City of Pacific Grove

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 96% · municipal code
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 82% · staff directory
• 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 90% · permit application form
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No 88% · municipal code
• Is there a historic-district review? Conditional/discretionary for HRI-listed properties only. PGMC §18.45.070(a): 'A use permit and/or architectural review may be required for properties on the city's historic resources inventory as deemed necessary by the community and economic development director,' guided by Chapter 23.76 PGMC (Historic Preservation). Critically, the City's ZONING code creates the same split independently: PGMC §23.70.015(e)(6) EXEMPTS 'solar energy equipment' from Community Development Permit/Design-Review requirements on properties NOT on the Historic Resources Inventory, while the parallel exemption list for HRI-LISTED properties, §23.70.015(d), does NOT include solar among its enumerated exemptions (only re-roofing, restoration of historic elements, and foundation/skirting work). So a non-HRI rooftop retrofit is broadly exempt from any zoning-code discretionary review, while an HRI-listed property's solar installation falls through to the discretionary review described in §18.45.070 and Ch. 23.76. 95% · municipal code
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 68% · municipal code (control-checked absence)
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Yes, possible: PGMC §18.45.060(a) allows the building official to require a use permit 'if the official finds, based on substantial evidence, that the solar energy system could have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health and safety,' appealable to the planning commission; and §18.45.070(a) allows a use permit/architectural review requirement for HRI-listed properties at the community and economic development director's discretion (see Q25). 92% · municipal code
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? 10 kW AC nameplate / 30 kW thermal, on a single- or duplex-family dwelling, not exceeding the maximum legal building height -- the definition of 'small residential rooftop solar energy system' that must be met to use the chapter's expedited path. PGMC §18.45.030 cites this as implementing AB 2188 (2014), NOT Gov. Code §65850.5 or §65850.52 by name. The zoning code's own height-exceptions table (in the Ch. 23 accessory-structures/height section) cross-references 'Solar panels – See Chapters 18.45 and 23.70 PGMC' rather than granting any separate numeric height bonus -- i.e. no additional feet are granted beyond the solar ordinance's own 'does not exceed maximum legal building height' cap. This is the 'no bonus, cross-reference back to the solar chapter' outcome, distinct from cities that grant extra feet (Greenfield +5ft) or set an explicit cap in a use table. 90% · 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% · permit application form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 55% · municipal code
• 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? No dedicated solar submittal checklist is published (confirmed 404 on the site's own 'SolarApp+' sub-link and a 'not in service' notice on the live SolarAPP+ page). The published minimum is the one-page OTC 'ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL, PLUMBING, RE-ROOF, AND SOLAR PERMITS' application itself (project address/APN, valuation, scope of work, owner/applicant/contractor info, CSLB license, signature) -- plans/spec sheets are collected at counter/portal intake but no published document enumerates them for solar specifically. 70% · department page + permit application form

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? iWorq (portal.iworq.net/PACIFICGROVE) -- also referenced as 'pacificgrove.portal.iworq.net'. Not SolarAPP+ (the City's own SolarAPP+ page states: 'The Solar App+ System is not in service at this time for the City of Pacific Grove.') and not Symbium. 92% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes, largely -- the iWorq solar permit application is a full online form (property/contractor/owner info, file upload for plans, 'Pay Fees' section) that can be submitted without an in-person visit, though inspections themselves are booked separately by phone. 78% · permit portal
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $720 flat (FY26-27, effective 1 Sep 2026 for Community Development fees) 90% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat 88% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No (for the standard flat solar permit) 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? 3 business days 95% · municipal code
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? Application expires 180 days after submittal if no permit is issued; once issued, the City's Building Permits page states permits 'expire 180 days after permit issuance or last inspection.' 82% · department page + permit application form
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) is the electric (and gas) utility; Central Coast Community Energy (3CE / 'CCE') is the Community Choice Aggregator for generation, billed on the same PG&E bill. 92% · city utilities page + CCA member list
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel -- PG&E interconnection approval runs alongside the City's building/electrical permit and inspection process rather than gating permit issuance; PG&E's own Rule 21 tariff requires evidence of the AHJ's final electrical-inspection clearance before Permission to Operate is granted. 60% · 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 NEC (as the basis of the 2025 California Electrical Code) 88% · municipal code
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code, 2025 California Residential Code (incl. Appendix BO), 2025 California Existing Building Code, 2025 California Historic Building Code, and 2025 California Green Building Standards Code, all adopted by PGMC §18.04.010(a). 95% · municipal code
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (Title 24, CCR, Part 9), adopted with local amendments per PGMC §18.04.010(a)(10)/(b)(2). 95% · municipal code
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 92% · municipal code
• What is the installation judged against? The unamended 2025 California Electrical Code (Art. 690/705), plus CEC/IEEE/UL/CPUC safety and performance standards named directly in the solar ordinance. 88% · 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? Base, unamended 2025 CFC §1205 (ridge setback / access pathways) applies -- no local amendment to §1205 was found. 85% · municipal code (control-checked absence)

