Permit Drawings: What a Permit Set Includes and What Drives the Cost

Permit drawings cost is one of the first real numbers you meet on a Bay Area remodel, addition, or ADU, and one of the hardest to compare. One quote covers a few sheets. Another covers a full set with structural engineering and energy reports. In San Jose and nearby cities, the plans you submit decide how plan check goes, how accurate your bids are, and whether you pay to redraw the house. This guide covers what a permit set contains, who can prepare each part in California, what moves the price, and how to avoid paying twice. For how the city processes an application, see our San Jose building permit process guide; for review times, see how long building permits take in San Jose.

What is included in a permit set?

A typical permit set for a structural remodel or addition has 8 to 10 parts, and most of them are prepared by at least two different professionals. The architectural sheets show what you are building. The structural sheets and calculations prove it will stand up. The energy and green building documents prove it meets state code. San Jose publishes its own checklist and plan set instructions for single-family and duplex projects (Bulletins 351 and 352 on the city's Building Bulletins & Forms page), so always check the current version before you submit.

Two of these documents change with each code cycle. The 2025 California Energy Code applies to permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026, according to the California Energy Commission, and the 2025 edition of CALGreen took effect the same day, per the Building Standards Commission. If your drawings were started under the older code and you submit now, expect the energy and green sheets to need updating.

Who can prepare and stamp permit drawings in California?

For a typical single-family home, California law allows a person without an architect's license to prepare the drawings, but structural work outside conventional framing must be stamped by a licensed architect or engineer. Here is what the statutes actually say.

• The exemption. Business and Professions Code section 5537(a) says the Architects Practice Act does not prohibit any person from preparing plans for single-family dwellings of woodframe construction not more than two stories and basement in height, multiple dwellings of up to four units under the same limits, and garages or other structures appurtenant to those buildings.
• The limit. Section 5537(b) says that if any portion of an exempt structure deviates from substantial compliance with the conventional framing requirements in Title 24, the building official shall require plans, drawings, or calculations for that portion by a licensed architect or registered engineer, with their stamp and signature. Removing a bearing wall for an open kitchen, a long beam, a steel moment frame, or a second story on a hillside lot will often fall here.
• Signature still required. Under section 5536.1, anyone who prepares plans for others must sign them, licensed or not. An unsigned set from an anonymous drafter is a red flag.
• Interior, nonstructural work. Section 5538 separately allows plans for nonstructural or nonseismic interior alterations, cabinetwork, and fixtures, provided the work does not change or affect the structural system or safety of the building.
• Contractors. Section 5537.2 says a licensed contractor can perform design services described in section 5537 and design systems needed to complete work they have contracted to perform. Anything beyond that must be done by or under the direct supervision of a licensed architect or engineer, and a contractor may not use the title "architect" without that license.

The engineering law has a parallel exemption for the same building types in section 6737.1. In practice, your city's building official decides whether a portion needs a stamp. If walls are coming out, rooms are being added, or a roof line is changing, assume you will need a licensed engineer for the structure no matter who draws the rest.

What drives the cost of permit drawings?

The biggest cost driver is structural change, because it adds an engineer, calculations, and more detail sheets to the set. A kitchen refresh that keeps every wall in place needs far less than a 500 sq ft addition with a new foundation. Here is what moves the price, roughly in order of impact:

1. Scope and square footage. More floor area and more rooms changed means more sheets, more dimensions, and more coordination.
2. Structural engineering. Removing bearing walls, adding a second story, or building on expansive Bay Area clay soils brings in beam sizing, lateral design, and foundation design. This is often billed separately by the engineer.
3. Existing conditions (as-builts). Before anyone can draw the new house, someone has to measure the old one. Older Bay Area homes rarely have usable original plans, so a field measure is usually needed. Some lots also need a boundary or topographic survey from a licensed land surveyor.
4. Energy compliance. A Title 24 report for an addition or new ADU is its own deliverable. When verification measures apply, the 2025 forms must be completed and registered through an approved provider, as the Energy Commission's 2025 compliance forms page explains.
5. Planning review. Second stories, design review, or historic districts can add a planning submittal before the building permit, with its own drawings and revisions.
6. Plan check correction rounds. Each round of city comments means revised sheets and a resubmittal. A careful first set reduces these; a thin one multiplies them. Ask every provider how many rounds their fee includes.

How designers and architects charge

There is no state-set rate for permit drawings. Most providers use one of four fee structures, and each one behaves differently when the project changes:

Whatever the structure, a licensed architect in California must use a written contract that describes the services, the basis of compensation, and how changes will be handled, according to the California Architects Board and section 5536.22. Hold any drafter or designer to the same standard, even if the law does not require it of them.

How do homeowners end up paying for drawings twice?

The most common way to pay twice is to finish a permit set before anyone has priced it. The drawings get approved, the bids come back well over what you planned, and the only fix is to redesign and resubmit. You pay the designer and engineer again, and lose the months already spent in review.

