ADU Permits in Campbell

Campbell’s permit process runs through a small building division with a real online portal, not a black box, which puts it ahead of a lot of small cities I’ve worked in. But the one feature that made Campbell genuinely fast, a one-week express review, isn’t running right now. Anyone quoting you a one-week Campbell permit in 2026 is quoting last year’s program.

What’s left is a solid, ordinary plan check process. Not slow by Bay Area standards, not the fastest either.

What Changed for Campbell ADU Permits in 2026

Locally, the biggest change already happened in 2025, not this year. Campbell’s ADU Express Plan Check program launched in March 2025 promising to cut review from months down to one week, capped at two qualifying applicants a week with submissions due by Sunday at 11:59 PM. The city’s own civic alert on that program shows it running from March 12, 2025 through its archive date of August 4, 2025, and it’s marked suspended on the city’s own Building Division page as of this writing. No relaunch date is published.

On the state side, four bills matter here regardless of what Campbell does locally, all effective January 1, 2026 unless noted: AB 1154, AB 462 (signed as an urgency measure on October 15, 2025, so parts took effect immediately), SB 543, and the 2025 amendment giving California’s Housing and Community Development department authority to void local ADU ordinance provisions that conflict with state law. SB 543 is the one that actually touches your Campbell submission directly: it requires a permitting agency to determine completeness and give written notice within 15 business days of receiving your application, and if the city misses that window, your application is automatically deemed complete. It also shifts ADU size measurement to interior livable space. AB 462 is mostly about coastal permitting and disaster-area occupancy certificates, and Campbell isn’t a coastal city, so honestly, I’d expect limited direct effect here.

Same open question I flagged on the cost side: Campbell’s published ADU Bulletin predates AB 1154 and still states owner occupancy is required for any JADU, full stop. AB 1154 narrows that so it only kicks in when the JADU shares a bathroom with the main house. I could not confirm whether the Planning Division has updated its guidance since January 1, 2026. Ask directly before you record a deed restriction you might not need.

How the Campbell ADU Permit Process Works

Everything goes through the Community Development Department’s Building Division, and submissions run through MGO Connect, the city’s online permit portal (built on the MyGovernmentOnline platform). You create an account first, then upload your plan set and required documents for your specific project type, new detached ADU, garage conversion, or interior remodel each has its own application guide on the city’s Building Application Guides page.

Once you submit, city staff check your upload for general completeness before it’s accepted into review. That’s the step SB 543’s 15-business-day clock is meant to bound. After acceptance, your plans go out concurrently, not in sequence, to the Building Inspection Division (including a third-party plan check consultant), the Planning Division, Land Development Engineering, and the Santa Clara County Fire District. Comments come back together through the MGO Customer Portal once every department has weighed in.

Corrections are normal. Don’t upload revised plans the moment you get one comment back; wait until the Building Inspection Division confirms all department comments are in, or you’ll be reviewed against a moving target. Once everything clears and fees are paid, the Building Division issues the permit. Worth knowing separately: Campbell’s own application guide gives a submitted permit application a 180-day shelf life before it expires without a fee refund, so don’t let a project stall mid-review.

Fee component	Amount	Notes
Building permit fee	2.00% of first $500,000 of valuation	Example: $4,000 on a $200,000 valuation
Plan check	33% of building permit fee	Example: $1,320
Title 24 plan check	$237 flat	Energy code review
Fire plan check	Greater of $119 flat or 10% of building permit fee	Santa Clara County Fire District
General Plan Maintenance, Technology, Training fees	0.22% of valuation combined	Three small flat-percentage add-ons
Construction License Tax	$0.50 per sq ft	Campbell Municipal Code Chapter 3.40
Roadway Maintenance Fee	0.32% of building permit valuation	Example: $640
Park in-lieu fee	$0 under 750 sq ft, $9,328 at 750 sq ft or larger	Capped per state law formula, same for JADUs at $0

Source: City of Campbell FY2026-27 Master Fee Schedule

I want to be straight about that table the way I would about any fee schedule. Most of these line items are flat percentages of your project’s permit valuation, which the building department sets and which usually runs well under your actual contract price with a builder. That means I can’t hand you one flat number for your project, because your valuation isn’t mine. What I can tell you is the one line that swings the whole bill by itself: cross 750 square feet and you owe $9,328 in park fees, current as of the FY2026-27 Master Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026. Stay under it, or build a JADU, and that line is zero. I already broke down the full math on an example $200,000 valuation in the Campbell ADU cost breakdown, which is the better page if you’re pricing the whole build instead of just this permit step.

Phase	Typical duration (in weeks)	Department
Intake & completeness review	1 to 3 weeks	Building Division / MGO Connect
First plan check	4 to 6 weeks	Building Inspection Division, concurrent with Planning, Land Development Engineering, Fire District
Corrections & recheck (per round)	2 to 4 weeks	Same departments
Permit issuance	Under 1 week	Building Division

Source: City of Campbell New Single-Family Residential Construction Application Guide (plan check figures); SB 543 statutory deadline (intake window)

Here’s the honest sourcing on that table. The 4 to 6 week first plan check and 2 to 4 week recheck figures come straight from Campbell’s own application guide, that part is genuinely published, not a guess. The intake window reflects the 15-business-day ceiling SB 543 now puts on every California city’s completeness determination, not a Campbell-specific number. Issuance timing is commonly reported by builders working in the city, not separately published anywhere I could find. Add it up and a clean submission with zero correction rounds lands around five to ten weeks. One correction round, which is normal on a custom design, pushes that to roughly seven to fourteen weeks.

