Town of Los Gatos

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% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both (building and electrical are issued by the Town's own Building Division); fire-code aspects sit with Santa Clara County Fire Department (a separate special district providing Los Gatos' fire services, not a delegation from the Town) 88% · department page + fee schedule
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 98% · ordinance
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined (one Building Permit Application form includes an integrated 'Application for Electrical Permit' section; the SolarApp+ path issues a single 'Residential Solar Permit with SolarApp+') 65% · permit application form
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No — not required by the Town for a solar permit itself. 65% · published checklist (absence)
• Is there a historic-district review? Yes, for designated landmarks, properties in a historic district, or pre-1941 structures — planning approval is required before any exterior alteration, and Town Code contains no PV/solar exemption from this review (unlike some cities' explicit solar carve-outs). 85% · town code
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No — no wind/windstorm certification (TDI-style) requirement exists; not applicable in this jurisdiction. 80% · ordinance (absence)
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Conditionally yes — the Building Official may require a 'minor residential permit' (with Planning Commission appeal rights) if the solar system is found, on substantial evidence, to have a 'specific, adverse impact upon the public health and safety'; otherwise no Special/Conditional Use Permit or Council approval is required for a routine small residential rooftop system. 90% · ordinance
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? Two different caps found for two different pathways: (1) codified 'small residential rooftop solar energy system' definition = 10 kW AC nameplate / 30 kW thermal, on a single- or duplex-family dwelling only (AB 2188-era cap, unchanged in the Dec 2025 recodification); (2) the live SolarApp+ automated-instant-permit page caps PV at 38.4 kW AC and ESS at 38.4 kW, with 400A service/225A disconnect/225A busbar limits — a different (larger) national SolarApp+ eligibility threshold, not a Town-set ceiling. No separate zoning-code kW ceiling was found. 90% · ordinance + portal page

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? Licensed contractor — specifically a C-10 (electrical) or C-46 (solar) classification per the Town's own submittal checklist ('a C-10 or C-46 classification contractor's license may pull permits for solar installation') 95% · published checklist
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 90% · department page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes, via the conventional (non-SolarApp+) permit path 60% · department page (inference)

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; ONE bookmarked, wet/digitally-signed plan-set PDF; separate supporting-document PDFs (structural calcs, specs, etc.); proof of a signed written contract between contractor and owner; for roof mount — roof plan to scale, single-line diagram, rooftop setback per CRC-R324.6, equipment listing/testing-agency data; for ground mount — Planning approval, site plan showing utilities and trees, tree-protection plan, construction-management plan, footing/attachment engineering calcs. 95% · published checklist
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic upload only: ONE (1) combined, bookmarked PDF for the signed plan set, with the permit application and any supporting documents (structural calcs, specs) each as separate PDF uploads to the Accela portal — no paper/physical copies specified. 90% · published checklist
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes — a roof plan (for roof mount) or site plan (for ground mount) is required, drawn to scale, showing: north arrow, direction to street frontage, main electric meter/panel, DC disconnect, inverter, AC disconnect location, roof slope/material/dimensions, array location(s), rafter spans/bracing (or attic photo), and CRC-R324.6 rooftop setbacks; ground-mount site plans must additionally show all existing/proposed utilities, existing trees (species, diameter, dripline), and a 10-ft brush-clear area per CRC-R324.7.2. 95% · published checklist
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 95% · published checklist
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Effectively yes — the single-line diagram must show conductor/wire size and type plus equipment make/model/size, and 'equipment manufacturer's specifications showing listing and testing agencies' are separately required, though the Town does not use the phrase 'string calculations' or ask for a distinct voltage-drop/string-sizing worksheet. 65% · published checklist (inference)
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No numeric threshold published; the checklist requires a 'wet/digital signature... by design professional(s)' on all submittal documents generally, and for GROUND-mount systems specifically requires 'footing and attachment details with engineering calculations.' No roof-mount PE-stamp trigger (e.g., panel weight, roof type, or valuation) is stated. 55% · published checklist

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? Accela Citizen Access (ACA), branded as the Town's 'Online Permits System' at permits.losgatosca.gov 98% · portal landing page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes 95% · portal / department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? No flat residential fee. Building-side: Plan Review $190.00/hr (1/4-hr minimum) + Field Inspection $199.00/hr (1-hr minimum) for 'Photovoltaic – Roof & Ground Mounted – Residential' (Item 72). Electrical-side: $68.00 permit issuance fee (Item 74) + $92.00 'Photovoltaic system (residential)' unit fee (Item 89, same rate for 'Solar systems (including controls)', Item 90) + electrical plan review at 25% of the electrical permit fee (Item 78). SolarApp+ path adds a separate $25 NREL platform administration fee. 92% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Tiered/hourly — priced by hourly plan-review and field-inspection rates with stated minimums (not flat, not valuation-based, not per-kW or per-panel), plus a flat electrical unit fee and a percentage-of-fee plan-review charge on the electrical side. 80% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes 95% · 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? Same day for over-the-counter applications, or 1–3 business days for electronic applications (for small residential rooftop solar systems eligible for the expedited/nondiscretionary review process). 90% · ordinance
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? No local override found; the Town's own submittal/fee documents do not restate a permit-validity period, and Ordinance 2380 contains no amendment to CBC Section 105.5 (permit expiration), so the state-standard default (180 days without required inspection progress under the 2025 CBC) is inferred to apply. 60% · ordinance (absence of amendment)
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is the wires/interconnection utility; Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) is the Community Choice Aggregation electricity provider (generation only — PG&E still owns the wires, handles interconnection and issues Permission to Operate). 80% · utility/CCA member list + city pages
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? After permit / after the AHJ's final inspection — PG&E will not normally issue Permission to Operate (PTO) until it has evidence of the applicant's final electrical inspection clearance from the AHJ. 90% · utility tariff (Greenbook/Rule 21)