Other common versions of the same problem:

• Drawings that ignore what is behind the walls. A plan that assumes a wall is non-bearing, or that a 1960s panel can carry a new kitchen, gets corrected in the field with change orders and revised sheets.
• Vague sets that every bidder reads differently. If finishes, fixtures, and structural details are missing, three contractors price three different houses, and the low bid grows after you sign.
• Handoffs between separate firms. When the designer, engineer, and builder each work for you separately, every conflict between their sheets becomes your problem, and each fix is a new invoice.

If your remodel touches several systems at once, our guide to whole house remodel permits in San Jose explains which permits a large project typically triggers, so your drawings cover all of them in one set.

Why drawings done inside a design-build team cost less to fix

When the people drawing your house are the same people who will build it, pricing and buildability get checked while the drawings are still lines on a screen. At UniqHaus, architecture, interiors, 3D, permit-ready drawings, city coordination, and construction sit under one roof. That changes the sequence in three useful ways:

• You see it before it is drawn for permit. Our 3D rendering design package is $1 per sq ft and is credited back when you build with us. 3D design takes about 7 to 10 days, and the 2D drawings about 7 days. Layout and finish decisions get made in renders, not in plan check.
• Pricing runs alongside design. Because our estimators and builders see the design as it develops, a beam size, a window, or a finish that blows the budget shows up early. Our pricing is itemized, and once you approve it, the price is fixed for that scope. Changes you request after approval are priced as change orders, so you always see the cost before you decide.
• One team answers plan check. Our architecture and permits team carries a project from site evaluation and concept design through structural and MEP coordination, the permit set, city submittal, and plan check. In San Jose, we file through SJPermits.org, and larger single-family work goes through the city's Standard Plan Review Service. When the city asks a question, the people who drew the set and the people who will build it answer together.

A structural change still needs a licensed engineer, and we coordinate one as part of the set. What goes away is the gap between a set that gets approved and a set that can be built for the number you agreed to.

What this looks like on real Bay Area projects

Two of our projects show the kind of scope where a complete, coordinated permit set matters most.

• Blair, Sunnyvale (2024). A full-home remodel and addition that took the house from 3 bed / 1 bath to 4 bed / 3.5 bath and from about 1,518 to about 1,918 sq ft, with every room rebuilt from the studs. Going from one bath to three and a half means new plumbing, framing, and conditioned space, so structural, MEP, and energy work all sit in one set.
• Bird Ave, San Jose (2021). A major addition and whole-home remodel at 1440 Bird Ave that took the home from about 1,046 to about 2,207 sq ft, now 4 bed / 3 bath, with a new porch, rear patio, and attached garage on a 7,405 sq ft lot. Doubling the floor area on a city lot puts the site plan, setbacks, and foundation at the center of the drawings.

What to ask before you pay for permit drawings

Seven questions will tell you whether a drawing quote is complete or just low:

1. Which sheets are included, and are structural calculations and the Title 24 report in the price or billed separately?
2. Who measures the existing house, and is a land survey needed for this lot?
3. Who stamps the structural portion, and what is their license number? You can verify engineers with the Board for Professional Engineers and architects with the California Architects Board.
4. How many plan check correction rounds are included, and what does each extra round cost?
5. Will anyone price the design before it is submitted to the city?
6. Are the drawings detailed enough that three builders would price the same house?
7. If I build with you, is any of the design fee credited toward construction?

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do architectural drawings cost for a remodel?

It depends on scope more than on who draws it. A nonstructural interior remodel needs a few sheets, while an addition or wall removal adds structural engineering, calculations, and a Title 24 energy report. Ask every provider to list exactly which sheets, reports, and plan check rounds are in the price so you can compare like for like.

Do I need an architect to get a building permit in California?

Not always. Under Business and Professions Code section 5537, anyone may prepare plans for a woodframe single-family home of not more than two stories and basement. Any portion that departs from conventional framing must be prepared by a licensed architect or registered engineer, and the building official decides when that applies.

Can a contractor draw plans for a permit?

A licensed contractor can perform design services allowed under section 5537 and design systems needed for work they have contracted to perform, per section 5537.2. Work beyond that must be done by or under a licensed architect or engineer. Design-build firms like UniqHaus bring the architecture, engineering coordination, and construction into one contract.

Do I need structural calculations to remove a wall?

If the wall is load-bearing, almost always. Removing it changes how loads reach the foundation, which usually takes the work outside conventional framing and requires an engineered beam and calculations. A nonbearing partition is different, but confirm which one you have before anyone draws the new layout.

What is a Title 24 report and do I need one for an addition?

It is the energy compliance documentation, often the CF1R form, that shows your design meets the California Energy Code. Additions and new ADUs generally need one. Permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026 must meet the 2025 Energy Code, per the California Energy Commission.

How long does it take to get permit drawings done?

It depends on scope and how quickly decisions get made. At UniqHaus, 3D design takes about 7 to 10 days and 2D drawings about 7 days, and the full permit set typically follows in about a month. City review time is separate; see our San Jose permit timeline guide for that.