Richmond, California Building Permit Guide

Richmond is an East Bay shoreline city of about 115,000 residents on the northern edge of Contra Costa County, with a deep-water port, a refinery and a large stock of wartime housing. Its Building Division, within Community Development at the Civic Center on Civic Center Plaza, is the sole building authority inside the city, issuing permits under Title 24 with Richmond amendments.

This guide covers the Building Division, the iMS permit process, the code edition in force, and the industrial and older-housing issues that shape Richmond projects.

This guide covers work inside the City of Richmond limits. Unincorporated Contra Costa County and neighbouring cities are separate authorities.

What requires a building permit in Richmond?

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 Division 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 Richmond, the Building Division administers the 2025 Title 24 codes as adopted by city ordinance, and a shoreline industrial base and older housing stock shape much of the review.

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 Richmond?

The Building Division handles plan check, permit issuance and inspections for the City of Richmond under Title 24 as adopted and amended by the city.

The Building Division runs plan check, permit issuance and inspection for the City of Richmond from the second floor of the Civic Center. Applications are submitted electronically through the iMS system; applicants who cannot file electronically may submit in person by appointment arranged with a permit technician (510-620-6868 during counter hours). Inspections can be scheduled on the automated inspection line, 510-447-1156, or through the iMS portal.

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

In 2025, building permits issued in Richmond authorized 61 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, foundation and seismic work, pools, solar and EV chargers need permits, and a large wartime and pre-war housing stock means existing conditions and soil investigation come up often. A CSLB-licensed contractor in the right classification pulls the trade permits.

Commercial permits

Commercial, industrial and multi-family work goes through division plan check against the California Building Code, the Energy Code and CALGreen, with city amendments. Plans must be stamped and signed by the architect or engineer of record, soil investigation is required for new buildings and retaining walls, and school district fees are collected before a permit issues on new commercial work.

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 Division 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

Richmond permit costs and fees

Budget the city building permit and plan-check fees, separate trade permits, the state Building Standards and seismic surcharges, school district fees on new commercial and residential square footage, and any development impact fees. Confirm the schedule 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 Division 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 Richmond 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 Division 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 Richmond on phased or delayed work. Permit validity in California

Inspections in Richmond

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 by touch-tone phone against the permit number or through the iMS portal.

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 Division 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.

Richmond permit search and official resources

Permit records in California sit with the local authority that issued them. Where the City of Richmond Building Division is the authority for the City of Richmond 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 Richmond Building Division
• 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 Richmond?

The Building Division, within Community Development, issues permits for work inside the city; unincorporated Contra Costa County and neighbouring cities are separate authorities.

Which code edition applies?

Richmond has adopted the 2025 edition of the California Building Standards Code by ordinance, together with the city’s own amendments.

How do I file?

Through the city’s iMS permit system. It replaced the previous portal, and applicants who used the old system register again with the same email address.

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. Richmond does require a current city business license before a permit is issued to a contractor.

Is a soils report required?

The division requires soil investigation for new buildings and for retaining walls, and the basis of the foundation design must be shown on the drawings.

How do I run a Richmond permit search?

Permit records are searchable through the iMS portal with a login; older archived records are requested through the city’s public records portal.

Simplify Richmond permitting with Alliance Permitting

Richmond rewards a filing that arrives through the right system with the right credentials in hand. Portal registration and the city business license are both easy to leave until too late.

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

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Richmond 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 set up iMS access before the submittal window opens.
• We assemble the CSLB, insurance and city business license package.
• We build soil investigation into the programme where it is required.
• We track plan check, issuance and the inspection sequence through final.

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 Richmond permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.