City of Foster City

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 95% · municipal code
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 98% · municipal code
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 70% · department page
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? Only for houses within a Planned Development (HOA letter required); otherwise no separate architectural/design review for compliant systems 85% · department handout
• Is there a historic-district review? No 55% · municipal code
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 55% · department handout
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Only if the Planning Division makes a written finding, based on substantial evidence, that the system would have a 'specific, adverse impact' on public health/safety under the Solar Rights Act framework -- otherwise no Use Permit/Council approval is required 90% · municipal code
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? 10 kW AC nameplate / 30 kW thermal, for eligibility under the 'small residential rooftop solar' expedited-review chapter (2015 AB 2188-era cap, unchanged) 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 85% · department handout
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 85% · department page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? No 70% · department handout

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? Building Permit Application, Authorization to Act as an Agent, HOA approval letter (if in a Planned Development), cover sheet with code list/project data/scope, site & roof plans, elevation view, structural attachment table, PE-stamped structural calcs (advisory), site map placard dimensions/color, electrical panel photo (dead-front removed, nameplate visible), service size/rating info, isometric/3-line diagram, grounding electrode detail, residential electrical load calculation, line/supply-side tap equipment listing (if used), manufacturer spec sheets for all equipment, tile-hook flashing detail (tile roofs), and for ESS: battery location/separation/fire-detection/anchorage/bollard details. 92% · department handout
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic only, via eTRAKiT 85% · department handout
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Site and roof plans showing electrical supply panel, PV array/modules (each string identified), combiner box, inverter, AC/DC disconnects, conduit, junction boxes, battery banks, and property-line setback distances if the array is not roof-attached. 92% · department handout
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 95% · department handout
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Yes 85% · department handout
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Advisory PE-stamped structural plans/calcs 'required' per CRC R301.1, no numeric kW/weight threshold stated -- applies whenever roof structural attachment details are submitted. 75% · department handout
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Not specified as a separate stamp threshold beyond the structural PE advisory; battery components over 400 lbs require structural anchorage/calcs per ASCE 7-22 13.3/13.6 (a structural, not electrical, PE trigger). 60% · department handout

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 (permit.fostercity.org/etrakit), with the PV-specific application layered through the national SolarAPP+ platform for eligible standard installs 95% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes 85% · department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $0 (Building Permit fee) for standard residential rooftop PV; $450 flat for residential ESS (SMCFD fire review/inspection billed separately, not included) 90% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat/Exempt 85% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No (effectively $0) 70% · 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? 5 business days (1st review cycle) / 3 business days (2nd review cycle) for a rooftop PV system 92% · department handout
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? Base CBC/CRC 105.5 (180 days to commence work / 180 days suspension triggers expiration), with a local amendment allowing reactivation at half the original permit fee if the suspension/abandonment period does not exceed 1 year 75% · municipal code
• Which utility handles interconnection here? PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric Company) 90% · department page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? After permit (Permission to Operate is gated on the AHJ's final inspection clearance) 90% · utility tariff

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 90% · municipal code
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code / 2025 California Residential Code, effective 1 Jan 2026 95% · department page
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (based on the 2024 International Fire Code with CA amendments) 92% · municipal code
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 90% · municipal code
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025 CEC/NEC(2023 base)/CBC/CRC/CFC as locally amended by FCMC Title 15, plus the Building Division's current PV submittal checklist which layers CRC, CEC, CFC and Foster City Municipal Code citations item-by-item 90% · department handout

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? Access pathways and fire setbacks must be shown on plans per 2025 CFC Section 1205.2; no local numeric ridge-setback amendment found beyond the base fire code 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 -- required, to the 2023 NEC (690.12) as adopted via the 2025 CEC/CFC; the city's own checklist cross-cites the fire code's mirror provision 90% · department handout

