Redlands, California Building Permit Guide

Redlands is an Inland Empire city of about 74,000 residents at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains, with a large stock of preserved Victorian and craftsman housing and a growing logistics fringe. Its Building and Safety Division, at the One Stop Permit Center on Cajon Street, is the sole building authority inside the city.

This guide covers the Building and Safety Division and One Stop Permit Center, the filing routes, and the historic and airport overlays that shape Redlands projects.

This guide covers work inside the City of Redlands limits. Unincorporated San Bernardino County and neighbouring cities are separate authorities.

What requires a building permit in Redlands?

Local amendments and thresholds differ from one jurisdiction to the next, so an exempt list from a neighbouring city is not reliable — a project waved through in one place needs a full permit set in the next. An exemption from a building permit is never an exemption from zoning, the statewide energy or green-building codes, or an electrical or plumbing permit. Confirm scope with Building and Safety before work starts.

The statewide layers that apply everywhere

Several parts of Title 24 apply on top of the base building code and routinely catch projects owners assume are exempt: the California Energy Code (Part 6); CALGreen (Part 11), California’s mandatory statewide green-building code; and the accessibility provisions in Chapters 11A and 11B. Seismic design is built into the code statewide, and in fire-prone areas the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Title 24, Part 7, in force since 1 January 2026) and Cal Fire defensible-space requirements (Public Resources Code 4291) add a further layer. In the City of Redlands, the Building and Safety Division regulates construction and occupancy of all residential, commercial and industrial buildings under Title 24 with city amendments, alongside historic design guidelines and airport influence area requirements.

California builds on one statewide code, Title 24, whose 2025 edition took effect on 1 January 2026; the editions in effect when the application is submitted apply, and cities and counties may adopt local amendments only with findings filed with the state (new residential amendments are largely frozen until June 2031). Title 24 and local amendments

Who handles permitting in Redlands?

The Building and Safety Division regulates construction and occupancy of all residential, commercial and industrial buildings in order to ensure life, fire and health safety.

The One Stop Permit Center houses Building and Safety alongside Land Use Engineering and Planning, opening to the public on a schedule that closes alternate Fridays. Front counter staff review the minimum plan check submittal checklist before a plan check submittal is accepted, and permit applications are not processed until payment has been made. The application records the city business licence number and expiry for the contractor.

Confirm the parcel is inside the city first; unincorporated San Bernardino County and the neighbouring cities file with different authorities under their own amendments.

In 2025, building permits issued in Redlands authorized 203 new privately owned housing units, all of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Permit types

Residential permits

Residential work inside the city is permitted and inspected by the division under Title 24 and city amendments. Additions, ADUs, reroofs, pools, solar and EV chargers need permits, with a published checklist for electric vehicle supply equipment. Retaining walls at or under the published height are exempt unless supporting a surcharge, and flag poles above the published height on a residential lot need permits.

Commercial permits

Commercial and industrial work goes through division plan check against the California Building Code, the Energy Code and CALGreen, with city amendments. Historic architectural design guidelines apply where relevant, dumpster enclosure design standards are published, and new residential subdivisions inside the airport influence area carry signage and marketing disclosure requirements.

Licenses, trade classifications and design professionals

Practically, three credential layers appear on California projects: a CSLB license in the correct classification for the contractor pulling the permit; the specialty C-classifications for the electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades; and, on commercial and larger residential work, drawings stamped by a California-licensed architect or engineer. Confirm what Building and Safety requires for the specific building before filing.

Contractors are licensed statewide by the Contractors State License Board (Classes A, B, B-2 and C) for work of $1,000 or more or any permitted work; a city may also require a business licence or tax registration. Contractor licensing in California

Redlands permit costs and fees

Budget the city building permit and plan-check fees, separate trade permits, the state Building Standards and seismic surcharges, grading permit fees, and any development impact fees. The fee schedule is adopted by council resolution; confirm the version in force on your filing date.

California layers two uniform state surcharges — the Building Standards Administration fee and the Strong Motion Instrumentation seismic fee — on top of the local charges (Health and Safety Code 18931.6; Public Resources Code 2705). The building and plan-check fees themselves are local and change, and California law limits them to the reasonable cost of providing the service, so a figure from a neighbouring city is not reliable — ask Building and Safety for the schedule in force on your filing date.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Each trade follows its part of Title 24 and is done by a contractor with the matching CSLB licence (C-10 electrical, C-36 plumbing, C-20 HVAC), a Class B contractor where allowed, or an owner-builder. Trade licences in California

How to apply for a Redlands building permit

Review, corrections and what actually causes delay

In California, the first cause of delay is uncertainty over jurisdiction — filing with the county when a city should have it, or missing a local amendment on top of Title 24. After that come Title 24 energy and CALGreen documentation, a CSLB classification that does not match the scope, and, in fire or coastal areas, defensible-space or coastal-zone requirements that were not addressed up front. Build the plan-check time into the schedule and confirm the checklist with Building and Safety before filing.

A building permit carries a validity period and can expire if work does not start or stalls between inspections; confirm the expiry with Redlands on phased or delayed work. Permit validity in California

Inspections in Redlands

Where a permit is required, standard checkpoints include footing and foundation, framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation and Title 24 energy, CALGreen measures, fire systems on commercial work, and final, with a certificate of occupancy before use. Inspections can be scheduled through the city website, and the division publishes who may pull a permit and what identification is required.

California inspections are made against the code editions in effect when the permit application was submitted (Health and Safety Code 18938.5), so the approved plans and any energy and green-building documentation need to be on site for the inspector to check against. Confirm the notice Building and Safety needs and schedule around its inspection windows.

Do not cover work before the required inspection has been approved. Keep the issued permit, the approved plans, product listings, Title 24 energy documentation and your correction responses available on site.

Redlands permit search and official resources

Permit records in California sit with the local authority that issued them. Where the City of Redlands Building and Safety Division is the authority for the City of Redlands limits, it holds the building permit, the inspection history and the certificate of occupancy. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, confirm that past work was permitted rather than assuming it was — and confirm the code edition that was in force.

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and procedures change — confirm the position for your filing date.

• City of Redlands Building and Safety
• California Building Standards Commission (Title 24)
• Contractors State License Board (CSLB)
• California Energy Commission (Energy Code)
• California Department of Housing and Community Development

Frequently asked questions

Who issues building permits in the City of Redlands?

The Building and Safety Division, at the One Stop Permit Center on Cajon Street; unincorporated San Bernardino County and neighbouring cities are separate authorities.

Can I file online?

Only partly. Some over-the-counter permits can be started through the online public portal, but payment must be made in person before issuance and three hard-copy plan sets are required where plans apply. New structures are submitted in person.

How are fire plans submitted?

Fire plans are accepted electronically only, through the fire department, separately from the building submittal.

Do I need a local contractor registration?

California licenses contractors statewide through the CSLB; a city may still require a business licence or tax registration. The application records the city business licence number and expiry.

Are there historic requirements?

Yes. The city publishes historic architectural design guidelines through the Planning Division, and they apply to work on much of the older housing stock.

What is the airport influence area?

An overlay under the municipal code carrying signage and marketing disclosure requirements for new residential subdivision development inside it.

Simplify Redlands permitting with Alliance Permitting

Redlands rewards knowing which parts of the process are online and which are not. The split routing here catches out contractors used to fully electronic cities.

Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Redlands because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:

• We confirm the parcel is inside the city and route it to the division.
• We match the filing route to the scope of work.
• We prepare hard-copy plan sets in the required count.
• We apply historic design guidelines where they bite.
• We check airport influence area disclosure obligations.

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in California. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Redlands permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.