Tehama 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, but only for UNINCORPORATED Tehama County. The incorporated cities of Red Bluff and Corning, and the town of Tehama, are separate AHJs that issue their own building/electrical permits and are outside Tehama County Building & Safety's jurisdiction. 92% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both — Tehama County Building & Safety issues both building and electrical permits in-house for unincorporated county parcels. No plan-review or inspection contractor is named anywhere in the department's own materials (fee ordinance lists in-house hourly rates for 'Building Official,' 'Building Inspector,' and 'Plan Check' staff, and the Building Official is named as a county employee, Patrick Ewald). 82% · fee schedule
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes — a permit is required for residential rooftop PV in unincorporated Tehama County. 95% · ordinance
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined for a roof-mount retrofit — the Fee Ordinance's electrical Table E (Code 566, 'Solar Photovoltaic System') is used as a stand-alone electrical permit for PV added to an existing home; only ground-mount arrays (treated as a structure) would additionally draw a building-permit/structural component. There is no evidence of two separately numbered permits for a typical roof-mount retrofit. 62% · fee schedule
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No county requirement — nothing in the streamlined solar ordinance (Ch. 15.60) or the general submittal checklist calls for HOA/architectural approval as a condition of the county permit; any HOA review would be a private CC&R matter outside the county's process. 65% · ordinance
• Is there a historic-district review? No, in general — historic-district/individual-landmark review under Ch. 15.32 (Historical Building Code) applies only to buildings independently 'qualified' as historic structures (e.g., listed on a national/state/local register); a typical residential parcel is not subject to it. 68% · ordinance
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No dedicated wind/windstorm certification document is required. Wind loading is addressed through the county's standard structural design value (90 mph design wind speed, Exposure C) published on the Codes & Ordinances page, applied through ordinary structural calculations rather than a separate certification. 72% · department page
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Yes, conditionally — Ch. 15.60.040(g): if the Building Official finds substantial evidence the proposed system could have a 'specific, adverse impact' on public health/safety and the Planning Director concurs, the applicant must obtain a discretionary Use Permit from the Planning Commission (appealable within 10 calendar days). 92% · ordinance
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? A soft cap exists only for eligibility for the STREAMLINED/expedited process: systems must be ≤10 kW AC nameplate (or ≤30 kW thermal) to qualify. Larger residential systems are not prohibited outright — they simply fall outside Ch. 15.60's expedited track and go through standard discretionary/ministerial review instead. 88% · ordinance

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 — a state-licensed C-46 (Solar) or C-10 (Electrical) contractor may pull the permit, or the homeowner may self-permit as an owner-builder. 70% · permit application form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? No — the application asks only for the contractor's California (CSLB) state license number and class; there is no separate Tehama County contractor registration field or process. 75% · permit application form
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes — the county publishes an 'Owner-Builder-Take-Note' disclosure form as part of its standard forms package, confirming homeowner self-install/self-permit is accepted (subject to the owner-builder acknowledgement). 78% · department forms page

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, stand-alone PV submittal checklist is published. The county's only public checklist is the general 'Building Permit Application' cover sheet, which for new-home construction lists: 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,' and a flood elevation certificate (if applicable). Ch. 15.60.040(b) obligates the Building Official to publish a solar-specific checklist conforming to the CA Solar Permitting Guidebook, but no such document appears on the county's Forms & Publications page. 55% · department forms page
• How many copies, and in what format? Not stated as a copy count — submittal is via the ViewPointCloud e-permitting portal (electronic/PDF upload), which the county directs all applicants to use ('Apply for a Permit Online'). No physical-copy requirement is published. 55% · department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes — an 'Approved Plot Plan' is a required checklist item on the Building Permit Application; the application itself does not spell out exactly what the plot plan must depict beyond that label. 60% · permit application form
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes, by inheritance — Ch. 15.60.030(c)(2) requires small residential rooftop PV to conform to the California Electrical Code and 'all applicable safety and performance standards' referenced by the CA Solar Permitting Guidebook, which mandates a one-line diagram as a checklist item; the county has not published its own copy of that checklist to confirm the wording locally. 60% · ordinance
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Not specified for solar particularly. The general checklist lists 'Structural Calculations (if applicable)' with no stated valuation, span, or roof-load threshold; the Building Official determines applicability case by case. 50% · permit application form
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Not specified — no electrical PE-stamp threshold is published anywhere in the ordinance or forms reviewed; the streamlined solar ordinance (Ch. 15.60) requires conformance to the CEC/UL/IEEE standards but does not require a licensed electrical engineer's stamp for eligible (≤10kW AC) systems. 50% · ordinance