The Campbell Preapproved Plan Gallery

This is the piece that’s supposed to be doing what Express Plan Check used to do, minus the guaranteed one-week promise. Campbell’s ADU Bulletin points applicants to a Preapproved Plan Gallery of designs from vetted architects, and detached ADUs using one of these plans skip the design-standards review entirely, since detached units aren’t subject to Campbell’s design standards in the first place.

The real savings is structural, not procedural on paper. A preapproved plan has already been through architectural and structural review once for its own baseline design, so your plan check reviewer is mostly confirming your specific lot conditions, setbacks, separation distance, utility routing, rather than re-litigating the whole design from scratch. That typically means fewer correction rounds, which is where actual weeks get saved, not a shorter posted review window.

The catch is the same one every preapproved program has anywhere in the state: you’re building someone else’s floor plan. On Campbell’s flat, gridded lots that’s rarely a real constraint. If your lot is unusually shaped or you’re converting an attached garage instead of building detached, you’re more likely back in a fully custom review, with the material-matching and garage-infill design rules Campbell applies specifically to attached and converted units.

Campbell-Specific Rules That Trip People Up

The Express Plan Check promise is dead, at least for now. People still find blog posts and old bookmarks quoting a one-week Campbell ADU permit. That program has been suspended since August 2025 with no announced return date. Budget standard plan check timing, not the express track.

The $9,328 park fee is a design decision, not a surprise bill. It only applies at 750 square feet and up. JADUs and smaller ADUs owe nothing here. I’ve seen homeowners get this news after they’d already committed to an 800 square foot layout, which is the wrong order to learn it in.

West Valley Sanitation District is a separate permit, not a city line item. Sewer connections for an ADU aren’t handled entirely inside your Campbell building permit. West Valley Sanitation District requires its own permit application, with connection fees billed per drainage fixture unit plus a separate processing fee, according to the WVSD permit application information Campbell itself publishes. Miss that step mentally and you’ll find out mid-project that your building permit isn’t the only clearance you need.

Historic properties carry their own design rulebook. If your home sits on the California Register of Historical Resources, and Campbell’s older core has some, your detached ADU has to sit on the rear half of the lot, tops out at 18 feet instead of 20, and has to visually match the main house’s cladding and roof form. That’s an added review layer on top of standard plan check, and I couldn’t find a published figure for how many extra weeks it typically adds, so confirm directly with the Planning Division if this applies to you.

A 180-day clock runs on your application whether you’re actively working it or not. Submit and go quiet for six months and Campbell’s own application guide lets the permit lapse without a fee refund. Not unique to Campbell, but easy to forget mid-project.

No hillside ordinance here, and that’s a real advantage, not a footnote. Campbell is flat. There’s no slope-based setback or grading review eating your timeline the way there is in hillier Santa Clara County cities.

What I’d Do If I Were Permitting in Campbell Right Now

I’d check the Preapproved Plan Gallery before spending money on a custom architect, specifically because it’s the one lever left that actually shortens plan check now that Express review is off the table. If a detached layout in the gallery fits my lot, that’s real weeks saved on the correction-round side, which is where Campbell’s timeline actually stretches.

I’d also call West Valley Sanitation District early, not after the city’s plan check flags the connection, to get real numbers on drainage fixture units and processing fees before I finalize a budget. And honestly, I’d confirm the current JADU owner-occupancy standard with the Planning Division directly before recording anything, given how clearly AB 1154 and Campbell’s own Bulletin are out of sync on that one point right now.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does an ADU permit take in Campbell?

Realistically five to ten weeks for a clean submission with no correction rounds, or seven to fourteen weeks if you need one round of corrections, which is common on a custom design. The city’s own application guide publishes the 4 to 6 week first plan check and 2 to 4 week recheck figures; the rest is builder-reported experience.

How much does an ADU permit cost in Campbell?

Combined city fees commonly run $7,700 to $17,100, with the entire spread coming down to one line: the $9,328 park fee that only applies at 750 square feet and up. Under that size, or for a JADU, that fee is zero.

Is Campbell’s Express Plan Check program still available?

No. It launched in March 2025 promising one-week turnaround for two qualifying applicants a week, and the city’s Building Division page shows it suspended as of August 2025 with no announced restart date. Standard plan check timing applies until it comes back, if it comes back.

What department and portal handle ADU permits in Campbell?

The Community Development Department’s Building Division reviews everything, and submissions go through MGO Connect, the city’s online permit portal. Zoning and design questions route through the same portal to the Planning Division, which reviews concurrently with Building, Land Development Engineering, and the Santa Clara County Fire District.

Do I need a separate sewer permit for an ADU in Campbell?

Yes. West Valley Sanitation District, not the city, handles sewer connections and requires its own permit application with fees billed per drainage fixture unit. It’s easy to assume your Campbell building permit covers this, and it doesn’t.

If you’re pricing the whole build and not just this permit step, go back to the Campbell ADU cost breakdown for the full construction numbers. Our California state permit page covers what changes once you leave city limits, the permits pillar is the right hub if you’re comparing markets, and neighboring San Jose’s permit process is worth reading if you’re weighing both cities, since they share a labor pool but bill and review ADUs very differently. The Data Hub tracks the numbers on this page as they move.