, the 2025 CEC (based on the 2023 NEC) took effect 1 Jan 2026 under Title 24 — Campbell's own codified ordinance text had not visibly caught up to that cycle as of this check; no newer Campbell electrical-code adoption ordinance was found on Municode. 60% · municipal code
• Which building code edition is in force? 2022 CBC (2021 IBC as amended 2022 by the State) per CMC 18.04.010, and 2022 CRC per CMC 18.11.010, both under Ord. No. 2290 (11-15-2022) — the latest adoption ordinance visible in Municode's current supplement. Same statewide-2025-cycle lag caveat as Q29 applies. 60% · municipal code
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2022 California Fire Code / 2021 International Fire Code, per CMC 17.04.010 (same Ord. No. 2290 cycle). Same statewide-2025-cycle lag caveat as Q29/Q30. 60% · municipal code
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 90% · municipal code
• What is the installation judged against? The 2022 CRC Sections R324.1 through R324.7.2.7 (rooftop PV fire classification/access/pathways), 2022 CEC Articles 690 and 705, and the Campbell Municipal Code generally — per the City's own required cover-sheet notation in its Renewable Energy Building Application Guide. 90% · building application guide

Ridge setbacks and roof access pathways are fire-service requirements and they constrain the array layout. They are the most common cause of a redesign after the fire department comments on a plan set.

• What ridge setback and access pathways are required? Governed by the 2022 CRC Sections R324.1-R324.7.2.7 (State-level fire classification, access pathway and setback standard for rooftop PV), which the City's own Guide points installers to directly; no additional/different local ridge-setback or pathway amendment was found in Campbell's Title 17 Fire Code local-amendments section (17.04.060), meaning the state CRC pathway numbers control unmodified in Campbell. 75% · municipal code

Which rapid-shutdown rule applies follows directly from the NEC edition in force, and the initiation device has to be at a location the fire service can reach and identify. This is inspected, and it is labelled.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Yes — rapid shutdown is required. The City's Guide requires the site plan to show 'Location and/or method of rapid shutdown of the ESS, conduit/cable routing of battery storage system, PV, and related circuits,' consistent with the currently codified 2022 CEC (based on NFPA NEC 2020), Article 690.12. 80% · building application guide

The NEC sets a baseline for permanent markings at the service equipment and the disconnecting means. On top of that, an authority may specify its own wording, and the utility may specify more again. Where any of them writes its own text, a generic off-the-shelf label set will not pass — this is the detail most often fixed on a return visit.

• Which placards does this authority require at the service equipment? A phenolic placard/plaque at the equipment, plus a required cover-sheet 'Details' signage detail (location, size, color, content of sticker/signage). No separate distinct facility-map placard beyond what's captured on the required Site Plan. 70% · building application guide
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 60% · building application guide
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? Phenolic plaque, contrasting colors between text and background, no fixed type size specified by the City but 20-point (3/8") text is the City's stated minimum to consider. 90% · building application guide
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? The required Site Plan sheet functions as the facility map: it must show all interconnected equipment (existing utility service, sub-panels — labelled existing vs. new, with panel sizes and overhead/underground service), plus location/method of rapid shutdown and conduit/cable routing. No separate stand-alone 'facility map' placard document beyond this plan sheet was found. 65% · building application guide
• Where must the labels be placed? At the electrical service/equipment location shown in the 'Details' plan sheet, with location/size/color/content specified there; for ESS, location markings implicit in the CBC §1207.11.3 permitted-location list (detached garage, separated attached garage, exterior ≥3ft from doors/windows, or enclosed non-combustible utility space). 65% · building application guide

Where the AC disconnect must sit relative to the meter is usually the utility's rule, not the building department's. Battery storage frequently carries its own permit, its own inspection and its own fire conditions.

• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Yes for ESS 75% · department handout
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes, under CBC §1207.11 (Group R-3/R-4 ESS): must be listed/labeled to UL 9540 (commercial/utility-only listed units barred from residential use); minimum 3-ft unit spacing (unless justified by large-scale fire testing); permitted only in detached garages/accessory structures, an attached garage separated per CRC R302.6, outdoors/exterior wall ≥3ft from doors & windows, or an enclosed non-combustible utility/storage space; barred from sleeping rooms, closets opening to sleeping rooms, or other habitable space. 90% · department handout
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Effectively yes for larger installations 75% · fee schedule
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Not explicitly stated either way 50% · municipal code

Booking is a portal, a phone call or an email depending on the authority, and the notice required is rarely zero. Book before the work is finished rather than after — the lead time, not the work, is usually what sets the date.

• How is an inspection booked? Portal (MyGovernmentOnline / MGO Connect) or Phone (866-957-3764) 90% · authority page
• How much notice is required? Requests submitted before midnight are guaranteed for the following business day — effectively ~1 business day's notice. 80% · department handout
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? Yes — AM window 8:00 AM-12:30 PM, PM window 12:30-5:00 PM (per note preference in the scheduling request). 75% · authority page

Some authorities inspect their own solar work; some delegate it, and a few do not inspect the PV equipment itself at all. Who is coming determines what they will look at.

• Does this AHJ perform its own final solar inspection? Yes 80% · building application guide
• If delegated, to whom? Santa Clara County Fire Department — for the fire-code-administered slice only (e.g. the Energy Storage Systems operational permit); confirmed as Campbell's fire authority by SCCFD's own site. 80% · authority page

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? For a standard Renewable Energy (PV) permit: Final Electrical and SD/CO (smoke/CO detector) Detection inspections, which may be scheduled the same day. For general construction the City's standard Sequence of Inspections runs footings/foundation → underfloor plumbing/mech/elec → underfloor frame → slab → underfloor insulation → shear/roof nailing → rough trades → frame/interior shear → insulation → lath/final gas → final plumbing/mech/elec/Planning/Public Works/Fire/Energy compliance → building final, as applicable to scope. 85% · building application guide
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No 70% · building application guide

The approved plan set, the permit, and the equipment listings should be on site and reachable. Inspectors routinely verify that installed equipment matches what was approved, and that the labels are the ones the plan set promised.

• Is there a published inspection checklist? Yes 85% · department handout
• What must be on site at inspection? The approved/printed construction-plan set (required once approved); a torque wrench for the electrical final; and, if used in lieu of interior inspector access, a signed SD/CO Self-Certification form. 80% · building application guide
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes 70% · building application guide

Passing gives you a final or an equivalent sign-off. That is not the same as permission to operate: PTO comes from the utility, and who tells the utility the inspection passed varies. A system left switched off for weeks is usually waiting on this handover.

• What is issued on pass? Final 75% · building application guide
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer / Applicant 85% · municipal code
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $237/hour 85% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? Corrections are issued as review comments through the applicant's MGOC (MyGovernmentOnline) project file/email; the applicant satisfies the comments and re-submits a complete revised drawing set using an incremented revision number (e.g. Rev 1, then .1/.2 for subsequent comment rounds), each clouded and delta-flagged on the affected sheets; approval is confirmed by email with the approved drawings attached. 85% · building application guide