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? ViewPointCloud (tehamacountyca.viewpointcloud.com). 92% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes, functionally — the county's only application route publicized is the ViewPointCloud portal ('Apply for a Permit Online'), and the same portal is used to log in and schedule inspections. The department page does not explicitly confirm online fee payment, so this is inferred from ViewPointCloud's standard e-permitting functionality rather than confirmed line-by-line. 65% · department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $400.95 flat, County Electrical Permit Code 566 'Solar Photovoltaic System,' charged per inverter (this figure bundles 30 minutes of plan check plus support/travel/inspection time, and covers up to two site visits). A ground-mounted array additionally draws a $223.00 Tehama County Fire Dept (TCFD) plan-review fee. No separate building-valuation fee applies to a roof-mount retrofit. 70% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat, per inverter (Code 566 is a fixed dollar amount per inverter, not a percentage-of-valuation, per-kW, or per-panel charge). 78% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No — plan check is bundled into the $400.95 electrical permit fee itself (the fee formula explicitly includes '30 minutes x $143.10/Hr. (plan check rate)'); there is no separate stand-alone plan-check line item for solar. 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? 180 days (permit applications/issued permits expire after 180 days of inactivity). 82% · department page
• Which utility handles interconnection here? PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric). No community-choice aggregator serving Tehama County was found — the county's own Building & Safety staff memo assumes PG&E as the default electric utility and discusses only PG&E vs. off-grid scenarios. 80% · county staff memo
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? After permit / final inspection — PG&E's own Greenbook states local/state ordinances require the applicant to obtain permits AND final inspections before PG&E establishes electric service, and PG&E has the right under Electric Rule 11/16 to refuse connection until the AHJ clears the work. 85% · utility service manual

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? As adopted, Tehama County Code §15.20.030 (Ord. No. 2150, the county's Nov 2025 'Code Cycle 2025' readoption) still reads: '...incorporating the National Electrical Code, 2022 current edition...' — the same wording carried over unchanged from the prior 2022-cycle ordinance (Ord. No. 2127). By contrast, the SAME readoption ordinance visibly updated the Building Code chapter to 'International Building Code, 2024 Edition' and the Fire Code chapter to 'International Fire Code, 2018 2024 Edition' (redlined). The Electrical Code section shows no equivalent redline to a newer NEC year, which is either a genuine drafting gap in the 2025 readoption or boilerplate that does not track true NFPA edition numbers (there is no NFPA 'NEC 2022' edition; NEC editions run 2020/2023). This is reported as-is, at reduced confidence, because the primary text is internally inconsistent. 45% · ordinance
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code (Title 24, Part 2), incorporating the International Building Code, 2024 Edition — adopted via Ord. No. 2150 (Tehama County Code §15.04.030), the county's 'Code Cycle 2025' readoption. 85% · ordinance
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (Title 24, Part 9), incorporating the International Fire Code, 2024 Edition — adopted via Ord. No. 2150 (Tehama County Code §15.34.030), redlined from the prior 2018 IFC edition. 85% · ordinance
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes — local amendments exist, e.g., California Residential Code Appendix AX/CI (swimming pool safety) amendment at §15.06.040; Uniform Sign Code appendix substitution at §15.24 area; and locally-set structural design values (90 mph wind, Seismic Zone D, Exposure C, specific trench depths) published separately on the Codes & Ordinances page. 85% · ordinance
• What is the installation judged against? The installation is judged against the California Electrical Code (Title 24, Part 3)/NEC as adopted by Tehama County Code Ch. 15.20, the California Building/Residential Code (Ch. 15.04/15.06), and — for eligible small systems — the additional Ch. 15.60.030(c)(2) conformance standard: CEC, IEEE, UL-listing, and applicable CPUC safety/reliability rules. 85% · ordinance

