City of San Marino

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 department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 75% · authority department page + fee schedule
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 95% · authority program page
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 65% · authority program page
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? Sometimes -- not a blanket requirement for solar specifically 55% · authority bulletin (PDF)

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? Any contractor 70% · authority program page + fee schedule
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 85% · authority program page + fee schedule
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes, but only outside the SolarAPP+ track 70% · authority form (PDF, extracted with pdftotext)

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+ path: an approved SolarAPP+ design (with its Inspection Checklist and unique SolarAPP+ ID), a business-license upload, plus the city's own 'Permit/Plan Check Application' form submitted through CommunityCore. For the standard (non-SolarAPP+/OTC) path: the same Permit/Plan Check Application form plus plan sets. 70% · authority program page + form PDF
• How many copies, and in what format? 2 sets of plans (general plan-check submittal) or 3 copies (over-the-counter/OTC submittal, which residential solar without batteries is eligible for) plus applicable calculations; minimum sheet size 11x17. 70% · authority bulletin (PDF, extracted with pdftotext)
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? A site/roof plan is implicitly required as part of the SolarAPP+ submittal (a national platform requirement) and as part of standard plan sets, but no San Marino-specific document was found spelling out exactly what the site plan must show for a solar job. 55% · authority program page + inference from SolarAPP+ platform
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes (inferred) 55% · authority program page + inference from SolarAPP+ platform
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Not documented as a separately filed calculation package; likely embedded in SolarAPP+'s automated compliance checks rather than a discrete city-required submittal. 50% · authority program page (absence noted)

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? CommunityCore (app.communitycore.com), with residential rooftop PV additionally routed through SolarAPP+ (gosolarapp.org) before the CommunityCore permit step. 90% · authority program page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Mostly yes for SolarAPP+-eligible systems; no for anything requiring plan check. 75% · authority department page
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation-based, at a discount off LA County's own table 85% · fee schedule PDF (extracted with pdftotext, not a summarizer)

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) 95% · authority utility page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel, with final Permission to Operate gated on the finaled city permit 60% · utility page (utility-level, not city-specific)

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? 2020 NEC currently (as part of the 2022 California Electrical Code cycle); 2023 NEC from 1 January 2026 (as part of the 2025 California Building Standards Code cycle) 60% · authority department page (inference on NEC year)
• Which building code edition is in force? 2022 California Building Code now; 2025 California Building Standards Code (Title 24) for all permit applications submitted on or after 1 January 2026 90% · authority department page
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes, generically -- Chapter XXV (Uniform Codes) of the San Marino Municipal Code contains locally-added sections (e.g., Sec. 25.01.07 'Expedited Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permitting'), and the fee schedule shows locally-set fee amounts on top of the (85%-of-county) building fee basis. 60% · municipal code (Internet Archive capture; live host blocked)
• What is the installation judged against? The 2022 California Building Code / California Electrical Code (2025 editions from 1 Jan 2026), as locally amended in San Marino Municipal Code Chapter XXV (Uniform Codes) 75% · authority department page

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 San Marino 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.

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

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.

Nothing recorded for City of San Marino on this step yet — 6 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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? Batteries/ESS are permitted but are explicitly excluded from the expedited/OTC path -- the city's OTC Plan Check Guidelines list 'Residential solar panels: new or modification WITHOUT batteries or accessory systems' as the OTC-eligible category, implying a system with batteries must go through standard (non-OTC) plan check submittal. 75% · authority bulletin (PDF)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Likely yes (inferred) -- since a system with batteries is excluded from the OTC/expedited path, it would require the standard plan-check submittal and standard inspection sequence rather than the single streamlined solar review, though no city document uses the words 'separate ESS permit.' 60% · fee schedule PDF (controlled absence) + inference

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 (CommunityCore) or Phone 90% · authority department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No booked AM/PM window; inspections are placed on a list finalized at 7:30 AM the day of inspection, and the applicant is told to call back after 7:30 AM that same day to confirm/get an approximate time (leaving a voicemail asking for a time window is explicitly discouraged). 80% · authority 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 65% · authority department page

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 final solar inspection, requested via the dedicated 'REQUEST A SOLAR INSPECTION' link (distinct from the general building-inspection request), consistent with the OTC/expedited single-review model. 55% · authority department page (inference)
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No (inferred) 55% · authority department page (inference)

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 -- the city has not published its own solar-specific submittal/inspection checklist. The only 'solar' document linked from its own Applications & Guidelines page is the generic, un-customized statewide 'California Solar Permitting Guidebook (4th Edition)' (Winter 2019, Governor's Office of Planning and Research). 75% · document review (PDF extracted with pdftotext/pdfinfo, controlled absence)
• What must be on site at inspection? The city's approved plans and the permit inspection card, which must remain on the job site 80% · authority 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.

• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer 60% · utility page (utility-level, not city-specific)
• Is there a re-inspection fee? Not published as a distinct Building re-inspection fee. The FY2026-27 Schedule of Fees only prices a Fire Re-Inspection fee (S-102, $83, effective 28 Jul 2026); there is no comparable Building/Electrical re-inspection line item. 70% · fee schedule PDF (extracted with pdftotext, controlled absence)