Los Angeles Pre-Approved ADU Standard Plans, Explained
The City of Los Angeles keeps a catalogue of ADU designs that have already been checked against the building code. Build from one and the structural review is largely done before you apply. It is the closest thing to a shortcut that exists in LA permitting, and most homeowners have never heard of it.
It is also widely misdescribed. Below is what the programme actually is, taken from LADBS itself, including the parts that are easy to get wrong.
What a standard plan actually is
A standard plan is a complete ADU design, owned by a private architect or design firm, that LADBS has already reviewed for compliance with the Building, Residential and Green Codes. Because that review has happened once, it does not have to happen again for every homeowner who builds it. LADBS puts it plainly: using a standard plan “greatly reduces the time required for plan check. Permits can therefore be issued much faster.”
What it is not is a permit. And LADBS is careful to add that pre-approval “is not an endorsement” of the designer’s credentials or the quality of their work — the City has checked the drawings, not the firm.
Why the programme exists, and why Los Angeles was four years early
LADBS launched the ADU Standard Plan Program on 5 March 2021. At the time nothing obliged the City to do it. That changed with AB 1332, which added Government Code section 65852.27 and required every city and county in California to have a pre-approved ADU plan programme in place by 1 January 2025. Los Angeles had one running almost four years before the deadline, which is why its catalogue is deeper than most and why several neighbouring cities now cross-reference LA-approved designs rather than build a library from scratch.
The statute matters for a second reason, and it is the one homeowners actually feel. Section 65852.27 gives a local agency 60 days to approve or deny a designer’s application to have a plan pre-approved, and — separately — requires the agency to ministerially approve a building permit application that uses an already pre-approved plan within 30 days. That 30-day clock is a state-law deadline on the permit application, not a promise that your ADU is permitted 30 days after you decide to build one. It starts when a complete application lands, and corrections restart the conversation. But it is the only defensible number anyone can quote you about this programme, and it comes from the Government Code rather than from a contractor’s memory.
There is one plan the City gives away free
Almost every plan in the catalogue is privately owned, and you buy it from the designer. One is not. YOU-ADU is owned by the City of Los Angeles, and LADBS states that it “may be used by property owners free of charge.”
- Designed by Michael Lehrer FAIA of Lehrer Architects and Nerin Kadribegovic AIA of Kadre Architects.
- Single storey, one bedroom, 455 square feet as listed by LADBS. Worth knowing: the plan set’s own cover sheet says 445 sq ft. A ten-foot discrepancy between the catalogue and the drawings is the kind of thing that matters at plan check, so confirm the figure against the current set before you design around it.
- Choices built into the set: asphalt shingle or standing-seam metal roof, stucco or fibre-cement siding, optional partition casework and trellis, and a choice of paint and frame colours.
- What “free” covers: the plan set itself, as a downloadable PDF. It does not waive plan check or permit fees, which are still calculated on project valuation, and it does not remove the site-specific work described below.
- One construction condition to plan around: if the ADU sits less than three feet from an adjacent structure, the set requires one-hour fire-rated exterior walls and protected openings. The set also flags methane mitigation and grading inspection as site-specific plan-check items.
For a homeowner who wants a compact one-bedroom unit and does not need a custom layout, this is the cheapest legitimate route into an ADU that exists in Los Angeles.
What YOU-ADU assumes about your lot
A free plan is only free if it fits. The YOU-ADU drawings are engineered against a specific set of site assumptions, printed on the set itself, and a lot that misses any of them needs site-specific engineering that the free plan does not include.
| The set assumes | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Level grade | The set is expressly designed for a level site. A sloping or hillside lot needs a stepped, retained or otherwise re-engineered foundation, and that is a stamped structural design you pay for separately. |
| 1,500 PSF allowable soil bearing | The presumptive value for ordinary soil. Poor or expansive soil found in a soils report means a redesigned footing. |
| Site Class D | The default seismic site class. A different classification changes the lateral design. |
| 95 MPH wind, Exposure B | Exposure B is the suburban, sheltered condition. An open or exposed site can push you out of the assumption. |
| 2019 California Building Code | The set was drawn to the 2019 cycle. California is now on a later code cycle, so confirm the current published version of the set and how LADBS is handling the code edition before you design around it. |
None of this makes YOU-ADU a bad plan. It makes it a flat-lot plan. On a level San Fernando Valley or Eastside lot with ordinary soil it is genuinely the cheapest legitimate route into an ADU in the city. On a hillside parcel in the Santa Monica Mountains it is a design you will pay an engineer to substantially rebuild, at which point a custom ADU is usually the cleaner decision.
What is in the catalogue
- Around 60 approved plans at the time of writing, listed as ADU1 through ADU96 plus YOU-ADU.
- Sizes from 200 to 1,200 square feet — the smallest is ADU12, the largest are ADU8 and ADU45.
- Studio through three-bedroom, with roughly nine two-storey designs for lots where footprint is tight.
- Two plans are still pending approval — ADU55 and ADU56.
