Permit timing visualization. Source: live LADBS status events from 650,000+ City of Los Angeles permits. Samples shown: regular single-family correction-and-clearance sample n=2,786; regular ADU sample n=16,227; wildfire single-family sample n=712. Key medians: regular single-family permits issued at 353 days, regular ADUs at 232 days, and wildfire-rebuild single-family at 86 days. The 353-day clock breaks down into first corrections and clearances by day 36, corrections resubmitted by day 125, approval at day 307, and issuance at day 353. Common clearance medians include engineering fee 106 days, sewer 111 days, hydrant 144 days, roof and waste drainage 190 days, low-impact development 182 days, and miscellaneous 287 days. Submissions before approval show one resubmittal cycle is the largest share and about 1 in 4 need five or more rounds. Carry model: $2.4M financed at 8.5% per year; 353 days is about $197K and a 35-day TurboPermit target is about $20K. The sandbox destination is /sandbox.
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Wildfire rebuilds and ADUs move faster
City of Los Angeles permit data
LADBS Sep 2004-May 2026: 650,000+ City of Los Angeles permits; samples shown: regular SFR loop n=2,786; regular ADU n=16,227; wildfire SFR n=712.
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01 / 06
In LADBS history, wildfire-rebuild single-family permits reached issuance at a median 86 days. Regular ADU plan checks were much slower, around 232 days.
02 / 06
Regular single-family permits with the full observed correction-and-clearance path reached issuance at a median 353 days. ADUs sit in the middle; wildfire rebuilds are the fast outlier.
Carry per day$560
353 days$197K
35 days$20K
Example model: $2.4M financed at 8.5%/yr. Excludes land, taxes, insurance, and overhead.
03 / 06
Read this as one permit clock: day 0 is submission. Each checkpoint is a median milestone: half the permits reached that status by that day.
04 / 06
One permit clock. Five median checkpoints. By day 36, the first correction and clearance package is in motion.
The common clearances show their own timing spread. They clear one by one while the applicant is also working through corrections.
Correction resubmittals were recorded by day 125. Many permits need more than one return before approval.
One resubmittal cycle is the largest share. But 1 in 4 take five or more rounds.
Approval arrives at a median day 307. The long middle is not one wait; it is correction cycles, re-review, and clearance work moving in parallel.
Half are issued by day 353. The final handoff is usually short: measured one permit at a time, the Approved-to-Issued wait is 12 days.
These handoff waits are measured one step at a time, so they do not add up to 353. They show where time gets stuck.
05 / 06
The bottleneck is not just city review or applicant response. The long middle is the correction-and-clearance cycle: resubmittals, re-review, and clearance signoffs moving in parallel. Using the same carrying-cost model, that 353-day clock is about $197K before issuance.
06 / 06
TurboPermit helps builders manage the correction-and-clearance loop: comments, owners, due dates, evidence, resubmittals, clearances, and next actions until issuance.
Regular path$197K
90% faster$20K
Less exposure$178K
Modeled carry on $2.4M at 8.5%/yr.
