Do You Need a Permit for a Kitchen Remodel in Los Angeles?

Do you need a permit to remodel a kitchen in Los Angeles?

In most cases, yes. LADBS Information Bulletin P/GI 2026-003, effective January 1, 2026 and revised June 10, 2026, lists a kitchen or bathroom remodel for residential buildings with no structural changes as an Express Permit. It also lists replacing or adding plumbing fixtures, and low-pressure gas piping of up to 10 outlets, as Express items. Express means the permit is issued without plan check.

What we could not confirm is whether replacing cabinets and countertops on their own needs a permit. Los Angeles Municipal Code section 91.106.2 lists exemptions, and we did not retrieve text that settles it. Because the answer decides who is liable if something goes wrong, call LADBS and ask by name for the work you plan.

Express Permit or plan check: where does each kitchen change go?

The dividing line in the bulletin is structure and layout. A kitchen refresh with new cabinets, counters, a sink, a dishwasher and lighting in the same places sits on the Express side. Additions and changed floor plans go to plan check, which means drawings, a reviewer and a longer wait.

• Express: remodel with no structural changes, fixture replacement or addition, low-pressure gas piping up to 10 outlets.
• Plan check: addition, removed or moved walls, a changed floor plan.
• Not confirmed: relocating drain and vent lines, and cabinet or counter swaps alone. Ask LADBS.
• Separate trade permits: LADBS's homeowner guide to permits and inspections describes plumbing, electrical and heating permits as their own items.

Does moving the stove or sink change the permit?

It changes the trade permits, and it can change the path. Moving a range means a new gas line, new electrical and often a new vent route. Moving a sink means a new drain and vent, and we could not confirm in LADBS's text whether that remains on the Express list. A moved wall pushes the job to plan check, and a load-bearing wall usually means a structural engineer's drawings. Our kitchen remodel cost guide covers what that does to the budget.

Our practical rule is to ask three questions before pricing a layout change. Does any wall move? Does any drain or vent line move? Does any gas or electrical line move to a new location? A yes to the first sends you to plan check. A yes to the others means asking LADBS which path applies.

What does the 2025 Energy Code require in a kitchen?

The 2025 Energy Code took effect January 1, 2026, and the California Energy Commission's mandatory measures summary lists kitchen items that affect your shopping list. Kitchens need local mechanical exhaust under section 150.0(o)1G. Vented range hood airflow and sound are field-verified under RA3.7. Kitchen lighting needs wall dimmers, except lighting built into the hood, and under-cabinet lighting goes on separate controls.

Which of these apply to an alteration rather than to new construction depends on section 150.2 of the code, which we did not read. So the useful step is a sentence in your proposal: the contractor names which Energy Code items apply to your kitchen, and the hood and lighting are priced with them.

A worked example: counting the permits on two kitchens

Kitchen A keeps its layout. It gets new cabinets, quartz counters, a new sink and faucet, a new range in the same spot, and two added outlets. That is a remodel with no structural changes, with a fixture replacement and some electrical work. Count it as one Express building permit plus whatever plumbing and electrical permits LADBS wants for the trade work, so up to three line items.

Kitchen B removes the wall to the dining room and moves the range 6 feet. The wall removal sends it to plan check with structural drawings. The range move adds one gas outlet, which is far below the 10-outlet Express limit but still piping work, plus new electrical and a new hood duct. Count the plan-check permit plus the same trade permits. The fees are different on each line, and none of them is a number we can responsibly print, so your proposal should show each fee as its own line.

Which kitchens get extra review?

Older homes: nearly half of the City of Los Angeles housing stock was built before 1960 and about 20 percent before 1939, according to the city's 2019 American Community Survey data in its Housing Element. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires paid firms that disturb paint in pre-1978 homes to be lead-safe certified and to give the owner the Renovate Right pamphlet.

Historic districts: homes in a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone need a Certificate of Appropriateness for changes visible from the exterior under LAMC section 13B.8.5, as described in the city's project review reference guide. A new vent cap or window on a street-facing wall can qualify. Whether interior-only kitchen work is outside review is not confirmed, so ask City Planning.

Who is allowed to pull the permit, and what if the contractor did not?

An unlicensed person may take only work under $1,000 including materials, and not work that needs a permit or that involves hired workers, according to CSLB's AB 2622 bulletin. A kitchen remodel with a permit therefore needs a licensed contractor or, in some cases, the owner acting as their own builder, and those owner rules we did not research.

If a past contractor never pulled a permit, ask LADBS how work already finished is permitted afterward. We did not verify that process or any penalty amounts, so do not rely on this page for it. For new work, ask for the permit number in writing before demolition starts, and check it with LADBS.

How do permits show up in your contract and payments?

Permit fees are set by the LADBS fee schedule, and the contractor's proposal should state whether they are included or billed at cost. Your contract under Business and Professions Code section 7159 must be in writing for work over $500, limits the down payment to $1,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less, and ties later payments to work done. Ask that inspection sign-offs be listed as milestones.

MDG Builders, CSLB #1040337, prepares the permit documents and schedules inspections, while licensed subcontractors perform the plumbing, electrical and other specialty work. Ask to see each subcontractor's license number and certificate of insurance.