- The designers are not obscure. The list includes Abodu, Connect Homes, Cover, Villa Homes, United Dwelling, Plús Hús, LA-Más, SO-IL, Escher GuneWardena, Fung + Blatt Architects, wHY, Design Bitches, Welcome Projects and Tom Marble Architecture, among others.
The trap: expired plans sit in the same table
This is the single most useful thing to know before you browse the list. Roughly thirty of the plans in the catalogue are expired — mostly the low-numbered early ones — and they are not moved to a separate page or greyed out. They sit in the same table as the live ones, distinguished only by a status column that is easy to scroll past.
Fall in love with an expired design and you have lost the entire benefit of the programme. Check the status column on every plan before you contact anyone about it.
What a standard plan removes — and what it does not
- Already checked: the structure’s compliance with the Building, Residential and Green Codes.
- Still yours to submit: everything specific to your property. LADBS requires site-specific information “including compliance with the Zoning Code and foundation requirements” — your setbacks, your soil, your lot.
- Still a final review: LADBS states that “all pre-approved standard plans require final review by LADBS, to ensure final compliance and address site-specific conditions.” Nobody skips plan check entirely.
- Roof decks: for plans approved with them, LADBS notes the decks “may require additional setbacks in specific zones.”
How you actually use one
- Review the catalogue and pick candidates — checking the status column as you go.
- Contact the plan owner. Except for YOU-ADU, these are privately owned designs. LADBS: “property owners interested in building a structure with a Standard Plan must contact the owner of the plan to purchase a copy.” Each designer sets their own price, and LADBS does not publish them.
- Work with that designer to fit the plan to your property. LADBS notes that “pre-approved designs may or may not be able to be customized” — ask before you pay.
- Optionally run the drawings through the City’s AI pre-plan check tool.
- Submit through ePlan LA.
- Obtain the permit.
- Build, with inspections.
What LADBS does not promise
You will see specific claims made about this programme — that it saves a fixed number of weeks, or reduces your fees. LADBS states neither. It says plan check time is greatly reduced and permits issue much faster, and it puts no number on it. Permit fees are based on project valuation whether the plan is pre-approved or custom.
The saving is real. The precise figure is not something anyone can promise you honestly, and a contractor quoting one is quoting their own experience rather than City policy.
When a standard plan is the wrong route
LADBS notes that these plans “may not be approved for use in certain situations and/or site conditions.” In practice the ones that most often rule it out are a steep or hillside lot that needs a stepped or shored foundation, a footprint the catalogue simply does not offer, a garage you would rather convert than replace, and any site where access or utilities force a different layout. In those cases a custom ADU design is the faster route, not the slower one.
One requirement no plan removes: solar
A new detached ADU built from scratch in Los Angeles is treated as a newly constructed dwelling for energy-code purposes, which means it needs a photovoltaic system. Choosing a pre-approved plan does not change that, and the catalogue listing will not remind you. Budget for it as part of the project rather than discovering it at plan check.
This is one of the practical reasons a garage conversion sometimes beats new detached construction on cost even when the finished square footage is similar — a conversion of an existing structure is a different animal under the energy code. We walk through that trade in detail in detached ADU vs garage conversion.
Standard plan, custom design or garage conversion
Most homeowners weighing a standard plan are really choosing between three routes. They are not ranked; they suit different lots.
| Pre-approved standard plan | Custom ADU design | Garage conversion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structural plan check | Already done once by LADBS; your submittal covers zoning and foundation | Full review of a new structural design | Review of the alteration and any new structural work |
| Layout freedom | Fixed, or limited — LADBS notes plans “may or may not be able to be customized” | Complete | Constrained by the existing footprint and walls |
| Works on a sloped lot | Often not without new engineering | Yes, designed for the site | Yes, the slab is already there |
| Solar required | Yes, new detached construction | Yes, new detached construction | Generally not — it is an existing structure |
| Design cost | Purchase price set by the plan owner; YOU-ADU is free | Full architectural and engineering fee | Architectural and engineering fee, usually smaller scope |
| Best when | Flat lot, standard soil, a catalogue size fits your programme | Difficult site, unusual footprint, or the layout genuinely matters to you | You have a sound garage you are willing to give up |
If the question is really whether an ADU is the right addition at all, ADU vs room addition compares it against extending the main house, and room additions covers that route.
Pre-approved plan programmes near Los Angeles
The LADBS catalogue only applies inside the City of Los Angeles. If your address is in an unincorporated pocket or a neighbouring city, you are looking at a different programme — and because of AB 1332 every one of them now has to have something. They vary enormously in depth.
| Jurisdiction | What they publish |
|---|---|
| City of Los Angeles | The deepest catalogue in the region — roughly 60 live designs from around 40 firms, plus the free YOU-ADU plan |
| Los Angeles County, unincorporated | A small set of free County-owned plans — three at the time of writing. Different agency, different submittal, even if your mailing address says Los Angeles |
| Long Beach | The PAADU programme, notable for over-the-counter issuance — a plan from its set can be permitted the same day when the submittal is clean |
| Culver City | Around nine plans across three architectural styles |
| Calabasas | Three plans offered free to property owners |
| Pasadena | A small published set. An earlier catalogue expired at the end of 2025, so confirm which plans are currently live before you commit |
| Burbank | The BPAP programme, which accepts at least one plan already approved by LADBS — a rare case of reciprocity worth asking about |
| Santa Monica | A programme exists on paper, but the published catalogue has been empty. Treat a custom design as the working assumption here |
These programmes change more often than city websites suggest. Verify the current catalogue with the jurisdiction before you pay a designer. Our city-by-city ADU rules guides cover the zoning side of the same question, and we build across Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, western Riverside and western San Bernardino counties — including Beverly Hills, Glendale and Pasadena.
