Modoc County

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, for the unincorporated area of Modoc County; No for addresses inside the incorporated City of Alturas, which is a separate AHJ 90% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 88% · department page
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 95% · county policy (M-007, PDF)
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 60% · permit application form
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No 55% · checklist (PDF)
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate windstorm-certification program exists (California has no TDI-style wind certification); the county instead requires the 100 mph design wind speed to be addressed within the required structural engineering for elevated/ground-mount PV 72% · county policy (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? Either 90% · permit application form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? No 60% · permit application form
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 88% · 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? Completed permit application; two (2) sets of plans (site plan, electrical single-line diagram, equipment cut sheets); structural details/engineering if ground-mount or roof array exceeding the county's height threshold; module/inverter listing info; voltage-drop and system-voltage calculations 82% · county policy / checklist (PDF)
• How many copies, and in what format? Two (2) sets, minimum 8.5"x11" up to 24"x36" (M-007 ground mount checklist: 8.5x11 only) 85% · checklist (PDF)
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes — must show structure location, north arrow, equipment/disconnect/inverter locations and, for ground mount, setbacks to structures and property lines 88% · checklist (PDF)
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 92% · checklist (PDF)
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Yes 88% · checklist (PDF)
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? A CA-licensed engineer's wet-stamped design is required for ground-mount PV over 7 feet in height per Policy M-007 (Nov 2024; design wind speed 100 mph); an older, still-linked checklist (doc 208) states the same trigger at 6 feet. Roof-mount arrays require an 'engineered or listed system' for mounting regardless of height. 65% · county policy (M-007, PDF)

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 ("Modoc Building Permit" citizen portal at modocbuildingpermit.portal.iworq.net); a separate SolarAPP+ instant-permitting page existed on the county's pre-2024 website but no longer appears in the current site's Building & Safety navigation 80% · portal landing page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Partially — an online portal exists, but the department's own internal Building Permit Workflow Chart describes applicants turning in a completed (paper/PDF) application which STAFF then key into iWorQ, rather than a self-service online submittal-through-issuance flow 60% · internal policy manual (PDF)
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes (likely) 55% · internal policy manual (PDF)

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? 365 calendar days (1 year) from issuance without a passed inspection; extendable in 365-day increments; may be reinstated within 5 years of expiration 95% · adopting ordinance
• Which utility handles interconnection here? PacifiCorp (Pacific Power) serves most of the county, including Alturas (~47,000 CA customers across Siskiyou/Del Norte/Modoc/Shasta counties); Surprise Valley Electrification Corp. (SVEC), a member-owned rural electric cooperative, serves the Surprise Valley communities in eastern Modoc County (Cedarville, Eagleville, Fort Bidwell) 70% · utility service-area page
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? After permit (for the SVEC service area) — SVEC's own process requires the applicant to obtain county permits/inspections in Phase I, and SVEC will not set the meter until the county Building Inspector has issued final 'green tag' approval in Phase IV 72% · utility DG/service process page

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? 2017 85% · adopting ordinance
• Which building code edition is in force? 2022 California Building Code / California Residential Code (Title 24, Parts 2 & 2.5), based on the 2018 IBC/IRC 85% · adopting ordinance
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2022 California Fire Code (Title 24 Part 9), based on the 2021 International Fire Code 85% · adopting ordinance
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 95% · adopting ordinance
• What is the installation judged against? California Electrical Code Articles 690/705 (per the county's own PV checklists), California Fire Code egress/access requirements, and county Policy M-007's ground-mount inspection criteria 82% · county policy (PDF)

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? Detailed pathway/setback rules published: min. 3 ft clear walkway eave-to-ridge (hip roofs), two 3 ft walkways (single ridge), modules kept 10 ft from hips/valleys when arrays are on both sides, and no modules within 3 ft of the ridge for ventilation; ground-mount arrays require a 10 ft brush-free clearance 68% · checklist (PDF, last modified 17 Apr 2020, cites 2013 code cycle)

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, under NEC 690.12 as incorporated by the 2022 CEC (2017 NEC base) 68% · adopting ordinance (inference)

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? DC disconnect: 'Photovoltaic Power Source' warning sign; AC point-of-connection sign; alternative/standby power-source switch sign; labels on all DC conduit/raceways/junction and combiner boxes 85% · county policy (PDF)
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? Yes — required wording: "WARNING: PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE" 82% · checklist (PDF)
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? Labels shall be reflective and water-resistant, minimum 3/8-inch lettering, white lettering on a red background 82% · checklist (PDF)
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? No dedicated site-plan/facility-map placard beyond standard NEC 690/705 disconnect labeling was found in any county document 55% · county policy (PDF) — absence across 4 documents
• Where must the labels be placed? At every service/utility disconnect, and on every DC conduit/raceway/enclosure at 10 ft on-center and within 1 ft of turns, bends, and penetrations 82% · checklist (PDF)

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 78% · checklist (PDF)
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes, if included in the permit's scope of work and shown on the electrical diagram with locations and venting; batteries/ESS in a vehicle path must be protected by bollards per the county's Final Inspection Checklist 82% · checklist (PDF)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No — batteries are added as scope-of-work to the existing PV/building permit rather than requiring a standalone ESS permit 65% · county policy (PDF)
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Yes 85% · county policy (PDF)
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? The NEC 705.12 120% busbar/OCPD rule is explicitly restated as an inspection criterion ("sum of the main OCPD and the inverter OCPD... not more than 120% of the bus bar rating"); no local amendment beyond that NEC rule was found 78% · county policy (PDF)
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? Yes — minimum roof-mount support spacing: 4 ft o.c. at 0-40 lb snow load, 2 ft o.c. at 40-70 lb, and CA-licensed-engineer design required above 70 lb 75% · checklist (PDF, last modified 17 Apr 2020, cites 2013 code cycle)

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 82% · 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 82% · internal policy manual (PDF)
• If delegated, to whom? N/A — not delegated; performed directly by the county Building Official 78% · internal policy manual (PDF)

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? Foundation → rough/4-way (framing, plumbing, mechanical, electrical) → final. Deferred PV submittals must be reviewed and approved before the 4-way rough inspection. 75% · checklist (PDF, revised 19 Feb 2025)
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? Yes 68% · checklist (PDF)

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 92% · checklist (PDF)
• What must be on site at inspection? Approved job-copy plans and calculations, the issued permit with prior correction notices resolved, any special-inspection reports, and operation/maintenance manuals for installed equipment 80% · checklist (PDF)
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes 88% · county policy (PDF)

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 72% · internal policy manual (PDF)
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer/applicant 62% · utility DG/service process page
• How are corrections issued and cleared? Corrections are attached to the field inspection record card and tracked in the county's iWorQ Administration Record; the permit cannot final until 'all previous correction notices are completed,' implying clearance is verified at re-inspection 55% · checklist (PDF) + internal workflow chart