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 applies under the 2025 CEC (2023 NEC basis, i.e. NEC §690.12), adopted without local amendment. The City's own code never cites §690.12 by section number anywhere (same pattern seen in neighboring Monterey and Marina) -- it is a consequence of unamended state-code adoption, not a locally-stated rule. 78% · 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.

• Which placards does this authority require at the service equipment? Not locally specified by the AHJ -- no PV/ESS placard requirement was found anywhere in the codified, currently-amended Fire Prevention/Building Codes chapter (Ch. 18.04(b)(2)/18.32) or in any published Building Division handout. The base, unamended 2025 CFC §1205.1.1/705.10 signage requirements apply by default with no PG-specific wording, letter-height, colour or placement layered on top -- a genuinely different (and control-proven) shape from neighboring Marina and Monterey, whose locally-amended fire codes DO carry the 'SOLAR DISCONNECT INSIDE PANEL' / BESS placard language. 82% · municipal code (control-checked absence)
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 80% · municipal code (control-checked absence)
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? Not specified locally -- see Q38/Q39. 78% · municipal code (control-checked absence)

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 City-specific approved-equipment list; PGMC §18.45.040(c) requires only that equipment meet CEC/IEEE/UL/PUC standards generally. 70% · municipal code
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Not specifically addressed -- no ground-mount-specific solar zoning provision was found anywhere in Title 23 (Zoning). 72% · municipal code (control-checked absence)
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No local minimum-busbar or service-upgrade sizing rule was found. 82% · municipal code (control-checked absence)

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 92% · department page
• How much notice is required? Effectively next-business-day: 'Inspection requests received before 4:00 p.m. will be scheduled for the next business day.' The solar ordinance itself sets a tighter ceiling: PGMC §18.45.060(i), 'An inspection will be scheduled within two business days of a request,' for expedited-eligible small residential rooftop solar systems specifically. 90% · department page + municipal code
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? Yes -- a same-day AM window: inspection requests are scheduled for a specific day, and 'To confirm the 2 hour time frame on the day of your inspection, please contact the main line at (831) 648-3191 between 8:00-9:00 am.' 88% · 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% · municipal code
• If delegated, to whom? N/A -- not delegated for the final solar inspection itself; performed by the City's own Building Department per §18.45.060(h). (Note: the Chief Building Official position performing plan review/inspection oversight is itself staffed by a 4LEAF Inc. contractor per the current staff directory -- see Q2 -- but the inspection function legally sits with 'the building department,' not a named outside agency.) 75% · 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? A single consolidated final inspection performed by the Building Department, per PGMC §18.45.060(h)-(i); no rough-in/mid-roof stage for expedited-eligible systems. 90% · municipal code
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No 90% · 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 78% · department page
• What must be on site at inspection? Approved plans and the job card must be left on site; someone over the age of 18 must be present if access to the property/structure is required. 90% · department page
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes, by inference 60% · 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 (a passed final/consolidated inspection closing out the permit) 55% · municipal code (inference)
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $148 (general re-inspection fee under CBC §108.8; no solar-specific re-inspection fee line exists) 85% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? For an incomplete application: PGMC §18.45.060(g) requires 'a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the application... sent to the applicant for resubmission.' For a failed inspection: §18.45.060(j), 'a subsequent inspection is authorized but need not conform to the requirements of this chapter' (i.e. the expedited timelines no longer bind once a system has failed once). 90% · municipal code