Building in San Jose

San Jose runs the largest ADU program in the county, including a preapproved-plan track with a review team dedicated to it. The requirement that most often catches people out is electrical: on our San Jose detached-ADU projects the city has required the unit to carry its own electrical panel rather than sub-feed off the house. That is a jurisdiction requirement rather than a site condition, so it applies no matter how much spare capacity the existing panel has — and it belongs in the budget from the first estimate, not after plan check.

We work throughout San Jose — whether you're in Willow Glen, Almaden Valley, Rose Garden, Evergreen, Berryessa, or Downtown San José, the build is the same standard.

Permits. Work in San Jose is permitted through the City of San José Development Services Permit Center. We carry the submittal and the plan-check corrections — that is our job, not yours.

San José publishes an ADU Universal Checklist that establishes whether a property qualifies before anything is drawn, and takes plan submittals through its SJePlans portal. It also staffs a dedicated ADU review team, and preapproved plans run on a faster track than a site-specific set.

Pre-approved ADU plans. San Jose publishes a gallery of pre-approved ADU plans that homeowners can build from. Since AB 1332 took effect on January 1, 2025, California cities have had to run a pre-approved ADU plan program and post the approved plans publicly. Where a usable plan exists it can take real time and design cost out of a project, because the design has already been reviewed and only the site-specific work is left.