Pasadena ADU Permit Guide (2026)

By ADU Home Construction · Last reviewed: November 4, 2026

The rules that took effect May 20, 2024

The City of Pasadena's Accessory Dwelling Units page says updated regulations for ADUs and junior ADUs went into effect on May 20, 2024, and it points to Ordinance No. 7420. The page also says e-permitting is available, and it tells you to apply online at cityofpasadena.net/mypermits. Follow the steps the city publishes on the ADU page and on the standard-plans page.

On that ADU page, an accessory dwelling unit is a dwelling with complete independent living facilities on the same parcel as a proposed or existing legal single-family residence, including living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation. The definition says it includes only conditioned living area inside exterior walls and a roof. An attached ADU means attached to the primary single-family residence or a multifamily structure. A converted ADU is built from existing floor area of the primary home or from an existing accessory structure, such as a garage, carriage house, pool house, or rear-yard studio. A newly constructed ADU is a new structure, or an addition, attached or detached. A junior ADU is limited to 500 square feet and has to be built inside the walls of the proposed or existing single-family residence, an attached garage, or other non-habitable attached space.

The same page says the ADU Handbook is "Not Available." Use Ordinance 7420 and the standard-plans instructions instead of waiting on a handbook PDF. Statewide background is our legal guide and the HCD ADU Handbook.

How a standard-plan application moves

The ADU Standard Plans Program is a separate page, and it is the one to follow if you want a pre-reviewed plan. Plans in the program have been pre-reviewed by Building and Safety. The page says that shortens both design and permitting. Modifications or customizations are not allowed, however minor, if you want the plan to stay pre-reviewed.

The submittal steps on that page are:

1. Contact the Permit Center, in person during walk-in hours or by a virtual appointment, and check whether a standard plan suits the lot. The fit rules are below.
2. Draw a site plan to scale. It has to show structures, dimensions to property lines, dimensions to other buildings measured eave to eave, paved areas and the driveway, trees, addresses of existing units, a vicinity map for the half-mile transit walk, electrical panels, heating and cooling equipment, the water heater, the sewer route, and drainage away from the new foundation toward an approved collection point. Also say whether the main house has fire sprinklers or solar panels.
3. Complete the city's Hold Harmless Agreement. It is required for any pre-reviewed ADU plan.
4. Submit in the Pasadena Citizen Self-Service portal. Create an account, then apply for an accessory dwelling unit. Choose Single-Family if the property has one or more detached units. Choose Multi-Family if it has two or more attached units. Upload the standard plan, the site plan, the Hold Harmless Agreement, and any supplemental plans.
5. File an Address Application in the same portal. Every ADU needs its own address. The site plan for that application has to show streets, a north arrow, the driveway and walkways, every structure labeled, the front door of the existing residence and of the ADU, and the paved path from the sidewalk to each front door.
6. Pay the plan-review invoice and the address-application invoice. The city says completeness review happens within 1 to 2 business days, and the invoices are separate. Nothing is processed until both are paid.
7. Plan check. The city says this takes approximately 3 to 4 weeks. If corrections are issued, you resubmit with a response sheet. The city says resubmittal review takes approximately 2 weeks. Approval comes by email with issuance instructions.

Those weeks are the city's published estimates for a standard-plan review. They are not a promise that replaces the state clock. Government Code section 66317 gives 15 business days to decide whether an application is complete, then 60 days to approve or deny a complete application, and it deems the application approved if the city is late. Our SB 543 timeline explains what to write down. Ask the Permit Center which clock it is tracking on your file.

The standard-plans page also says a solar photovoltaic system may be required under California Energy Code section 150.1c.14. A survey may be required for new construction within 5 feet of a property line. Fire sprinklers, a geotechnical report, and other permits may be required. The ADU regulations page says ADUs and junior ADUs have to meet fire-department access and water rules, and it points to page 3 of the Office of the State Fire Marshal ADU bulletin. Use that bulletin for the fire details.

Prototype A, and the plans that expired

An August 2026 notice on the standard-plans page says one new plan, compliant with the 2025 California Building Code, is available free of charge and may be used on most single-family residential properties citywide. It is labeled Prototype A: Studio, updated to the 2025 CBC, 374 square feet. The same notice says every other ADU plan previously posted remains available only for residential properties red-tagged because of the Eaton Fire.

A FAQ on that page says the older standard plans expired on December 31, 2025, because the 2025 building code took effect January 1, 2026. Beginning January 1, 2026, a standard plan that does not comply with the 2025 code may be used only on a residential property that was red-tagged as a result of the Eaton Fire. A project submitted for plan check before December 31, 2025 may continue if it is approved and the permits are pulled before plan check expires. The page says additional 2025-code plans will be posted as they are approved. As of the November 4, 2026 check, the August notice described one citywide plan.

