City of Loma Linda

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 handout
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 90% · permit application form
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 95% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 65% · fee schedule
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No city-imposed HOA/architectural-approval requirement was found; where an HOA exists, state law controls it. 55% · state statute
• Is there a historic-district review? Conditional — only if the parcel is a designated cultural resource or within a designated historic district. 65% · municipal code
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No local windstorm-certification requirement found. 65% · municipal code
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No — residential rooftop PV does not appear as a Conditional-Use-Permit or Council-approval trigger anywhere in the zoning use tables. 55% · municipal code
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No codified residential system-size cap found. 55% · fee schedule

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 75% · permit application form
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 90% · permit 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? Plot plan (PV module locations, conduit/conductor routing, equipment incl. inverter/batteries, electrical service interface); single-line diagram with A/C disconnect; PV-module-to-rack and rack-to-roof attachment details; grounding/bonding detail; roof-load calculations if loading exceeds 6.5 lb/sf; manufacturer's specifications for modules, inverter, batteries, conductors, disconnects and overcurrent devices; conductor/overcurrent-device sizing justification; signage-location call-out for the permanent plaque per the CEC; roof plan showing 3-ft setbacks per the CA Fire Code. 95% · department handout
• How many copies, and in what format? Two full sets of plans, 11 in. x 17 in. 95% · department handout
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes — a Plot Plan showing the location of the PV modules, the route of conduit/conductors, the equipment (inverter, batteries, etc.), and the electrical service interface. 95% · department handout
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 95% · department handout
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Yes 90% · department handout
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Structural calculations are required once roof loading exceeds 6.5 lb/sf ('if it is over 6.5 lbs per s.f. submit roof load calculations'); the handout does not itself use the words 'PE stamp' or 'engineer'. 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? Tyler Technologies EnerGov 'Online Permit Portal' (OPP) — cityoflomalindaca-energovweb.tylerhost.net 95% · department handout
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes 85% · department handout
• What does a residential solar permit cost? Residential: $275 flat, plus $15 per kW for each kW above 15 kW AC. (Commercial: $545 for up to 50 kW, plus $3.50/kW from 51-250 kW, plus $2.50/kW above 250 kW.) 95% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Tiered 90% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No 60% · 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.

• Which utility handles interconnection here? Southern California Edison (SCE) — NOT a municipal utility. 97% · adopted General Plan

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 (via the 2025 California Electrical Code) 95% · adopting ordinance
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code Vols. 1 & 2 (based on the 2024 IBC); 2025 California Residential Code (based on the 2024 IRC). 95% · adopting ordinance
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2022 California Fire Code / 2021 International Fire Code — a full code-cycle behind the 2025 building/electrical cycle. 95% · adopting ordinance
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes. 90% · municipal code
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025 California Electrical Code (based on the 2023 NEC), unamended locally for PV-specific electrical requirements. 90% · adopting ordinance

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? 3-ft roof-plan setbacks per the California Fire Code (per the city's own submittal handout); the local fire-code amendment (LLMC §15.28.430-450) rewrites CFC §1205.2 'Access and Pathways' and §1205.2.1/.2.3 but leaves the underlying numeric pathway/setback table in the unamended CFC. 90% · department handout

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, under the 2023 NEC (§690.12) as adopted via the 2025 California Electrical Code. 80% · adopting ordinance

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? Only the standard CEC/NEC-mandated labels at the service equipment/disconnect; no additional AHJ-specific placard product was found. 75% · department handout
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No — the city defers to the CEC's own wording rather than specifying its own. 75% · department handout
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No city-specific letter-height, colour, or material spec found; the city's document again points only to the CEC's own requirement. 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.

• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? No local amendment addressing residential batteries/ESS was found; conditions default to the unamended 2022 CFC's own energy-storage provisions. 55% · municipal code
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Yes. 80% · municipal code
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No local busbar-sizing or service-upgrade rule found. 80% · municipal code
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? No prescriptive attachment-spacing standard found; the city only requires the design to be shown, not a specific spacing figure. 65% · 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. 85% · department handout

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. 90% · department form
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated — performed in-house by the City of Loma Linda Building Inspector. 85% · department form

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? At minimum, a Fire final inspection is required before the Building final inspection for residential solar. 85% · department 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 published inspection checklist found for residential solar. 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.

Nothing recorded for City of Loma Linda on this step yet — 4 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.