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? No local amendment to the state-standard fire-code roof access pathway/ridge setback was found (Ch. 15.34 is a bare CFC/IFC adoption with no PV-pathway amendment) — so the 2025 CFC/CRC default pathway rules apply. Separately, TCFD's 'Residential Development Requirements' handout imposes its own, different requirement: photovoltaic systems must maintain at least 10 feet of defensible space (vegetation clearance), on top of the general 100-foot structure defensible-space zone. 65% · fire district handout

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? Rapid shutdown per NEC 690.12 is required by inheritance since the county adopts the CEC/NEC wholesale (Ch. 15.20.030) with no local exemption — but which NEC edition's 690.12 language applies is uncertain given the internal inconsistency found at Q29 (electrical chapter text still cites '2022 current edition' while building/fire chapters were bumped to 2024-edition model codes in the same 2025 readoption). 45% · ordinance

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 county-specific placard beyond the state code is separately published; the operative placard requirement comes from PG&E's Greenbook, which requires permanent signage at the meter panel identifying the interconnected DG source (see Q42/43). 65% · ordinance
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No — the county ordinance itself does not specify placard wording; it defers to the CEC and (for the utility side) to PG&E's Greenbook, which does specify wording ('an alternative source of generation is interconnected' / line-side connection warning). 65% · ordinance
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? The county specifies letter height/material only for site-ADDRESS signage (min. 4-inch letters, 1/2-inch stroke, reflectorized — TCFD Residential Development Requirements), not for PV service-equipment placards specifically; no county document sets letter height/colour/material for the PV placard itself. 60% · fire district handout
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Not separately elaborated locally — NEC 705.10 (facility placard/directory requirement, adopted via CEC/NEC per Ch. 15.20) applies by default, but no county document restates or adds to what it must show. 55% · ordinance
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes — PG&E's Greenbook requires permanent signage on the meter panel stating that an alternative generation source (solar/wind/battery) is interconnected, plus additional signage/maps at the meter panel if the AC disconnect is more than 10 feet away and out of line of sight; a fusible line-side disconnect additionally requires an engraved placard warning of the line/supply-side connection. 90% · utility service manual
• Where must the labels be placed? At the electric meter panel — DG interconnection signage is affixed to the meter panel itself; if the AC disconnect switch is located more than 10 feet from, or out of line of sight of, the meter panel, PG&E additionally requires signage/maps at the meter panel pointing to the disconnect's location. 88% · utility service manual

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 the most common residential case (inverter-based, self-contained meter panel, ≤320A, single-phase), PG&E does NOT require an AC disconnect switch at all; if one is installed anyway it must be PG&E-approved. For all other panel types (transformer-rated, multi-phase, non-inverter-based, or >320A), an AC disconnect IS required, installed after the meter and ahead of/adjacent to the main breaker; if the disconnect sits more than 10 feet from, or out of line of sight of, the meter, PG&E requires directional signage/maps at the meter panel. 88% · utility service manual
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Yes, by inheritance — Ch. 15.60.030(c)(2) requires eligible small residential PV systems to meet 'applicable safety and performance standards established by ... accredited testing laboratories such as Underwriters Laboratories,' i.e., UL-listed equipment. 85% · ordinance
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Permitted under the wholesale-adopted 2025 California Fire Code (IFC 2024 base) Chapter 12 (Energy Storage Systems) — no county-specific amendment or additional battery condition was found in the Ch. 15.34 text, and TCFD's current fee schedule has no dedicated ESS line item (unlike some Bay Area districts). 55% · fire district fee schedule
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No distinct, separately-numbered ESS permit or fee line was found; battery storage appears to be reviewed within the ordinary building/electrical/fire process rather than a dedicated ESS track. 55% · fire district fee schedule
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Yes — a ground-mounted array is treated as a structure requiring its own plan review; TCFD's own fee schedule buckets 'Ground Mount Solar' with new accessory structures ('New Shop, Garage, Ground Mount Solar, etc.') under its structural plan-review fee, distinct from an ordinary electrical-only permit. 75% · fire district fee schedule