Lower on the same page, a card for Prototype A, 374 square foot studio, still carries a footnote that it is only for Eaton Fire red-tagged properties. The same footnote is on ADU 1 (560 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bath), ADU 2 (400 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bath), ADU 3 (750 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths), and Prototype D (682 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath). Read the August 2026 notice and that footnote together. Download the file that says it was updated to the 2025 CBC, and confirm with the Permit Center that the file you have is the citywide plan, not the Eaton-only set.

If you change a city-designed plan, it leaves the program. The city says a modified plan needs a full plan review and standard plan-review fees, and that the change is done with a design professional.

The Eaton Fire limit is a factual restriction on which plan file you may use. It is not an offer of rebuild help from this site. Start with the city's own standard-plans page.

Where the standard plan is allowed to sit

The standard-plans page calls the placement rules a general guide. The lot has to be zoned to allow residential use and has to contain an existing or proposed single-family home or multifamily structure. The property cannot be on a slope, a hillside, or expansive soil. A geotechnical report may be required. In general:

• 6 feet to other structures, measured eave to eave, unless the ADU is under 800 square feet. A later sentence on the same page says a 6-foot minimum separation is required for ADUs larger than 800 square feet. At exactly 800 square feet, those two sentences are not identical. Ask the Permit Center which one it applies.
• 4-foot side-yard and 4-foot rear-yard setbacks.
• The front-yard setback, lot coverage, floor area ratio, and encroachment plane of the underlying zone still apply.
• Walls with openings, such as windows or doors, cannot be closer than 5 feet to the side or rear property lines.
• Hillside areas have size limits, and the zone can limit how many ADUs you can build. Ask the Permit Center which limit applies to your lot.
• Mechanical equipment, including an air-conditioner condenser or heat pump, stays at least 5 feet from the property line and is screened from the public right-of-way.

Parking, driveways, and historic districts

The ADU regulations page requires one parking space per unit or per bedroom, whichever is less. The space may be covered, uncovered, or tandem on an existing driveway. No space is required if any of these is true: the site is within a one-half mile walk of a public transit stop; the unit is contained in the proposed or existing space of the primary dwelling or an accessory structure, including a garage; the property is in a historic district, which the page says includes landmark and historic districts; a commercial car-share pickup and drop-off is within one block; or the ADU application is submitted with an application for a new single-family or multifamily dwelling on the same lot, and one of the other exceptions also applies.

Replacement parking is not required if an existing garage, carport, or surface space that served the primary dwelling is demolished or converted with the ADU. The driveway is shared with the primary residence. A second driveway is allowed only from an alley, and only if an alley serves the site. Garage conversions in general are covered in our garage conversion guide. Use the Pasadena sentences above for this city.

The land-use table on the ADU page treats historic districts as their own column. Converted ADUs are permitted. New attached ADUs and new detached ADUs are permitted if they are not visible from the public right-of-way. A junior ADU is permitted in zones with one single-family dwelling. A detached ADU combined with a junior ADU is allowed only if it is not visible from the right-of-way. The table points to the city's sections on historic districts and individually designated historic properties. Read those before you assume a new detached unit is allowed on a landmark lot.

Fees the ADU page actually prints

These reductions are the ones printed on the ADU regulations page. For any other charge, use the city's current fee schedule or ask the Permit Center.

Under "Reduced Fees for ADUs on Single-Family Sites" on the ADU page:

• ADUs of 900 square feet or smaller, without a Housing Agreement: exempt from residential impact fees; permit fees reduced by 25 percent for the Construction Tax, the General Plan Maintenance Fee, and the Technology Fee; the construction and demolition deposit is reduced to $1,000.
• ADUs of any size with a Housing Agreement: plan check fees discounted by 50 percent; exempt from residential impact fees; exempt from the Construction Tax, the General Plan Maintenance Fee, and the Technology Fee; the construction and demolition deposit is reduced to $1,000.
• ADUs that use an ADU Standard Plan: plan check fees discounted by 50 percent; exempt from residential impact fees; exempt from the Construction Tax, the General Plan Maintenance Fee, and the Technology Fee; the construction and demolition deposit is reduced to $1,000.
• All other ADUs, regardless of size: the construction and demolition deposit is reduced to $1,000.

The page says these reductions are not retroactive. Except for the reduced residential impact fees and Construction Tax, the stated waivers and reductions took effect May 6, 2025. The reduced residential impact fees and Construction Tax took effect July 17, 2025. Multifamily sites, which the page defines as sites with two or more attached units, do not qualify. The Housing Agreement has to be executed before the permit is issued. If it is not, standard fees apply and any reduction already applied has to be repaid. An agreement signed after issuance does not reach backward.

