Rebuilding After a Fire in Los Angeles and Across Southern California

A fire rebuild is the design, permitting and ground-up construction of a new house on a lot where the previous one was destroyed, usually under the like-for-like rules Los Angeles adopted after the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires. Green Design and Build is a licensed, bonded and insured design-build general contractor (CSLB #1110975) based in Van Nuys, serving homeowners across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County (Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and neighbouring cities). We build new homes, and we can take a rebuild from a debris-cleared lot to a certificate of occupancy.

Who we are, and what we have and have not done

Green Design and Build is led by Dekel Sofer. We have completed hundreds of projects and hold a 4.7-star rating across 146 Yelp reviews. We are a full-service residential general contractor: we design, permit and build new homes, additions, ADUs and whole-home renovations, and we replace roofs and repair and pour foundations under the same licence.

We have not yet published a completed fire rebuild, and we will not tell you otherwise. What we bring to a rebuild is what we bring to any ground-up house: one company that runs zoning, design, engineering, plan check, the trades and the inspections in the right order, with a written schedule and a written change-order process. If you want a licensed design-build team that will read the executive orders, walk your lot and give you an itemized proposal, that is what this page is about.

The like-for-like rules, and why the address matters

The rules differ between the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated Los Angeles County, and they are not the same as the “110 percent” shorthand people repeat.

City of Los Angeles (Pacific Palisades). Under the Mayor’s Emergency Executive Order 1, a like-for-like project is one where the new structure is “in substantially the same location as and do[es] not exceed 110% of [its] previous footprint and height.” The city’s own FAQ is explicit that “square footage is not factored into the 110% allowance”: the limits are footprint and height. Eligible projects get an expedited initial review, which “will be completed by City departments within 30 days,” inspections the day after they are requested, and a waiver of CEQA, Specific Plan and Coastal Act review. Plan check and permit fees are suspended for owners who held the property on the date of the fire. A rebuild that does not fit like-for-like but complies with zoning can use Executive Order 8, which also bypasses local Coastal Act and CEQA review. Under Executive Order 9, SB 9 lot splits and two-unit projects are not allowed inside the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone in the Palisades fire area.

Unincorporated Los Angeles County (Altadena and the unincorporated Palisades-fire areas). The county defines like-for-like as a replacement structure of “the same size, in the same location, and for the same use as the previous structure.” In the Eaton fire area a like-for-like rebuild may grow by “10% or 200 square feet, whichever is greater,” and in the county’s Palisades fire area by 10 percent. A like-for-like house does not have to meet current zoning, but it must meet the current building, fire and health and safety codes. Regional Planning reviews a like-for-like submittal within 10 business days and rechecks within 5. On June 17, 2025 the Board of Supervisors waived zoning review, building plan review, permit and inspection, fire plan review and inspection, and soils and public health fees for owners who owned and lived in the property before January 7, 2025.

Everywhere else. Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Malibu and the Ventura and Orange County cities run their own building divisions with their own post-fire procedures; the state codes are the same, the local process is not.

The permit centers

• City of Los Angeles One-Stop Rebuilding Center: 1828 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles 90025, Monday to Friday 9 AM to 5 PM, with LADBS, the Bureau of Engineering, LAFD, City Planning and LADWP in one place. A Palisades Inspections and Permitting Support Center operates at 16925 Marquez Avenue, Pacific Palisades.
• Altadena One-Stop Permit Center (Eaton fire): 464 W. Woodbury Rd., Suite 210, Altadena 91001, Monday to Friday 8 AM to 4:30 PM, staffed by Public Works, Regional Planning, Public Health, the Fire Department and the Assessor.
• Calabasas One-Stop Permit Center (unincorporated Palisades-fire areas): 27001 Agoura Road, Suite 250, Calabasas 91302, Monday to Friday 7 AM to 11 AM.

Submittals in the county go through EPIC-LA; in the city through LADBS. Both offer pre-approved plan programs and, in the county, a self-certification option for qualifying like-for-like projects.

