City of Tehama

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 90% · city department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Delegated 95% · code of ordinances
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 92% · code of ordinances
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 78% · code of ordinances
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No 65% · code of ordinances (statutory cross-reference)
• Is there a historic-district review? No 78% · city department page / code TOC absence
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No dedicated 'windstorm certification' document is required; standard wind design load (county-published local design standard: 90 MPH, Exposure C) under the adopted CBC/ASCE 7 applies generally, with no PV-specific certification called out. 60% · department page
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Yes, for two of the three zoning classifications — a Use Permit is required for a 'Dual Purpose Solar Energy System' (net exporter) and a 'Solar Power Facility' is not allowed at all in Residential zones (Open Space-1 only, by Use Permit); an ordinary 'Small Solar Energy System' (sized to reduce on-site consumption, the typical residential rooftop case) is Permitted outright with no Use Permit. 75% · code of ordinances
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No hard cap on residential system size. The county's 10 kW AC / 30 kW thermal figure is only the eligibility threshold for the streamlined/expedited AB 2188-style review process; larger residential systems remain permittable through the standard (non-expedited) review pathway. 85% · code of ordinances

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% · form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? No 65% · form
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 80% · 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. The general Building Permit Application requires: owner/contractor/architect info, parcel #, project valuation, and a checklist of 'Approved Plot Plan, Complete Set of Building Plans, Energy Calculations, Truss Calculations, SFR Modified Soils Test, Structural Calculations (if applicable), Solar Plans and Manual J Report, Flood Elevation Certificate (if applicable).' TCC 15.60.030(c)(2) additionally requires conformance with adopted fire/structural/electrical codes and UL/IEEE listing standards. 55% · form
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic, via the County's online permit portal (applicants are directed to apply online); no specific copy-count or paper-format requirement stated. 68% · department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes — an 'Approved Plot Plan' is a required item on the general Building Permit Application checklist; the County's general Plan Requirements historically call for owner/address/APN, dimensions, and setbacks (per standard county plot-plan practice), but no PV-specific site-plan content list (panel layout, access pathways, label locations) was found. 60% · form
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes (implied) 58% · code of ordinances

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? OpenGov Permitting & Licensing, at tehamacountyca.portal.opengov.com (reached via the County's published legacy link https://tehamacountyca.viewpointcloud.com, which 301-redirects to the OpenGov portal). 85% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes (apply online is presented as the primary route: 'Apply Now') 55% · department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $400.95 flat, per inverter (Electrical Permit Fee Table E, item 566 'Solar Photovoltaic System'), limited to two site visits. A distinct item 314 'Solar Panels, per system' exists under the Plumbing fee table for solar THERMAL/water-heating panels — not applicable to PV. 78% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat (a fixed per-inverter dollar amount; not valuation-, per-kW-, or per-panel-based) 75% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No — not billed separately for this item; the $400.95 solar PV fee already bundles a 30-minute plan-check-rate component into the single total. 78% · 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.

• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? Plan-review applications expire in 6 months (180 days) if no permit is issued (extendable once, max 6 more months); an issued permit is valid 2 years from issuance, extendable by 1-year increments, capped at 3 years total. 90% · form/code excerpt
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) 95% · city department page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? After permit 85% · code of ordinances

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? Ambiguous/in transition. The County's live 2026 Codes & Ordinances page and its pending Title-15 readoption (Ord. No. 2150, 'current governing codes (2025)') move the Electrical Code's adoption clause from a fixed '2022... National Electrical Code, 2022 Edition' text to 'the most current edition' of the CEC — i.e. the 2025 California Electrical Code cycle (effective statewide 1 Jan 2026), which incorporates the 2023 NEC. However, the still-live Municode codification of TCC §15.20.030 has not been updated and continues to read '2022 California Electrical Code... incorporating the National Electrical Code, 2022 Edition' (itself an apparent drafting mismatch, since no NEC edition is dated '2022' — the correct pairing for the 2022 CBSC cycle is the 2020 NEC). 55% · department page vs. codified ordinance (conflict noted)
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code (per the County's live 2026 department page and its Ord. No. 2150 readoption of Title 15 to 'current governing codes (2025)'); Municode's codified TCC §15.04.030 has not yet been updated and still shows the 2022 CBC. 70% · department page / ordinance (Legistar)
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (incorporating the 2024 IFC per Ord. 2150's tracked-change text, which strikes '2018' and inserts '2024' for the IFC edition); Municode's codified TCC §15.34.030 still shows the prior 2022 CFC / 2018 IFC. 60% · ordinance (Legistar packet, tracked-changes)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes — the County has repeatedly amended Title 15 by ordinance at each code cycle (e.g. Ord. 2086 in 2020, Ord. 2127 in 2022, Ord. 2150 in 2025), including at least one substantive local amendment (Residential Code §15.06.040, swimming-pool drowning-prevention feature requirements). No PV- or ESS-specific local amendment was found anywhere in Title 15 (confirmed by keyword search of the full Ord. 2150 readoption text for 'battery', 'energy storage', 'rapid shutdown', '690.' — zero hits; positive control 'electrical' 31 hits and 'fire' 38 hits, fabricated control 'zzqqx' 0 hits). 78% · ordinance (Legistar packet)
• What is the installation judged against? The adopted California Electrical Code (2025 cycle per the County's current department page; codified text still shows the 2022 CEC), plus TCC 15.60.030(c)(2)'s explicit cross-reference requiring conformance with 'all applicable state fire, structural, electrical, and other building codes,' state/county health and safety standards, and 'all applicable safety and performance standards established by the California Electrical Code, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and accredited testing laboratories such as Underwriters Laboratories' and, where applicable, CPUC safety/reliability rules. 78% · code of ordinances

