Quick answer: A permit expediter in Los Angeles manages your permit application through the city on your behalf. Expediting firms set their own fees privately, so there is no published rate card to quote, and the city permit fee is separate and based on your own scope. The larger factor in your timeline is which LADBS plan check route your project falls into, and LADBS sets that from the scope of work rather than from who files it. APLA Construction (CA Lic #1136359) manages permitting as part of every project we build across Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties.
Pulling a building permit in Los Angeles can be one of the most frustrating parts of a construction project. Between LADBS plan check, corrections, and multiple department sign-offs, timelines can stretch for weeks or months. A permit expediter helps navigate the process faster. As a licensed LA general contractor (CA Lic #1136359), APLA Construction manages permitting for our clients start to finish, so you may not even need a separate expediter.
A permit expediter is a specialist who manages the permit application process on your behalf. Their job is to keep your project moving through the city bureaucracy. Typical services include:
For complex or commercial projects, an expediter can save significant time.
Permit expediting firms in Los Angeles set their own fees privately and do not publish standard rates, so any single hourly figure you find online is one firm quoting itself, not a published schedule. Ask for a written scope and a fixed quote before you engage anyone.
The city side of the bill is different, because LADBS publishes it. You can estimate your own plan check and permit fees with the official LADBS Plan Check Fee Estimate System, which covers Building, Electrical, Mechanical and Non-Building categories. LADBS states that the amounts it returns are estimates based on the current fee ordinance and are subject to change without notice, so treat the output as a planning number rather than a bill.
LADBS also publishes the charges that sit around the permit itself. Paying by credit card adds a service fee of 2.7 percent, eCheck payments are capped at $200,000, and refunds may take between 30 and 90 days. Field inspections run weekdays from 7AM to 3:30PM and must be requested one day in advance before 2 PM. Anything after 3:30PM counts as off-hours, where LADBS puts the hourly cost at an average of $100 and notes that a fee of at least $300 may apply for inspector travel. Source: the LADBS homeowner permit guide.
This is the part most permit discussions skip. For projects inside the City of Los Angeles, LADBS runs three different plan check routes, and which one your project lands in does more to set your timeline than anything an expediter can do. LADBS describes them as follows.
| LADBS route | What LADBS states | What it means for your project |
|---|---|---|
| Counter Plan Check (CPC) | Completed over the counter on the same day the project is submitted, in approximately 45 minutes or less | There is nothing to expedite. You leave with the approval. |
| Expanded Counter Plan Check (ECPC) | 2 hours or less for your plans to be checked, with plans assigned within a few days of submittal. Offered at the Metro (Downtown), Van Nuys, West LA, South LA and San Pedro offices | The route most Los Angeles additions want to land in. LADBS lists a medium-size home addition, and a multi-floor tenant improvement with no change in use, among the eligible scopes. |
| Regular Plan Check (RPC) | Typically addresses very complex and large plans | Where multiple correction cycles live, and where real coordination work earns its money. |
Sources: the LADBS homeowner permit guide and the LADBS page on Expanded Counter Plan Check. Because LADBS assigns the route from your scope of work, the first useful question on any project is which route it qualifies for, and what would push it down into Regular Plan Check. On the commercial side that question is usually about change of use, which is covered in our guide to commercial tenant improvement permitting in Los Angeles.
An honest account of expediting has to include its limits, because some of the clock is structural and no amount of follow-up moves it.
Clearances. Reaching what LADBS calls RTI, or Ready to Issue, means your plans and all clearances have been approved. Depending on scope, LADBS lists possible sign-offs from Planning, Fire, Public Works, Transportation, Housing, DWP, Cultural Affairs, Health, AQMD, LAUSD, Oil Gas and Cal OSHA. Filing electronically through ePlanLA changes how you submit, not which of those departments apply to you.
On an ADU, the clock is statutory. Under California Government Code section 66317, an ADU permit application is considered and approved ministerially, without discretionary review or a hearing. The permitting agency must determine whether your application is complete and give you written notice not later than 15 business days after receiving it, and if it misses that deadline the application is deemed to be complete. It must then approve or deny a completed application within 60 days where there is an existing single-family or multifamily dwelling on the lot, and if it has not done so within 60 days the application is deemed approved. The 60 days is tolled only for a delay that you request. See Government Code section 66317. No expediter shortens a deadline that already runs in your favor, which is why the useful work on an ADU is submitting something complete the first time. If you are still deciding on the unit type, see how a JADU differs from an ADU in Los Angeles and the current California ADU laws for 2026.
Pre-approved plans are the real shortcut on an ADU. LADBS runs a Standard Plan Program that pre-approves ADU designs to confirm they meet building, residential and green codes. LADBS states that using standard plans shortens the time needed to review the plans through plan check, and that corresponding permits are issued more quickly. LADBS does not publish a figure for the saving, so treat it as a genuine advantage without a guaranteed number. See the LADBS ADU page.
And sometimes the review itself is what changes, not its speed. Certain commercial rebuilds can be permitted under an LADBS self-certification path, which alters who carries responsibility for the code review rather than how quickly a plan checker reaches it. We covered a real example in our write-up of LADBS self certification for commercial rebuilds.
Here is what many homeowners do not realize: a good general contractor manages permitting as part of the job. On APLA projects, we prepare plans, submit applications, handle plan-check corrections, and coordinate inspections. For most residential additions, ADUs, and remodels, that means you do not need to hire a separate expediter at all. See our addition and ADU services.
Not every address in Los Angeles County goes through LADBS. Projects inside the City of Los Angeles do, while Santa Monica, Culver City, Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and many other cities run their own building departments, with their own processes, their own counters and their own queues. Getting this wrong at the start costs more time than any expediter can save, so confirm which Los Angeles building department covers your city before you file anything. APLA works across Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties and plans around each jurisdiction.
An expediter only manages the permit process. A licensed general contractor manages permitting plus the entire construction project. APLA does both.
Simple permits can be same-day over the counter; projects requiring plan check often take several weeks to a few months depending on complexity and corrections.
Usually not if your contractor handles permitting. APLA manages the full ADU permit process for our clients.
Yes. Permit management is included in our project scope, from application through final inspection.
An expediter can shorten the time you spend preparing, submitting and correcting an application, which is often where the weeks actually go. It cannot change which review route your project falls into. LADBS sets that from the scope of work, not from who files the application.
Counter Plan Check is completed over the counter on the same day, in approximately 45 minutes or less. Expanded Counter Plan Check takes 2 hours or less to check, with plans assigned within a few days of submittal, at the Metro, Van Nuys, West LA, South LA and San Pedro offices. Regular Plan Check typically addresses very complex and large plans.
California Government Code section 66317 gives the permitting agency 15 business days to determine that your application is complete, then 60 days from a completed application to approve or deny it where there is already a single-family or multifamily dwelling on the lot. Miss the first deadline and the application is deemed complete. Miss the second and it is deemed approved. Review is ministerial, with no hearing.
Depending on scope, LADBS lists possible clearances from Planning, Fire, Public Works, Transportation, Housing, DWP, Cultural Affairs, Health, AQMD, LAUSD, Oil Gas and Cal OSHA. Your permit is not ready to issue until every one that applies has been approved.
LADBS publishes a Plan Check Fee Estimate System covering Building, Electrical, Mechanical and Non-Building categories. LADBS states the figures are estimates based on the current fee ordinance and subject to change without notice, so estimate your own scope there rather than relying on a general number.
APLA Construction manages permitting and construction for projects across Los Angeles. Licensed CA Lic #1136359 — verify on CSLB. Call (818) 818-4419 or email info@aplaconstruction.com for a free consultation.