City of Citrus Heights

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% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both (building and electrical), for rooftop PV; fire-code review and battery/ESS inspection are delegated to Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, a separate special district, not a city department 88% · department page + fire district handout
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 97% · department page
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined - one building permit (issued via SolarAPP+ or the Citizen Access Portal) covers the PV electrical work; the Master Fee Schedule nonetheless itemizes 'Residential Photovoltaic (PV) System' as a line under 'Electrical Permits' within the single Building Fees schedule 72% · fee schedule
• Is there a historic-district review? No 68% · department page
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 60% · department page
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Roof-mounted solar collectors are exempt from zoning-permit/Council review (subject only to height-limit compliance); no Specific Use Permit process for rooftop residential PV was found. Ground-mounted systems are not addressed in the zoning-exemption list and would fall back to standard accessory-structure zoning review 72% · zoning ordinance
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No city-imposed system-size cap for residential PV was found; SMUD (the utility) caps the interconnected system at up to 110% of the customer's own historical electrical usage 72% · utility checklist

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? Licensed contractor - California C-10, C-46, or B classification (B performing only two unrelated trades) 95% · department page
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 88% · department page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? No (for the city's residential PV channel) 62% · department page

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? SolarAPP+ Approval Document, system specifications, and plans (including a one-line diagram); for projects ineligible for SolarAPP+ (e.g., in the flood zone, ballasted systems, ADU-tied systems, main panel upgrades), standard submittal via the Citizen Access Portal is required instead 90% · department page
• How many copies, and in what format? Digital PDF submittal only, via SolarAPP+ (solarapp.nrel.gov) or the Citizen Access Portal; the city's general permitting guidance asks for plans/documents as 'properly labeled, organized, oriented' PDFs 65% · department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? A site plan is required as part of the SMUD interconnection application (a labeled solar site plan), and city eligibility screening requires checking the property against the FEMA flood map and the city's own floodplain map; the city's solar page does not separately spell out what a city-submitted site plan must show 62% · utility checklist
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 95% · department page

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? Two: SolarAPP+ (solarapp.nrel.gov) for eligible residential PV code-compliance review, and the Citizen Access Portal (citizen.citrusheights.permitcity.com, PermitCity/CivicPlus platform) for permit issuance, all other building permits, and inspection scheduling 92% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes 88% · department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $228 flat (Residential Photovoltaic (PV) System, Electrical Permits fee line); $296 flat if the PV system includes an Energy Storage System; plus the city's flat $94 Permit Issuance Fee and a 4% Technology Fee on building flat/valuation fees; SolarAPP+ separately charges its own processing fee on top of city fees 88% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat 90% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Not clearly separate for residential PV - the $228/$296 PV fees are flat electrical-permit fees; the schedule's generic 'Plan Check Fee = 65% of Building Permit Fee' line sits under valuation-based 'Other Fees' and its applicability to the flat solar fee is not stated either way 52% · fee schedule

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? Instant / automated real-time approval for SolarAPP+-eligible systems (the city's SolarAPP+ page frames it as automated review, forwarded to city staff for a permit-issuance check afterward); no separate business-day turnaround figure is published for non-eligible systems routed through the standard Citizen Access Portal 75% · department page
• Which utility handles interconnection here? SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) - a municipally-owned utility 95% · department page + utility site
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Before permit, for interconnection approval; the utility also re-enters after inspection to set the meter and issue PTO 82% · utility process page

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? 2023 NEC, adopted as the 2025 California Electrical Code (Title 24, Part 3), effective statewide 1 Jan 2026 75% · state filing index (BSC) + secondary corroboration
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code (Title 24 Part 2, based on 2021 IBC) and 2025 California Residential Code (Title 24 Part 2.5, based on 2025 IRC) 80% · state filing index (BSC) + secondary corroboration
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (Title 24 Part 9, based on 2024 IFC), adopted by the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District (not the city) via District Ordinance 2025-02 85% · adopting ordinance (fire district)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 60% · adopting ordinance + secondary corroboration
• What is the installation judged against? For SolarAPP+-eligible systems: the SolarAPP+ automated national code-compliance engine (built on NEC/IRC/IBC criteria) plus city staff review before permit issuance. For all systems: the locally adopted 2025 CBC/CRC/CEC/CFC code set as amended 70% · department page