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, adopted (as amended by CBSC) as the 2025 California Electrical Code (CEC), Title 24 Part 3 — effective 1 Jan 2026. 98% · adopting ordinance
• Which building code edition is in force? 2024 IBC, adopted as the 2025 California Building Code (CBC), Title 24 Part 2; residential work falls under the corresponding 2025 California Residential Code (CRC), Article III of the same chapter. 98% · adopting ordinance
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2024 IFC, adopted (as amended) as the 2025 California Fire Code (CFC). 98% · adopting ordinance
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes — extensive local amendments, including: a WUI scope clarification; Reach Codes (AC-to-heat-pump replacement on existing single-family AC replacement, electric-readiness pre-wiring on remodels/additions); residential ESS location/spacing/fire-detection/suppression amendments (CRC R330, CFC 1207 series); a Schedule-of-Permit-Fees amendment (CBC 109.2.1, plan review = 65% of permit fee); and the Town's own 'Expedited Permit Process for Small Residential Rooftop Solar Systems' chapter (Article XV, mirrored in Zoning Ch. 29 Div. 3B). 98% · adopting ordinance
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025 CBC/CRC/CEC/CFC/CGBSC as locally amended by Ordinance 2380, plus the Town's Article XV/Zoning Div. 3B 'Expedited Permit Process for Small Residential Rooftop Solar Systems' (which itself requires conformance to the state Solar Permitting Guidebook and Civil Code §714 cost/efficiency restrictions). 90% · 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? Rooftop setbacks per CRC-R324.6 must be shown on the roof plan; for ground-mounted/WUI-area systems, a 10-foot brush-free clear area is required per CRC-R324.7.2. No local amendment to these state pathway/setback provisions was found in Ordinance 2380 (they are inherited from the 2025 CRC as adopted). 92% · published checklist

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 is required under the currently-adopted 2023 NEC (§690.12), effective 1 Jan 2026 as the 2025 CEC. Caution: the Town's own PV submittal checklist — whose PDF metadata shows it was last modified 29 Jun 2026, i.e. after the new code took effect — still instructs applicants to put '2022 Building Code, 2022 Electrical Code and 2022 Fire Code' on their cover sheet and describes the disconnect mechanism 'per the 2022 California Electrical Code,' rather than the 2025 CEC actually in force. This is a real lag between the currently-adopted ordinance and the still-unrevised checklist. 75% · ordinance vs. checklist discrepancy

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 Town-specific placard list is published. The submittal checklist only requires applicants to 'show actual proposed labels as required by code and policy' and note their location/dimension on the plan set — it does not enumerate which placards (e.g. AC/DC disconnect, rapid-shutdown, dual-power-source, ESS) are required; those are inherited from the state-adopted 2025 CEC (Art. 690/705) and 2025 CFC (§605.11/706) without local elaboration. 70% · published checklist (partial absence)
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 80% · ordinance (proven absence)
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No — no Town-specified letter height, colour, or material for PV placards was found anywhere in the reviewed documents. 75% · ordinance (proven absence)
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? The required roof plan/site plan (showing array location, meter/panel, disconnects, inverter, and — for ground mount — utilities and trees) functions as the facility map for plan-check purposes; the Town does not separately name or require a distinct '705.10 facility placard' document beyond that plan-set drawing. 65% · published checklist (inference)
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes — PG&E's Electric Rule 21 requires the visible interconnection/isolating disconnect device to 'include markings or signage that clearly indicates open and closed positions,' in addition to whatever the AHJ requires. 85% · utility tariff (Greenbook/Rule 21)
• Where must the labels be placed? Town documents do not specify exact placement beyond requiring labels to be shown, located and dimensioned on the plan set. PG&E's Rule 21 requires its visible disconnect to be located 'near the Point of Interconnection' and reachable by Distribution Provider personnel 24 hours a day for emergency purposes; standard NEC/CEC Art. 690/705 labeling-location rules (at service equipment, disconnects, and point of interconnection) apply by virtue of code adoption without further local elaboration. 65% · checklist + utility tariff