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 site map/facility placard at the service equipment per CEC 705.10 / CFC 1205.4.1; the checklist requires the applicant to propose dimensions and color scheme rather than the city prescribing its own placard text 78% · department handout
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 65% · municipal code
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? Not specified by the city; letter height/color/material are left to the base CEC 705.10 / CFC 1205.4.1 requirements, with the applicant proposing the dimensions/color scheme for city approval 65% · department handout
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Yes -- a Site Map Placard is required, citing CEC 705.10/CFC 1205.4.1, but the city's document does not itself enumerate what the map must show beyond 'dimensions and color scheme' 70% · department handout
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Not directly found on a public PG&E DG-manual page during this run; the checklist instead points installers to 'the PG&E Greenbook for Standards and Clearances' for panel/service-related placards and markings, and PG&E Rule 21 requires the visible AC disconnect itself to carry open/closed position markings 60% · utility tariff
• Where must the labels be placed? Not specified beyond 'behind the gate/fence line' for surface-mounted equipment and 'adjacent to the Main Electrical Service Panel' for the rapid-shutdown initiation device; exact placard placement dimensions are not stated by the city 70% · department handout

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? Not stated by the city; advisory refers installers to 'the PG&E Greenbook for Standards and Clearances' for panel/meter clearances and approved locations 55% · department handout
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Yes 75% · municipal code
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes, with detailed conditions: CRC R328.4 permitted locations, 3 ft separation from door/window openings, automatic smoke/radiant-energy detection if in a garage (CFC 1207.5.4), 2-hour fire-rated separation for indoor ESS rooms (CFC 1207.7.4), structural anchorage/calcs for suspended units over 400 lbs (ASCE 7-22 13.3/13.6), vehicular-path bollard protection (CFC 1207.4.5), and a listed rapid-shutdown device adjacent to the main service panel (CFC 1205.4.1.2) 95% · department handout
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Yes 90% · fee schedule
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Yes, by inference from a broad, PV-unqualified zoning definition of 'structure' 70% · municipal code
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? Minimum 100A, 3-wire service disconnecting means for a single-family dwelling (CEC 230.79(C)); grounding electrodes must comply with a local amendment (FCMC 15.20.160) mandating corrosion-resistant rod/backfill choices for Foster City's salty groundwater; no local busbar-sizing (e.g. 120% rule) amendment found 85% · department handout
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? Structural attachment details (roof member sizes/span/spacing/material, array/rack weight and weight-per-attachment) must be tabulated; tile-hook flashing required on clay/concrete/composite tile roofs; no specific attachment-spacing figure (e.g. inches on-center) is mandated by the city itself 80% · department handout

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 (eTRAKiT) 90% · department page
• How much notice is required? 24 hours (business-day) minimum 90% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? One-hour scheduled windows (not general AM/PM blocks); results/window viewable in eTRAKiT after 8:30 am on the inspection day 80% · 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; fire inspection is delegated to SMCFD when triggered (ESS, or 'if required' for other systems) 85% · municipal code
• If delegated, to whom? San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department (SMCFD), for the fire-code portion only (mandatory for ESS, discretionary/'if required' for standard PV) 85% · 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? Standard eligible PV: a single final Building Division inspection (per 15.45.060). Re-roof-with-existing-solar scenario: pre-construction inspection then a separate PVT final inspection, plus the roof's own tear-off/sheathing/final sequence. 85% · department handout
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No for a standard new PV install (single final inspection per 15.45.060); Yes for the re-roof-with-existing-solar scenario, which requires a pre-construction inspection ahead of the PVT final 75% · 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? Yes, via the SolarAPP+ platform 80% · department page
• What must be on site at inspection? The approved plans, the SolarAPP+ Approval Document and its Inspection Checklist, the issued permit, and (for panel work) the 8x11 electrical-panel photo package submitted at plan check 75% · department page
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes (implied) 55% · municipal code

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 (permit finaled/closed in eTRAKiT) 65% · department handout
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer (as the interconnection Applicant, submitting evidence of the AHJ's final inspection clearance to PG&E) 60% · utility tariff
• Is there a re-inspection fee? Actual Cost (time and materials; no flat fee) 85% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? A written correction notice detailing all deficiencies is issued to the applicant for resubmission; corrections are cleared through the same eTRAKiT/SolarAPP+ resubmission and re-review cycle 85% · municipal code