What has to happen before a building permit

1. Debris removal sign-off. The county states that “Phases 1 and 2 of debris removal must be completed before permits are issued”: Phase 1 is the EPA household-hazardous-waste clearance, Phase 2 is the fire-debris removal with final sign-off. The city reports that nearly all Palisades properties have received that sign-off. We ask for the sign-off document at the first meeting.
2. The old foundation. A slab that survived the fire is not automatically reusable; heat spalls concrete and damages reinforcing, and the city’s position is that a structural assessment must come from your own engineer. In most cases we plan on a new foundation and price the assessment as a separate line so you can decide.
3. Soils and geology. The county does not require a soils report for a conventional raised or slab-on-grade foundation, but does for caissons or deep piles, geotechnical hazards and basement walls. The city requires geological and soils reports for houses in the geologically sensitive areas of the Palisades. Hillside and canyon lots should assume a report.
4. Survey and utilities. Property corners, easements, the sewer lateral (or septic, in parts of Altadena), gas, and the LADWP or Southern California Edison service are confirmed before the site plan is drawn.
5. Design and engineering. Floor plans and elevations, then structural, Title 24 energy compliance and fire-zone details, produced as one permit set.

Building to the fire code

The Palisades has been a designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone since 1999, and CAL FIRE’s March 24, 2025 maps expanded the High and Very High zones across the county, including parts of Altadena that were not zoned before. For permits filed from January 1, 2026, LADBS applies the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code to every new house in those zones, and the county and the other cities apply the same state code. In practice a rebuilt house in a fire zone includes:

Element	What the code requires
Roof	Class A assembly (ASTM E108 / UL 790); no wood shake or shingle, even fire-retardant-treated; voids under tile stopped with a 72 lb cap sheet or a listed Class A underlayment; 26-gauge metal valleys
Gutters	Noncombustible, with an approved leaf and debris guard
Vents	State Fire Marshal-listed flame and ember resistant vents, or 1/16 to 1/8 inch corrosion-resistant mesh on sloped-roof vents; gable and dormer vents at least 10 feet from lot lines
Exterior walls	Noncombustible or ignition-resistant covering from the foundation to the roof, or one-hour construction on the exterior side; 6 inches of metal flashing at grade. Three-coat stucco, fiber-cement and metal siding are the usual answers
Windows	Multi-layer glazing with at least one tempered pane, or a 20-minute rated unit
Doors	Noncombustible, or solid-core wood at least 1.75 inches thick, or 20-minute rated; garage doors with gaps no larger than 1/8 inch and a battery-backup opener
Eaves and soffits	Enclosed with noncombustible material or 2-inch lumber; open eaves protected with noncombustible material or 5/8-inch Type X gypsum
Decks and underfloor	Deck surfaces that meet the code’s performance test; 6-inch metal flashing at deck-to-wall joints; underfloor areas enclosed to grade
Accessory structures	Sheds and ADUs within 50 feet built to the same wall and roof standards

These are not upgrades. They are the baseline for the permit, and a rebuild quote that leaves them out is not comparable with one that includes them.

Defensible space and Zone 0

Public Resources Code section 4291 requires 100 feet of defensible space around a house in the State Responsibility Area and in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone: an ember-resistant zone in the first 5 feet, a lean, clean and green zone from 5 to 30 feet, and reduced fuel from 30 to 100 feet or to the property line. On August 20, 2026 the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved the state’s first Zone 0 regulation, which makes the first 5 feet a noncombustible zone with a low-combustibility band out to about 4 feet; it applies to new construction as soon as the regulation is filed with the Secretary of State and phases in for existing homes over three and five years. On a rebuild that means hardscape, gravel or concrete against the house rather than mulch and shrubs, noncombustible fencing where it meets the wall, and no attached wood gates. We draw the first 5 feet on the site plan so it is part of the landscape budget rather than an afterthought.

Sprinklers, energy code and solar

Every new one- and two-family house in California has required a residential fire sprinkler system since 2011, and the county’s FAQ says directly that rebuilds “will need to comply with current code requirements, which includes the installation of fire sprinklers.” In the city, a lot more than 300 feet from a hydrant has options in lieu of a new hydrant, including an upgraded sprinkler system or a higher construction type, which is a design decision worth making early.

The 2025 Energy Code took effect for permits filed on or after January 1, 2026. It encourages heat pumps for space and water heating, tightens wall and window efficiency and updates HVAC controls, so a rebuilt house is designed around a heat-pump system and a well-insulated envelope. The city has repealed its all-electric ordinance, so gas is allowed again citywide, and both the Energy Commission and the county state that wildfire-damaged homes are not required to install the solar and battery systems the code otherwise mandates, but must be built solar-ready. We leave the roof zone, conduit and panel capacity for a future array either way.

Insurance: what we can and cannot do

We are not insurance advisers and do not negotiate claims. What we can do is give you what the Department of Insurance tells claimants to get: “at least one licensed contractor’s estimate or bid on the cost to rebuild your home,” itemized, so you can compare it to your dwelling limit, your extended replacement cost coverage and your building-code-upgrade coverage. The fire-zone items in the table above are exactly what code-upgrade coverage exists for, so we list them as their own lines. After a declared catastrophe your additional living expense benefit runs at least 24 months, with up to 12 more if delays are outside your control, which is the clock a rebuild schedule is measured against. Talk to your adjuster or a public adjuster about what your policy covers; talk to us about what the house will cost.