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? Standard 2025 CFC roof-access pathway requirements apply (Sacramento Metro Fire District enforces the CFC, not the city); Metro Fire's own FPS 35 standard additionally lets a building be treated as similar to Group R-3 (and use the Section 1205.3 exception) when panels are on the non-frontage side, kept off aerial-access roof planes, and roof slope doesn't impede ventilation 72% · fire district standard

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 - NEC 690.12 rapid shutdown, as carried by the 2023 NEC (2025 California Electrical Code) 62% · state filing index + inference

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? No Citrus Heights-specific placard list was found; default labeling would follow the adopted NEC/CFC (e.g., NEC 690/705 PV disconnect and rapid-shutdown labels, CFC main-service placard). Separately, SMUD requires markings/signage on its own visible AC disconnect device 58% · utility interconnection guidelines
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 75% · department page (absence)
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes 82% · utility interconnection guidelines
• Where must the labels be placed? Near the Point of Interconnection / point of common coupling; if the visible disconnect is not adjacent to that point, SMUD requires additional permanent signage at an SMUD-approved location stating where the device is 78% · utility interconnection guidelines

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.

• Where must the AC disconnect be, relative to the meter? Near the Point of Interconnection/point of common coupling (per SMUD requirements) - the city has not published its own separate rule on disconnect placement relative to the meter 78% · utility interconnection guidelines
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Yes 75% · utility checklist
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes, batteries/ESS are permitted, but go through a distinct fire-district plan review and inspection process (separate from the city's building/electrical PV permit) under the 2025 California Fire Code's energy-storage-system provisions (Metro Fire's ESS handout footer cites 'CFC 1207.11') 72% · fire district handout
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Yes 88% · fee schedule + fire district handout
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No specific local busbar/backfeed sizing rule was found; the city's own solar page instead handles main-panel upgrades procedurally by excluding them from SolarAPP+ entirely ('No main panel upgrades may be included with the SolarAPP+ application. If a main panel upgrade is needed, apply for a separate permit') 58% · department page

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 (Citizen Access Portal, online) or Phone (24-hour inspection request line, 916-727-4750) 88% · department page
• How much notice is required? Effectively 1 business day: requests received by 4 p.m. on a business day are scheduled for the next business day; requests received after 4 p.m. are scheduled for the 2nd business day (or a later day of the requester's choice) 90% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? AM/PM windows are offered (no same-day service); the city states scheduling is best-effort and may shift with staff workload 85% · department 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, for the building/electrical final inspection (performed by the city's own Building & Safety Division); Delegated for battery/ESS components specifically, which get an additional, separately-scheduled inspection performed by Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District 82% · department page + fire district handout
• If delegated, to whom? Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District (for battery/ESS components only; base PV building/electrical inspection is not delegated) 82% · fire district handout

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 standard rooftop PV: a single final inspection (verifying the building inspection card, one-line diagram, and Metro Fire-approved plans if applicable). Where an ESS/battery is included, an additional, separately-scheduled Metro Fire ESS inspection is required on top of the city's inspection 70% · department page + fire district handout

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? No item-level solar-specific inspection checklist is published; the city's general Inspection Checklist page only lists inspection categories by trade (e.g., Rough electrical, Final) with no PV-specific line items and no downloadable checklist document 72% · department page (absence)
• What must be on site at inspection? Building inspection card (printed, on-site); one-line diagram; Metro Fire-approved plans (if applicable, e.g., for ESS) 92% · department page
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes (inferred) 58% · fire district handout

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? A signed building-inspection-card final approval (no certificate of occupancy is issued for a PV retrofit on an existing dwelling) 50% · department page (inference)
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer - SMUD's own published residential process shows the installer handling local permits/inspections, after which SMUD itself schedules the meter installation and issues PTO once notified the work is complete 62% · utility process page
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $181 (city's general 'Reinspection fees assessed under the provisions of the CBC') 82% · fee schedule