What it changes about cost, and what it does not
A pre-approved plan is a design and permitting shortcut. It is not a construction discount. The three cost buckets behave differently:
- Design fees — this is where you save. You buy a finished drawing set instead of commissioning one, or take YOU-ADU for nothing. This is the real financial benefit of the programme.
- Permit and plan-check fees — unchanged. LADBS calculates these on project valuation regardless of which route you take. Our LADBS permit cost guide explains how that valuation is arrived at.
- Construction — unchanged. A 600 square foot ADU costs what a 600 square foot ADU costs. Foundations, framing, a full kitchen and bath, a new electrical panel and a solar system do not get cheaper because a plan was pre-reviewed.
For where the money actually goes, see our pricing guide and junior ADU costs in Los Angeles. If the gap between what you want and what you can fund is the real problem, ADU financing options covers the routes we see homeowners actually use.
Sources
ADU law changes most years and local ordinances are amended separately from the state statute. The rules referenced above were checked against the current state sources on the date shown; confirm anything decision-critical with LADBS or your city for your specific lot.
- California Department of Housing and Community Development, Housing Law Fact Sheets — Accessory Dwelling Units (April 2026) — confirms that ADU law sits at Government Code sections 66310–66342, the four-foot side and rear setback limit for new detached ADUs, the 60-day decision deadline, and that impact fees may not be charged on an ADU under 750 square feet or on a JADU.
- California HCD, Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook (March 2026) — Government Code section 66321(b)(3) bars a city from applying lot coverage, floor area ratio, open space or minimum lot size standards that would not permit at least an 800 square foot ADU with four-foot side and rear setbacks, at a height of up to 16 feet.
Last reviewed 17 September 2026.
Questions we get asked about standard plans
Does a pre-approved plan mean I skip plan check?
No. LADBS is explicit that every pre-approved standard plan still requires final review to confirm compliance and address site-specific conditions. What has already been reviewed is the structure. What you still submit is your property: zoning compliance, setbacks, foundation, and any overlay that applies to your parcel.
How much faster is it, really?
LADBS says plan check time is greatly reduced and puts no number on it. State law does put a number on one step: Government Code section 65852.27 requires ministerial approval of a permit application using a pre-approved plan within 30 days of a complete submittal. Anything beyond that — “four to six weeks down to a day” and similar — is somebody’s anecdote, sometimes a five-year-old press quote, not current City policy.
Can I change the layout of a standard plan?
Sometimes. LADBS states that pre-approved designs “may or may not be able to be customized,” and the answer belongs to the firm that owns the plan. Ask before you buy. Material changes can also push the set back into review, which erodes the reason you chose it.
Is YOU-ADU really free?
The drawing set is. LADBS states it may be used by property owners free of charge. Plan check and permit fees, the site-specific engineering your lot needs, and the construction itself are not.
Does a standard plan work on a hillside lot?
Usually not without new structural engineering. YOU-ADU is designed for level grade, and most privately owned plans in the catalogue carry similar assumptions. On a sloped or hillside parcel the foundation is the expensive part of the design, and it is exactly the part a catalogue plan cannot supply.
How long does the whole project take?
Permitting is one phase of several. How long does an ADU take walks through design, permitting, construction and inspection as a single timeline, which is the number most homeowners are actually asking for.
Does using a standard plan change what my lot allows?
No. Size limits, height, setbacks and parking come from state law and the City’s ordinance, not from the plan you pick. Check yours with the California ADU rules calculator first, then shop the catalogue for a design that fits inside the answer.
Where we fit
We will walk your lot and tell you whether a standard plan works on it — and which ones — before you pay a designer anything. If one fits, we will say so, including when the free City plan is the sensible answer. If your site rules them out, we will tell you that too, and why. Either way you get it in writing after the first visit.
Before you choose a plan: check what your lot allows with our California ADU rules calculator — size, height, setbacks, parking and fees, with the statute behind each answer. The City of Los Angeles adds its own ordinance on top of the state floor; our Los Angeles ADU rules guide walks through both.
Sources: LADBS ADU Standard Plan Program and the official list of approved standard plans at dbs.lacity.gov/adu/approved-standard-plans, plus the published YOU-ADU plan set. Plan counts and statuses change as designs are added, renewed and expired — confirm the current status of any plan on the LADBS list before making decisions. Statutory deadlines are from California Government Code section 65852.27, added by AB 1332 (2023). Neighbouring-city programme details are from each jurisdiction and change frequently. Page last reviewed September 2026.