ADU Permits in Long Beach

Long Beach is one of the more paperwork-honest cities I deal with. You still have to show up in person to submit, which surprises people in 2026, but once you’re in the queue, the city tells you plainly what a Planner and an Engineer are each checking and why.

That in-person requirement trips up more homeowners than the actual review standards do.

What Changed for Long Beach ADU Permits in 2026

Here’s the most important local fact, and it barely gets mentioned anywhere: Long Beach does not currently have its own finalized local ADU ordinance. The city’s own ADU page states plainly that Long Beach applies state ADU law directly while a local ordinance is still in development. That means the four state bills effective January 1, 2026, AB 462, AB 1154, SB 9, and SB 543, apply to Long Beach permits with essentially no local layer softening or complicating them. AB 1154’s narrower JADU owner-occupancy rule (only triggered when the JADU shares a bathroom with the main house) already shows up directly in Long Beach’s own published guidance, which tells you the city is keeping its public materials current with state law rather than lagging behind it.

Separately, and worth knowing even though it’s a financing program rather than a permitting rule, the city’s Backyard Builders ADU assistance program is opening a second round in summer 2026, offering low-interest financing plus permitting help to income-qualified homeowners. It won’t affect your permit timeline if you’re not in the program, but it signals the city is actively investing in ADU throughput this year, not just processing what shows up.

How the Long Beach ADU Permit Process Works

Submission is still in-person only as of this writing. You bring a completed application and your construction documents as a digital PDF on a USB drive to the Permit Center, and plan check fees are due the same day you submit.

Once fees are paid, a Planner and an Engineer from Community Development review your plans concurrently rather than in sequence, which is faster than a lot of cities that make you clear planning before engineering ever looks at it. If either reviewer finds gaps, you get corrections in writing and resubmit to both reviewers, not just the one who flagged the issue.

After both sign off and remaining fees are paid, the building permit issues and you can schedule your first construction inspection.

Fee component	Amount	Notes
Processing fee	$115 flat	Verified: charged per plan check and permit application, city fee schedule page
Technology surcharge	6% of applicable fees	Verified: city fee schedule page
General Plan surcharge	6% of applicable fees	Verified: city fee schedule page
Building permit & plan check (combined)	Roughly 2% of construction cost, commonly $5,000 to $15,000 total	Verified rule of thumb from the city; exact dollar figure depends on the specific fee schedule PDFs, not fully published as a flat table
School and impact fees	Reduced or waived under 750 sq ft	Verified: state law exemption, applies citywide

Source: City of Long Beach fee schedule page, longbeach.gov/lbcd/fee-schedules

I want to be direct about that table. Long Beach’s own fee schedule page confirms the surcharges and the processing fee outright, and it gives a genuinely useful rule of thumb (about 2% of your construction cost). What it does not do is publish a single flat dollar table for ADU-specific plan check and permit fees; those live in downloadable PDFs by trade (building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical) that vary by project valuation. So the combined total in that table is a commonly reported range, not a number I pulled off an official flat table. Confirm your specific number with the Permit Center before you budget off any article, mine included.

That fee is one line in the full Long Beach ADU cost breakdown, which is the better place to look if you’re pricing the whole build.

Phase	Typical duration (in weeks)	Department
In-person submission & fee payment	Same day	Permit Center
Concurrent Planning & Engineering review	4 to 8 weeks	Community Development
Corrections & resubmittal (if needed)	2 to 4 weeks	Community Development
Permit issuance (Pre-Approved plan, OTC)	Same day	Permit Center
Permit issuance (standard review)	Under 1 week	Permit Center

Source: Commonly reported Long Beach timelines, not an official published table, confirm current queue at submittal

Add it up and a Pre-Approved plan can go from submission to permit in a single visit. A standard custom design more realistically runs six to eight weeks once you include a correction round, close to the ministerial standard many cities cite around sixty days but usually faster in practice.

The Long Beach Pre-Approved ADU Program (PAADU)

This is Long Beach’s version of a standard plan program, and it’s a real one, not a marketing page with no teeth. The Pre-Approved ADU Program lets you submit one of the city’s pre-designed plans for Over-The-Counter approval at the Permit Center, and the city states a building permit can be issued the same day once it’s approved.

The catch is the same one every pre-approved program has. You’re building a plan the city already blessed, not a custom design for your exact lot, and properties in coastal zones, historic districts, or with uncertain zoning still need a Planning and Zoning Inquiry first. If your lot is a straightforward interior parcel outside those overlays, PAADU is genuinely the fastest legal path to a permit in this city.

Long Beach-Specific Rules That Trip People Up

There’s no local ordinance yet, so don’t trust an old “Long Beach rule”

Because the city is leaning on state law directly, any secondhand advice about a Long Beach-specific restriction is worth double-checking against current state ADU law rather than assuming it’s still true. The ground here has shifted more than in cities with a settled local ordinance.

Coastal Zone means a second permit before you submit to the Permit Center

If your property sits within the Coastal Zone, you need an administrative Local Coastal Development Permit before your building permit application even goes in. That’s a separate step, not paperwork bundled into the same visit.

Historic districts require a Certificate of Appropriateness

Long Beach has real historic districts (Rose Park, Wrigley, and others), and an ADU in one of them needs a Certificate of Appropriateness on top of standard plan check. Design review adds time that a flat-lot, non-historic project never sees.

In-person submission means appointments matter

Because you can’t submit ADU plans online, showing up without an appointment during a busy week can mean a long wait just to hand over paperwork. Book ahead rather than walking in cold.

PAADU doesn’t skip zoning and overlay checks

A pre-approved plan speeds up plan check, not the zoning and overlay screening for your specific lot. Coastal, historic, or unclear zoning situations still route through the same-day process, they just get flagged for the Inquiry Form first.

What I’d Do If I Were Permitting in Long Beach Right Now

I’d check the PAADU plan list before drawing anything custom, since a same-day permit is a real advantage if one of the available designs fits my lot. I’d also confirm early whether my property sits in the Coastal Zone or a historic district, since either one adds a step before the Permit Center visit even happens.

And I’d book my Permit Center appointment before I had final plans in hand, not after, since the in-person requirement means your calendar matters as much as your drawings.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does an ADU permit take in Long Beach?

A Pre-Approved plan can be approved the same day at the Permit Center. A standard custom design more realistically takes six to eight weeks including a correction round, inside the roughly sixty-day ministerial standard the city targets.

How much does an ADU permit cost in Long Beach?

Combined city fees commonly run $5,000 to $15,000, plus a flat $115 processing fee and two 6% surcharges (Technology and General Plan) that apply on top. The city’s own rule of thumb is about 2% of your construction cost for plan check, permits, and inspections combined.

What department handles ADU permits in Long Beach?

Long Beach Development Services runs the Permit Center, where a Planner and an Engineer review ADU plans concurrently. Submission is in person only as of this writing; online submission isn’t available.

Does Long Beach have its own ADU ordinance?

Not yet. The city currently applies California’s state ADU law directly while its own local ordinance is still in development, which means state-level changes affect Long Beach permits immediately rather than after a local adoption process.

Do I need extra permits for an ADU in a Long Beach historic district or the Coastal Zone?

Yes to both, separately. Historic districts require a Certificate of Appropriateness, and the Coastal Zone requires an administrative Local Coastal Development Permit before your building permit application.

If you’re pricing the whole project rather than just the permit step, our Long Beach ADU cost breakdown has the fuller build numbers, our California permit overview covers what changes once you leave city limits, and the permits pillar and Data Hub are the right next stops if you’re comparing Long Beach against another market entirely.