City of Del Mar

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% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 88% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 92% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Separate 68% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No 82% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is there a historic-district review? No 62% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 65% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Conditionally yes -- DMMC 23.21.060(E): the Chief Building Official may require a Conditional Use Permit only upon a finding, based on substantial evidence, that the system 'could have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health and safety'; that CUP decision (if required) is then appealable to the City Planning Commission, and the CUP itself may be denied only with written findings that no feasible mitigation exists. 85% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No blanket cap on residential PV generation size; the 10 kW AC / 30 kW thermal figure in DMMC 23.21.020(C)(1) is only the eligibility threshold for the streamlined, administrative Ch. 23.21 process (also requiring single/duplex-family and rooftop mounting) -- larger systems are not prohibited, they simply fall outside this chapter and would be reviewed under the City's standard (non-expedited) building-permit and design-review process. 82% · adopting ordinance (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 78% · published application form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 68% · published application form
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 90% · published application form

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? DMMC 23.21.050 specifies: application to the Building Division (in person, mail, or electronic submittal) with permit-processing/inspection fees, plus applicant self-verification (prior to submittal) that (a) the roof support structure can carry the added wind/seismic/dead/live loads and (b) the existing electrical system/panel can carry the new PV load. The chapter directs the Planning and Building Departments to 'adopt an eligibility checklist' of full submittal requirements, but no such checklist, or any other solar-specific submittal-package document, could be found published anywhere on the city's site after checking the Building Services page, the ~90-document Development Applications & Guides page, and a site-search for 'solar', 'photovoltaic' and 'SolarAPP' (positive control 'electrical' returned 6 real document hits; fabricated control 'zzqqx' returned zero, proving the search worked). 62% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic submittal (email, internet, or facsimile) is expressly made available for all small residential rooftop solar applicants; the in-person/mail channel is also open. No copy-count or page-format spec (e.g., number of paper sets) was found. 55% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Likely yes 58% · utility DG documents page
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No PE stamp required for small residential rooftop solar systems (≤10 kW AC / 30 kW thermal, single/duplex-family); DMMC 23.21.050(D)(1) instead requires the applicant to self-verify structural adequacy 'through the use of standard engineering evaluation techniques' before submittal. No threshold above which a stamp is required is stated in this chapter. 78% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No PE stamp required for small residential rooftop solar systems; DMMC 23.21.050(D)(2) requires the applicant to self-verify, at their own cost, using 'standard electrical inspection techniques' that the existing line/load/ground/bonding wiring and panel/subpanel sizing can carry the new PV load. 76% · adopting ordinance (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? eTRAKiT (Tyler Technologies), branded 'eTRAKiT Online Portal' 90% · portal landing page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Partially -- the Building Services page states 'Building Services are provided only via electronic submittal of Building Permit Applications and Plan Checks,' and the eTRAKiT portal page separately lists mechanical, electrical, plumbing and re-roof permits (plus 'Residential Additional Alteration') as self-service online categories -- but neither page names solar/PV explicitly, and both require a manual AEC/registered-user setup and emailing the assigned Planner rather than a single automated flow (no SolarAPP+ or equivalent automated platform was found anywhere on the city's site). 55% · department page

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.

• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? 2 years from issuance in a Residential Zone; 4 years in a Commercial Zone or Specific Plan Zone (associated Electrical/Plumbing/Mechanical permits expire concurrently with the Building Permit) 92% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Which utility handles interconnection here? San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is the distribution/interconnection utility; Del Mar's electricity GENERATION is provided by default through the Clean Energy Alliance (CEA), a joint-powers community choice aggregation program the city joined in 2019 -- CEA does not process interconnection. 82% · department page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel 65% · utility DG 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 92% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code, Part 2, Title 24 CCR (based on the 2024 International Building Code); the 2025 California Residential Code, Part 2.5, also governs one- and two-family dwellings 95% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (via the 2024 International Fire Code) plus the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Part 7 95% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 95% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025 California Building Standards Code as locally amended (CBC Part 2, CRC Part 2.5, CEC Part 3, CMC Part 4, CPC Part 5, CGBC Part 11, WUI Code Part 7, per DMMC Ch. 23.12), plus DMMC Ch. 23.21 for small residential rooftop solar systems specifically 88% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)

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? No local ridge-setback or fire-access-pathway amendment for rooftop PV was found anywhere in DMMC Title 10 (Fire Prevention), full text read and control-checked -- so the unamended 2025 California Fire Code / California Residential Code rooftop-solar access, pathway and setback provisions (as published in the state model code) would apply by default in Del Mar; DMMC 23.21.060(H)/(I) additionally allows the one required solar inspection to be consolidated with the Fire Marshal. 68% · adopting ordinance (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 per NEC 690.12, incorporated unamended into the 2025 California Electrical Code (based on the 2023 NEC) 75% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)

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.

• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 72% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No 72% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)

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? No dedicated approved-equipment list; DMMC 23.21.040(C) requires only that electricity-producing equipment meet 'all applicable safety and performance standards established by the California Electrical Code, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and accredited testing laboratories such as Underwriters Laboratories and, where applicable, rules of the Public Utilities Commission' -- a general listing/standards requirement, not a city-maintained approved-products list. 72% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? No ESS/battery-specific ordinance provision was found; DMMC Ch. 23.21 (small residential rooftop solar) and Title 10 Fire Prevention (full text read) are both silent on battery storage, so residential batteries would default to the unamended 2025 CFC/CRC energy-storage-system provisions with no added local condition. 60% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No 55% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No 75% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? No local-specific mounting/attachment-spacing requirement found; DMMC 23.21.050(D)(1) requires only that the applicant self-verify (via 'standard engineering evaluation techniques') that the support structure can transfer all wind/seismic/dead/live loads to the foundation -- a performance standard, not a prescriptive spacing/attachment spec. 68% · adopting ordinance (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? Phone or Email 92% · department page
• How much notice is required? Effectively 1 business day -- 'Please call the Inspection line by 4:00 p.m. to schedule an inspection for the next day.' 85% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No same-day inspections stated; scheduling is next-business-day by phone/email, with the Building Inspector otherwise working 'Monday through Friday (By Appointment).' No AM/PM inspection-window system was found published. 60% · 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 92% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• If delegated, to whom? Not applicable 90% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)

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? One final inspection only, performed by the Building Division; may be consolidated with a Fire Marshal inspection at the same visit (DMMC 23.21.060(H)-(I)) 88% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No 85% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)

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 70% · department page

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 50% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer 82% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)
• How are corrections issued and cleared? If an application is deemed incomplete, DMMC 23.21.060(C) requires 'a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies... for resubmission.' If the installed system fails its inspection, 23.21.060(J) authorizes 'a subsequent inspection,' which 'need not conform to the requirements of this Section' (i.e., is not bound by the one-inspection rule). 78% · adopting ordinance (municipal code)