Town of Paradise

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 92% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 88% · municipal code
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 92% · municipal code
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 60% · fee schedule
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No 72% · municipal code
• Is there a historic-district review? No 72% · municipal code table of contents
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 68% · municipal code
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No -- solar collectors are listed as a by-right accessory use in residential zones (PMC 17.14.300(D), and the parallel 17.10/17.11/17.12/17.17.300 accessory-use sections), and PMC Ch. 15.15's administrative approval process for eligible systems contains no Specific Use Permit or Council-approval step. 78% · municipal code
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? 10 kW AC nameplate / 30 kW thermal, and limited to a single or duplex family dwelling -- but this is the eligibility gate for the Ch. 15.15 EXPEDITED/administrative review path, not a stated absolute cap on residential PV generation; larger systems appear to simply fall outside the expedited chapter rather than being prohibited. 88% · municipal code

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 55% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 78% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 50% · municipal code

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? Per the Town's SolarAPP+ process: site information, system detail information including the SolarAPP+ approval code, licensed contractor information, uploaded plans, and payment of permit fees, submitted through app.govwell.com/paradise. 72% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• How many copies, and in what format? Digital only, via the app.govwell.com/paradise online portal 58% · department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? A site plan / site information is required as part of the SolarAPP+ and GovWell submittal, but the Town does not publish its own separate checklist of what the site plan must show. 52% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 85% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Yes, but performed automatically within the SolarAPP+ national review tool rather than submitted as a separate calculation package 62% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No PE structural stamp is required for a system eligible under PMC Ch. 15.15 (<=10 kW AC / 30 kW thermal, single/duplex dwelling); the applicant/contractor instead self-verifies structural adequacy using 'standard engineering evaluation techniques' per 15.15.030(B)(1). No stated threshold above which a stamp is required was found -- larger/ineligible systems would fall to the Building Official's general, non-solar-specific case-by-case discretion under Ch. 15.02. 65% · municipal code
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No PE electrical stamp required for a Ch. 15.15-eligible system; the applicant self-verifies that existing service/panel capacity can carry the new PV load per 15.15.030(B)(2), using 'standard electrical inspection techniques' rather than a stamped calculation. 65% · municipal code

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? GovWell (app.govwell.com/paradise) 95% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes 82% · department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $254.40 flat (residential roof mount); $381.60 flat (residential ground mount, includes building permit/plan review/onsite building clearance) 62% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat 85% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No 68% · 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? Not explicitly stated for solar; the general (unamended) CBC/CRC Section 105.5 default of 180 days without commencement of work, or 180 days of inspection inactivity, would apply since PMC 15.02 amends plan-review expiration (107.6) but was not found to amend permit-issuance expiration (105.5) itself. 50% · municipal code
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) 92% · municipal code
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel / No dependency 65% · municipal code

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 95% · municipal code
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code and 2025 California Residential Code (2025 code cycle) 75% · municipal code
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (Title 24, Part 9) 68% · municipal code
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 90% · municipal code
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025-cycle California Building Standards Code (CBC, CRC, CEC, CMC, CPC, Energy, WUI, Historical, Fire, Existing Building, Green Building, Administrative, Referenced Standards) as adopted and locally amended by PMC Title 15 (Ord. 652, 12/9/2025), plus the PMC 15.15 small-residential-solar chapter for eligibility/process. 82% · municipal code table of contents

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 Town of Paradise 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 is required per NEC 690.12, as incorporated by the 2025 CEC (based on the 2023 NEC); no local amendment modifies or removes this requirement. 80% · municipal code

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.

• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 75% · municipal code
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No 75% · municipal code

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? No Town-specific approved-equipment list was found; standard UL-listing requirements under the adopted 2023 NEC/2025 CEC apply. 60% · municipal code
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes -- the Town's own SolarAPP+ presentation lists 'Solar, Battery Storage, and Solar + Battery Storage' as eligible project types for detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhomes; no separate ESS-specific local ordinance or condition was found beyond the standard adopted CRC/CFC provisions. 78% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Yes -- the Town's Master Fee Schedule lists a distinct 'California Fire Code Permits - Battery Systems' operational-permit fee of $127.90 under the Community Safety Services (Fire) section, separate from the Building Division's Solar PV permit fee. 78% · fee schedule
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No -- no local rule on service-upgrade sizing or busbar rating was found; PMC 15.04 (Electrical Code chapter) contains only the bare adoption clause with zero local amendments. 78% · municipal code

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 88% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? Yes, AM or PM windows are offered 78% · 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% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)

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 a Ch. 15.15-eligible SolarAPP+ project: registration/approval in SolarAPP+ (external) -> permit application/plan upload via GovWell -> a single final inspection by the Town's Building Division. 82% · municipal code
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No 78% · municipal code

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 the SolarAPP+-generated, project-specific inspection checklist provided at approval; PMC 15.15.010(B)/030(A) also directs the Building Official to develop and publish a general checklist, but I could not find that static Town checklist document published as its own file on the site (only the SolarAPP+ tool's per-project output). 62% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• What must be on site at inspection? Permit, Inspection Card, Job site identification card, and plans (single line diagram, array plan, and specs) 82% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes 78% · department presentation (PDF, dated Dec 2023)

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 85% · municipal code
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $127.20 (general re-inspection fee, after the second failed inspection) 62% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? At the application stage, PMC 15.15.030(D) requires the Building Official to 'issue a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies... and any additional information required' for an incomplete application. At the inspection stage, 15.15.030(C) allows 'a subsequent inspection' if the system fails, without specifying the correction-notice mechanics for that stage. 70% · municipal code