City of Pomona

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% · authority's own page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 85% · fee schedule + LACoFD guide
• 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 does not itself require HOA/architectural approval as a permit precondition) 65% · state law + authority's own process page
• Is there a historic-district review? Yes, for designated historic properties / historic districts 95% · authority's own form + published decisions
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate wind/windstorm certification form; wind design is via standard ASCE7-16 criteria administered through ordinary structural plan review. 88% · authority's own handout
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Not required for typical residential rooftop PV; no Conditional-Use-Permit or Council-approval fee line for solar was found on the Planning Division fee schedule. 55% · fee schedule (indirect)
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No hard cap on residential system size itself, but the automated/instant SolarAPP+ permitting path is capped at 38.4 kW AC nameplate (with paired ESS also capped at 38.4 kW AC) per Gov. Code Section 65850.52; larger systems must use the standard, non-instant plan-review path. 88% · authority's own page (citing state statute)

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% · authority's own page + forms list
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 90% · authority's own page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 85% · authority's own 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? For the SolarAPP+ track: a completed 'Solar App+ Permit Application' (job valuation, solar size/kW, array sf, module/inverter counts, branch circuits, optional battery-storage kW, panel/subpanel upgrade amperage), a 'Licensed Contractors Declaration', and a Workers' Compensation Declaration, plus the automated SolarAPP+ (NREL) code-compliance approval itself. For the standard track: site/roof plan and single-line electrical diagram (see Q10-11). 85% · authority's own form
• How many copies, and in what format? Digital PDF submittal is accepted/preferred: general plan submittal is by email to Building@pomonaca.gov; for historic-property solar (Minor Certificate of Appropriateness) two (2) hard copies of the site/roof plan are required, or plans may be submitted digitally in PDF format. 70% · authority's own page + form checklist
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes. For a historic property, the MINCOA-Solar checklist requires a Site Plan / Roof Plan (Proposed) showing panel locations. For interconnection, SCE separately requires a plot plan showing the AC disconnect location relative to the meter/point of common coupling, spacing dimensions, and line-of-sight. 78% · authority's own form + utility handbook
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 80% · authority's own 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? SolarAPP+ (solarapp.nrel.gov) for automated code review, feeding into the City of Pomona's EnerGov-based 'Civic/Citizen Self Service' portal (connect.pomonaca.gov/energov_prod/selfservice) for permit issuance, payment, document printing, and inspection scheduling. 95% · authority's own page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes 90% · authority's own page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $281.05 flat for 0-15 kW (FY2025-26), plus $10.85 per kW over 15 kW, plus a 'BLD - Solar Plan Check' fee of 75% of the permit fee (minimum $132.15) 92% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Tiered / per kW 90% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes 90% · 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? Real-time / instant issuance for SolarAPP+-eligible systems (<=38.4 kW AC, no BIPV, no ballasted systems, main-dwelling roof only), per Gov. Code Section 65850.52 as implemented by the city; no published business-day turnaround figure was found for systems routed through standard (non-SolarAPP+) plan review. 80% · authority's own page
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? 180 days (California statewide default building-permit expiration under CBC/CRC Section 105.5), inferred 60% · inference from CA statewide code + city form list
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Southern California Edison (SCE) 95% · authority's own page + utility/CCA statement
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel 70% · utility interconnection handbook

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 amended, adopted as the 2025 California Electrical Code) 95% · authority's own handout
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code (based on the 2024 IBC) 95% · authority's own handout
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (based on the 2024 IFC), as locally amended by the Los Angeles County Fire Code (LACC Title 32) since Pomona contracts fire services to LACoFD 80% · authority's own handout + LACoFD guide (dated)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 85% · LACoFD guide + city historic-preservation form
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025 California Electrical Code (2023 NEC as amended), manufacturer/NRTL listing (e.g. UL 1741), and -- for disconnects/ESS -- the LA County Fire Code (Title 32) Sections 509 and 1207.11. 82% · LACoFD guide

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.