A separate section says any ADU greater than 900 square feet is charged a Residential Impact Fee in an amount proportionally related to the primary dwelling. Public Works calculates that proportion from the adopted fee schedule. Ask Public Works for the dollar amount on your lot. Exempt from the residential impact fee: ADUs of 900 square feet or less, and ADUs of any size with an executed Housing Agreement.

Housing agreements are optional. They are not required in order to get a building permit. The Housing Department reviews them. You pick one, not both. The ADU Landlord Agreement commits the ADU, for a minimum of seven years, either to a family member as the agreement defines that term, or to the city's rental assistance clients or a tenant in the city's Rental Assistance Program. The ADU Affordability Covenant commits the unit, for a minimum of seven years, to a household whose income does not exceed 120 percent of area median income. The page says current income limits are inside the covenant. Questions go to (626) 744-8321. The portal asks whether you will sign a covenant or a landlord agreement, whether the plan is a city standard plan, and whether the ADU is 900 square feet or less. The page says a wrong answer can delay the file or the fee.

State impact-fee law is separate from Pasadena's residential impact fee wording. Government Code section 66311.5 says an ADU of 750 square feet of interior livable space or less is not charged an impact fee, and a larger ADU is charged in proportion to the main home. Connection charges stay separate. Starting January 1, 2027, SB 1117 (Cervantes), Chapter 809, Statutes of 2026 keeps the no-fee rule for an ADU of 750 square feet of interior livable space or less, and for a junior ADU of 500 square feet or less. On a lot with up to two ADUs, an impact fee on a larger ADU is still charged in proportion to the main home, and only on the square feet above 750. A lot with more than two ADUs keeps today's proportional rule on the whole unit. The change applies to charter cities. It does not set a dollar amount. Local ordinances have to follow it on that date. Ask Pasadena how the 750 square foot state rule and the city's 900 square foot residential-impact-fee line fit together on your permit. See the 2026 law update.

Junior ADUs, a second unit program, and property tax

The 500 square foot junior ADU limit is on the ADU page, quoted above. Owner occupancy for a junior ADU that shares a bathroom is a state rule in Government Code section 66333(b), effective January 1, 2026: occupancy is required only when sanitation is shared, and it is not required if the owner is a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization. Confirm the deed restriction with the city before you record it. The longer explanation is the junior ADU guide.

Starting January 1, 2027, AB 956 (Quirk-Silva), Chapter 791, Statutes of 2026 says a city does not have to ministerially approve a junior ADU on a lot where two detached, new-construction ADUs were built under the new Government Code section 66323(a)(2). A city may still cap each of those detached units at 800 square feet of livable space and apply the height limits in section 66321(b)(4). Local ordinances have to follow that on January 1, 2027. Until that date, follow the unit count Pasadena applies under Ordinance 7420 and current state law.

The Pasadena Second Unit ADU Program, linked from the city's ADU page, is assistance with financing, design, permitting, and construction, including rehabilitation of an unpermitted unit. See the city's program page for current terms and amounts.

The same page says an ADU in Los Angeles County will increase property taxes, and that the Los Angeles County Assessor sets the tax, not the city. The assessor page it links is new construction, or (626) 258-6001.

Pasadena does not appear on the Coastal Commission's June 2025 list of coastal jurisdictions. A coastal permit is not the extra step described for beach cities. If a parcel map ever shows otherwise, follow the map.

The city page does not add a separate HOA permit. Statewide, Civil Code sections 4751 and 714.3 make void a covenant that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts an ADU or junior ADU on a lot zoned for single-family use. Reasonable objective limits can remain. Starting January 1, 2027, AB 956 applies those sections to a lot zoned to allow single-family residential use. The current rule stays until that date. Details are on our legal page.

Official Pasadena links

Questions homeowners ask

Last reviewed and sources

Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.

• City of Pasadena, Accessory Dwelling Units. Ordinance 7420 effective May 20, 2024. Parking, historic visibility, junior ADU size, fee reductions, housing agreements, Second Unit program, property-tax note.
• ADU Standard Plans Program. August 2026 Prototype A notice, December 31, 2025 expiration, site rules, Hold Harmless, address application, approximate review times.
• Gov. Code section 66317, section 66311.5, and section 66333.
• Coastal Commission, June 2025 coastal jurisdictions list. Pasadena is not on it.

Nearby permit pages: the Los Angeles guide and the Long Beach guide. All city pages are on the California city guides hub. How to check a builder yourself is in how to find an ADU contractor.