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 90% · ordinance
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes, subject to detailed CRC R330 / CFC §1207 location, spacing, fire-detection and fire-suppression amendments as locally modified by Ordinance 2380: ESS may only be installed in detached garages/accessory structures, separated attached garages, specified outdoor locations ≥3 ft from doors/windows, or enclosed/fire-rated utility spaces (never in sleeping rooms); units must be spaced ≥3 ft apart unless large-scale fire testing shows otherwise; smoke/heat alarm interconnection is required; and fire-area quantity limits and automatic suppression requirements apply above certain kWh thresholds (with lead-acid/UPS exceptions). 95% · ordinance
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No distinct 'ESS permit' line exists in the Town's fee schedule — ESS is billed under the same hourly Special-Systems Building fee structure as other electrical/PV work (no 'Energy Storage System' fee item was found, unlike some neighbouring cities). Under SolarApp+, a combined PV/ESS project can be issued as a single instant permit, but standalone ESS is explicitly excluded from SolarApp+ and must go through the conventional building-permit process (which still uses the same general fee schedule, not a distinct ESS permit type). 70% · fee schedule (absence) + portal page
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Effectively treated as requiring the same site-development review as a structure — the Town's PV submittal checklist requires 'Planning approval, location on site plan' for any ground installation, plus a full site plan (existing/proposed utilities, tree inventory and protection plan, construction-management plan) and 'footing and attachment details with engineering calculations,' though no zoning-code section was found that formally labels ground-mount PV an 'accessory structure.' 70% · published checklist (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 (Online Permits System / Accela), Phone (24-hr Inspection Request voicemail line), or Fax (Fax Inspection Request form) — no walk-in inspection booking option is offered. 95% · department page
• How much notice is required? Must be scheduled by 12:00 p.m. (noon) the business day before, to get a next-business-day inspection; requests received after noon roll to the following business day. Effectively ~1 business day's notice. 90% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? AM/PM preference is accepted and 'every effort' is made to accommodate it, but it is not guaranteed; morning window is roughly 8am–12pm and afternoon roughly 12–3pm (described as estimates only). No same-day inspection option is offered — earliest is next business day. 90% · 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 — the Town's own Building Division field inspectors (Bobby DeHerrera, Noal Grover, Kyle Moore, Roy Alba) perform the final inspection. Delegated only for CFC-governed fire/ESS elements (e.g., large-scale ESS fire testing under the locally-amended CFC §1207), which fall to the Santa Clara County Fire Department as 'fire code official' — though no evidence was found that SCCFD publishes a distinct residential PV/ESS inspection process or fee (see jurisdiction note). 75% · staff directory + ordinance
• If delegated, to whom? Santa Clara County Fire Department — but only for the CFC-governed portions (e.g., ESS fire-suppression/testing thresholds under locally-amended §1207); routine residential rooftop PV without a qualifying ESS is inspected entirely by the Town's own Building Division. 70% · department page (inference)

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? For small residential rooftop systems eligible for expedited review: only ONE consolidated inspection is required, scheduled within 2 business days of request with a 2-hour window. For conventional (non-expedited) permits — e.g., ground mount, service-panel upgrade, or systems failing the specific-adverse-impact test — no PV-specific inspection sequence is separately published; standard Town practice (rough electrical, then final) is inferred to apply but not documented for solar specifically. 80% · ordinance
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No — for expedited/small-residential-rooftop systems, Ordinance 2380 explicitly limits the process to a single inspection (no separate rough-in/mid-roof step). For conventional (non-expedited) systems this is not separately documented by the Town. 80% · 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.

• Is there a published inspection checklist? Yes, in the form of a SUBMITTAL checklist that doubles as a field checklist — the Town's PV document ends with an explicit 'CHECKLIST' section (roof plan to scale, north arrow, roof slope/rafter size, roof cross-section, electrical-service location, single-line diagram, equipment specs) that an applicant signs as having submitted; it is framed as a submittal/plan-check checklist rather than a separately labeled 'inspection checklist.' 75% · published checklist
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Inferred yes — the approved plan set the inspector checks against must include 'equipment manufacturer's specifications showing listing and testing agencies' per the submittal checklist, and Ordinance 2380 requires equipment to meet UL/IEEE/PUC standards, so verifying listings against the approved plans is implicit in standard field-inspection practice. No Town document states this in as many words for the inspection step itself. 65% · published checklist (inference)

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? A signed-off Building Final (a 'Final' inspection approval on the permit record/card). No use of 'green tag' or similar terminology was found in any Town document reviewed. 55% · portal page (inference)
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer/applicant — PG&E's own tariff places the burden on the 'Applicant' to submit evidence of the AHJ's final electrical inspection clearance as part of the interconnection request that triggers Permission to Operate; the Town does not notify PG&E on the applicant's behalf. 75% · utility tariff (Greenbook/Rule 21)
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $199.00/hr (billed under the Electrical Permit Fees / 'Plan Review & Re-inspection Fees' heading, which functions as the Town's general re-inspection rate; an additional 4-hour-minimum after-hours inspection rate of $240.00/hr also appears elsewhere in the same schedule for inspections outside normal business hours). 80% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? For expedited/small-residential-rooftop solar: a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies is sent to the applicant for resubmission (Ordinance 2380 Sec. 6.150.060(f)). Generally, corrections/comments and marked-up plans are exchanged through the Accela citizen portal, and applicants may resubmit or collaborate with staff by email per the SolarApp+ instructions. 85% · ordinance + portal page