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 (login to the ViewPointCloud portal and schedule) or Phone (dedicated inspection line, (530) 527-4928, available 24 hours for requests, separate from the main office line). 90% · department page
• How much notice is required? One business day — inspections must be requested online by 4:00 p.m., or by phone by 4:30 p.m., to be scheduled for the next business day. 90% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? AM/PM windows are requested-but-not-guaranteed ('We do our best to accommodate AM/PM inspection requests, but during high-volume times your request may not be honored'); no same-day inspections are offered (next-business-day only), and applicants must be on-site by 8:00 a.m. 85% · 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 for building/electrical — Tehama County Building & Safety performs its own final building/electrical inspections in-house; where required, a separate fire final inspection is performed by Tehama County Fire (delegated to CAL FIRE, see Q53). 80% · department page
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated for building/electrical (performed in-house by county Building & Safety inspectors). The FIRE final inspection is effectively delegated to Tehama County Fire Department, which itself operates under a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE (Tehama-Glenn Unit) dating to 1927 — CAL FIRE/TCFD staff, not the Building Department, conduct that piece. 80% · fire 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? Per Ch. 15.60.040(e), an eligible small residential rooftop PV system draws only ONE timely inspection by Building & Safety staff, 'excepting a separate fire inspection if necessary.' Where a fire final is required, TCFD's own handout is explicit about order: 'MUST SCHEDULE & PASS FIRE DEPT. FINAL INSPECTION, PRIOR TO BUILDING DEPT. FINAL.' 85% · fire district handout
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No, generally — for systems eligible under the Ch. 15.60 streamlined process, only a single final inspection is required (plus a fire final if referred); a rough-in/mid-roof inspection is not called for expedited small systems. Larger, non-expedited systems would fall back to the county's standard multi-stage electrical-inspection process, which is not separately documented for solar. 62% · ordinance

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.

• What must be on site at inspection? A complete set of county-approved plans, the pink permit card, supporting calculations, and the yellow inspection card must all be on site between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. the day of the scheduled inspection; an orange 'Job Site' card must also be posted, visible from the nearest maintained road (no more than 25 ft from the road). 90% · department policy document
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Presumed yes as a matter of ordinary code-enforcement practice under the adopted CEC (listing/labeling verification is a routine field-inspection duty), but no county document states this explicitly for solar. 50% · ordinance

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 signed-off final inspection / yellow inspection card cleared); no distinct 'green tag' or 'Certificate of Occupancy' terminology was found for a solar-only permit. 60% · department policy document
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? The installer/applicant — PG&E's own process requires the applicant to obtain the AHJ's permit and final inspection clearance and provide it to PG&E before PG&E will connect service/grant Permission to Operate; Ch. 15.60.040(f) also states county approval 'does not authorize an applicant to connect ... to the local utility provider's electricity grid. The applicant is responsible for obtaining such approval or permission from the local utility provider.' 65% · ordinance
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $166.15 (re-inspection fee, assessed if a scheduled inspection is not cancelled by 7:30 a.m. the day of, or a correction notice's items are not corrected before a re-inspection is requested). 90% · department policy document
• How are corrections issued and cleared? A written correction notice is left at the job site detailing all deficiencies; the permit holder must correct every listed item and then call in for a re-inspection before proceeding further with the project, having the correction notice available on-site for the inspector to review. 88% · department policy document