Pre-approved ADU Plans

All pre-approved plans still require additional site-specific plans, studies, and engineering. Homeowners are encouraged to contact the Planning Division at 925-960-4450 or planning@livermoreca.gov and Building at 925-960-4410 or permitcenter@livermoreca.gov to learn more about the requirements for constructing an ADU prior to beginning their project.

The following plans have been pre-approved by the City of Livermore. In order to use a pre-approved ADU plan, homeowners must contract with the designer responsible for the plan set. Contact information for designers with pre-approved plans and sample photos of their ADU units are available below.

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The City is currently accepting applications from qualifying design professionals to have their plans for detached ADUs pre-approved for use throughout Livermore. Having your ADU plans pre-approved by the City is a great way to ensure that your future clients can move through the permitting process quickly and smoothly. All pre-approved ADU plans will be featured on this webpage to help connect you with Livermore homeowners who are interested in adding an ADU to their property. You will still retain your copyright to the pre-approved design so that any homeowner who wishes to use the design must contract with you to do so.

Once your ADU plan is pre-approved by the City, the pre-approval will remain valid until the City adopts new building or zoning codes that apply to your ADU plan. The City will notify you when such changes take place and let you know how updated plans can be submitted.

The City offers two options to get your ADU plans pre-approved:

• Submit a previously approved ADU: ADU plans that were submitted after January 1, 2020 and already reviewed by the City may also be considered for pre-approval.

• Independent Application: The City also accepts applications for ADU pre-approval independent of a site-specific plan check. Please contact Planning for more info at 925-960-4450 or planning@livermoreca.gov

Working with a designer that has a pre-approved ADU plan is the quickest way for homeowners to add a new secondary unit to their property. Here are just some of the advantages to selecting an ADU design that is pre-approved by the City:

• Design Certainty: Know that the basic ADU design you have selected complies with the California Building Code and city-wide design guidelines.
• Fast Review: Applications using pre-approved plans are reviewed in 7 business days, rather than 15 business days for standard applications.
• Reduced Fees: Applicants pay a flat plan review fee of $1,000 to the City.  Additional construction and inspection fees still apply and vary depending on the plan selected. Flat fee does not include fees to the designer. 

In order to use a pre-approved ADU plan, you must contract with the designer responsible for the plan set. All pre-approved plans still require additional site-specific plans, studies, and engineering, as applicable. Please contact Planning for more info at 925-960-4450 or planning@livermoreca.gov

The City is accepting applications for Pre-approved ADU

• Please refer to Online Permitting to begin the process
• Select "Master Plans" for the permit type
  • Permit record needs to be created by Permit Center staff. Please email your application to: permitcenter@livermoreca.gov and staff will notify you when the record is ready to upload the documents in online permitting. 
• In description, please indicate "Application for Pre-approved ADU"

For permitting questions, please call 925-960-4410.