Nothing recorded for City of Pomona on this step yet — 1 question checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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 (PV/BIPV rapid shutdown / 'Hazard Control System'), under the 2023 NEC (Section 690.12) as incorporated into the 2025 California Electrical Code 85% · LACoFD guide + checklist

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? Utility 'Grid Side' / 'Generation Side' disconnect signage (SCE) and LACoFD's 'F.D. - ELECTRICAL BLDG DISCONNECT #X of Y' placards wherever a structure can receive power from more than one source (i.e. utility + PV, in effect nearly every residential PV job), plus standard NEC 690.56/705.10 PV system labeling. 85% · utility handbook + LACoFD guide (both linked from/adopted by the city)
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? Yes, but the wording is authored by LACoFD and SCE (adopted-by-reference through the fire code Pomona enforces and the interconnection rules SCE administers), not separately drafted by Pomona Building & Safety. 75% · LACoFD guide + utility handbook
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? Yes. LACoFD: exterior placards min. 2in x 3.5in weather-resistant plastic, red letters engraved into a yellow background, solid all-caps Arial font min. 24pt (28pt bold for 'F.D.'/'#X of Y'), permanent epoxy attachment. SCE: permanently attached machine-engraved laminated phenolic (or equal) tags, font size 3/8in-1in. 90% · LACoFD guide + utility handbook
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Not a separate site-plan/facility-map placard, but an 'Electrical Power Source Disconnect Schedule' is required on the garage floor plan/partial floor plan, listing every power source, its disconnect device, and the '#X of Y' numbering used on the exterior placards. 75% · LACoFD guide
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes 92% · utility interconnection handbook
• Where must the labels be placed? AC/isolation disconnect devices carry the 'Grid Side'/'Generation Side' labels (SCE); LACoFD's placards are placed on or immediately adjacent to each panel/enclosure or standalone disconnect switch that must be operated, with panel-interior placards inside panels for specific breakers, all located to be accessible from the exterior of the structure 24/7. 85% · LACoFD guide + utility handbook

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? For load-side connections: single visible-open AC disconnect located near/adjacent to the point of common coupling (typically the meter), with 24/7 SCE access. For line-side connections: disconnect directly adjacent to the PCC, or if infeasible, no more than 10 feet from the PCC subject to engineer approval (SCE Section 10.2 variance). 92% · utility interconnection handbook
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? No authority-maintained 'approved equipment list'; standard requirement is NRTL/UL listing (e.g. equipment 'shall be listed and approved') under the adopted electrical/fire code rather than a discretionary city list. 65% · LACoFD guide (inference)
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes -- paired residential ESS with PV is explicitly supported via the SolarAPP+/EnerGov instant-issuance path up to the Gov. Code 65850.52 eligibility caps (38.4 kW AC); any ESS installation is additionally subject to LACoFD's Fire Prevention Division plan review and field inspection in all cases, with ESS nameplate capacity over 3 kWh specifically triggering LACFC Section 1207.11 spacing/location/disconnect rules. 90% · authority's own form + LACoFD guide/checklist
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Yes 92% · LACoFD guide

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 (online inspection-request form) or the EnerGov self-service portal; phone/counter also available. 90% · authority's own page
• How much notice is required? Next business day if the request is submitted before 4:00pm; submitted after 4:00pm is scheduled 2 business days out. Monday inspections require submission by Thursday 4:00pm (City Hall is closed Fridays). 92% · authority's own page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No same-day inspections; next-business-day is the fastest option, and even the requested time-of-day window is 'NOT guaranteed' per the city's own page. 85% · authority's own 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? Delegated (split) 88% · LACoFD guide
• If delegated, to whom? Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), Fire Prevention Division -- for ESS/BIPV plan review and field inspection in all cases, and for disconnect-placarding/rapid-shutdown field verification on all PV projects. Pomona has contracted fire services to LACoFD since 1994 (Pomona Fire Department was dissolved). 88% · authority's own page (linking to LACoFD) + LACoFD guide

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? 1) City permit issuance (SolarAPP+ auto-issue or standard plan check); 2) City Building & Safety final building/electrical inspection; 3) where applicable (ESS, or disconnect/rapid-shutdown verification), a separate LACoFD Fire Prevention field inspection scheduled by the applicant directly with the jurisdictional LACoFD regional office, invoiced and paid before the inspection occurs. 68% · city page + LACoFD checklist

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 88% · LACoFD checklist (linked by the city)
• What must be on site at inspection? Digital proof of the construction permit obtained via the city's SolarAPP+/expedited process (including any inspection checklist issued with it), the project address and occupancy classification, and -- per general city practice -- the printed permit/job card (the Solar Permit Streamlining page includes 'Print your Documents -- How to print your permit/job card'). 78% · LACoFD checklist + city page
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes 90% · LACoFD checklist

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 (inspection sign-off on the permit/job card); a Certificate of Occupancy is not typically issued for a PV retrofit on an existing dwelling (CofO forms in the city's own form list are tied to new construction/ADU/JADU, not solar retrofits). 70% · inference from authority's own forms list
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer (applicant-driven) 78% · utility interconnection handbook (inference)
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $132.15 (FY2025-26) per request 92% · fee schedule