Where we do this work

The 2025 fires burned in the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated Los Angeles County, so most of the rebuilds we are asked about are in the Palisades and Altadena, and the Los Angeles County rules above are the ones that apply; the hillside lots of the San Fernando Valley sit in the same fire zones and the same CWUIC construction applies to any new house or addition there. Fire rebuilds elsewhere follow each city’s own building division: the canyon communities of Orange County add HOA architectural review, Ventura County rebuilds in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley go through those cities, and the foothill neighborhoods of western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County add expansive-soil foundations to the fire-zone envelope. See every city and county we serve on our service areas page.

How long a rebuild takes

A ground-up house takes longer than any remodel. Our second-story additions run nine to fourteen months from the first meeting to final inspection, and a new house runs longer, with most of the extra time in design, engineering and plan check rather than on site. The expedited reviews shorten the city and county’s part of that; they do not shorten the engineering, the utility connections or the construction itself. We give you a written schedule at the design stage and update it at every milestone; our design-build process page describes each stage.

What a fire rebuild costs

Our guide to what a Los Angeles general contractor costs puts a ground-up house at $300 to $600 per square foot all-in. A fire rebuild often costs more than that, for reasons that are specific to the situation: every house in the area is being rebuilt at once, so labor and materials are in demand; the fire-zone envelope in the table above is more expensive than a standard one; hillside and canyon lots need soils reports, caissons and retaining walls; and the old foundation is usually not reusable. These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the lot, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit. We do not quote a per-square-foot price for a rebuild. We walk the lot, confirm the like-for-like eligibility and the agency, and give you a written, itemized proposal that lists site work, foundation, structure, fire-zone elements, trades, finishes, permits and fees line by line, with financing options if you need to bridge a gap between the claim and the cost.

Frequently asked questions

What does the like-for-like rule mean for a fire rebuild in Los Angeles?

In the City of Los Angeles a like-for-like rebuild is a house in substantially the same location that does not exceed 110 percent of the previous footprint and height; square footage is not part of the test. In unincorporated Los Angeles County it means the same size, location and use, with an allowance of 10 percent or 200 square feet, whichever is greater, in the Eaton fire area. Like-for-like projects skip current zoning review but must meet current building, fire and safety codes.

Do I need to finish debris removal before I can get a building permit?

Yes. Los Angeles County will not issue a rebuilding permit until Phase 1 (hazardous waste clearance) and Phase 2 (fire debris removal) are complete and signed off, and the City of Los Angeles treats the final sign-off as a required step as well. Keep the sign-off document; the permit application asks for it.

What does a fire rebuild cost per square foot in Los Angeles?

Our published range for building a house from the ground up in Los Angeles is $300 to $600 per square foot all-in, and a fire rebuild often exceeds it because of fire-zone construction, hillside soils, a new foundation and regional demand for labor and materials. These are typical budgeting estimates, not a price list; the only real number is a written, itemized proposal after a site visit.

Does a rebuilt house have to meet the fire code even if the old one did not?

Yes. A like-for-like rebuild is exempt from current zoning, not from current building and fire codes. In a High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone the new house is built to the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, with a Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, noncombustible or ignition-resistant siding, tempered glazing, rated doors and enclosed eaves, plus residential fire sprinklers.

Do I have to put solar on a rebuilt house?

No. The California Energy Commission and Los Angeles County both state that homes rebuilt after the wildfires are not required to install the solar and battery storage the 2025 Energy Code otherwise requires, but they must be built solar-ready, with the roof zone, conduit and electrical capacity for a future system. The rest of the 2025 Energy Code, including its heat-pump and envelope requirements, applies.

Has Green Design and Build completed a fire rebuild?

Not yet, and we will not claim one. Green Design and Build is a licensed design-build general contractor (CSLB #1110975) that designs, permits and builds new houses, and a fire rebuild is a new house on a cleared lot under the like-for-like rules. We will walk your lot, confirm which agency and executive order applies, and give you a written, itemized proposal before you commit to anything.

Start with the lot and the sign-off

Send us the address, the debris-removal sign-off and, if you have it, the old plans or the assessor's record of the previous house. We will confirm whether the project is like-for-like, which permit center it goes through, and what a written, itemized proposal would cover. The site visit and the estimate are free.