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 Tehama 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, rapid shutdown applies — NEC Article 690.12 has been part of every NEC edition adopted in California since the 2017 cycle, and is carried forward automatically through the County's Electrical Code adoption-by-reference clause (TCC 15.20.030), whichever specific edition (2020 NEC under the still-codified 2022 CEC, or 2023 NEC under the 2025 CEC cycle now shown on the County's live page) currently applies. No county ordinance names 690.12 by section number, however — the requirement is inherited from the state code, not locally elaborated. 60% · code of ordinances (inferred from adoption clause)

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? No placards beyond the standard NEC/CEC-required markings (e.g. 690.13 service disconnect marking, 690.56 rapid-shutdown label, 705.10/706.15 point-of-interconnection/disconnect marking) — neither the City nor the County has published any local placard specification of its own for PV service equipment. 55% · forms library (absence) / code text (absence)
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 70% · forms library (absence)
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No 70% · forms library (absence)
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? No local elaboration found; only the NEC/CEC default (Art. 705.10, one-line/site diagram for systems with multiple power sources) would apply via the adopted electrical code, with no county-specific 'facility map' placard requirement. 50% · forms library (absence)
• Where must the labels be placed? No local elaboration found; default placement would follow the adopted NEC/CEC (at each disconnecting means and the point of interconnection, per Art. 690/705) with no county-specific placement instruction published. 50% · forms library (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? Yes 80% · code of ordinances
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Governed by whatever battery/ESS provisions exist in the adopted CRC/CFC (2025 cycle per the County's current department page) as a matter of general state code; no city or county ordinance adds a local ESS-specific rule, and Fee Ordinance No. 1918 (2009) predates common residential battery adoption and carries no ESS fee line at all. 55% · code text (absence) / fee schedule (absence)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No dedicated ESS-specific permit or inspection process was found; a battery/ESS installation would be folded into the same building/electrical permit and the single combined inspection under TCC 15.60.040(e), absent any evidence of a separate track. 55% · fee schedule (absence)
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Likely yes (inferred) — the zoning chapter applies height (§17.84.040) and setback (§17.84.060) standards to solar installations generally ('Solar panels shall comply with the maximum permitted height of the zoning district'; 'must meet the required setbacks established by the zone district'), which functions the same way the code treats an accessory structure, though a ground-mount array is not explicitly named or defined apart from a roof/building-attached system. 60% · code of ordinances (inferred)

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 or Phone — inspections may be requested online through the permit portal or by calling the Building & Safety office's 24-hour inspection line, (530) 527-7002. 88% · department page
• How much notice is required? Effectively about one business day: online requests must be in by 4:00 p.m. and phone requests by 4:30 p.m. to be scheduled for the next business day; requests after those deadlines are not scheduled for the next day. 85% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No AM/PM window choice is offered; inspections are scheduled for a specific day only, with the instruction to 'Be on-site by 8:00 a.m.' and to call after 7:30 a.m. that morning to check the specific time slot. 75% · 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? Delegated 90% · department page / code of ordinances
• If delegated, to whom? Tehama County Department of Building & Safety, 444 Oak Street, Room H / Courthouse Annex 2nd Floor, Red Bluff, CA 96080, (530) 527-7002. 92% · city 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 combined final inspection covers building and electrical for a qualifying small residential rooftop PV system, with a separate fire inspection only if the fire code official determines one is necessary; no rough-in stage is required for the PV work itself. 85% · code of ordinances
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No 85% · code of ordinances

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 — despite TCC 15.60.040(a)-(b) directing the director of the building department to adopt an expedited-review checklist/standard plan(s) 'substantially conform[ing]' to the state Solar Permitting Guidebook and to publish it on the county website, no such checklist could be located. 78% · forms library (absence, control-checked)
• What must be on site at inspection? A complete set of County-approved plans, the pink permit, calculations, and the yellow inspection card must be on site between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the day of the scheduled inspection; the orange County 'JOB SITE' card must also be posted visibly near the road. 90% · department policy document
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Not documented as an explicit checklist item, but implicitly covered — TCC 15.60.030(c)(2) requires conformance with UL/IEEE listing standards as a condition of eligibility, which the single combined inspection under 15.60.040(e) would be verifying as part of general code compliance. 50% · code of ordinances (inferred)

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 approval/sign-off on the permit card. The City's own page states the County issues 'Certificates of Occupancy' for construction generally, but for a PV retrofit on an existing dwelling (not new construction) the operative sign-off is passage of the single final inspection under TCC 15.60.040(e) rather than a new Certificate of Occupancy. 55% · city department page (inferred)
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer / Applicant 85% · code of ordinances
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $166.15 88% · department policy document / fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? A written correction notice detailing all deficiencies is issued; items must be corrected and a re-inspection called in before proceeding, with the correction notice kept available on site for the inspector to review at the re-inspection. 85% · department policy document