Los Angeles A-Permit Services
Los Angeles property owners looking to complete minor street construction projects or minor improvement projects on the public right of way will need to first obtain an A-Permit from the city’s Bureau of Engineering (BOE).
What is considered a minor street construction project? Here is a list of some of the most common types of projects that will require an A-Permit.
- Sidewalk repair
- Installing a new sidewalk
- Installing a new driveway
- Curb and gutter repairs
- Curb drains
- Street resurfacing
- Installing street features such as bike racks, speed bumps, parkways, landscaping, parklets, etc.
- Street tree wells
Mainly, A-Permits are limited to work that will not change an established flowline of a gutter or change the existing grade of a sidewalk or street. The list above is not an exhaustive list. Other types of projects may also need an A-Permit.
What do I do about my sidewalk damage caused by city trees?
Since tree roots uproot so many sidewalks in LA, this type of minor street construction is one of the most common. An A-Permit to fix a sidewalk damaged by tree roots does not require the applicant to pay a permit fee. It’s a “No Fee” permit.
That doesn’t mean the permit doesn’t require any legwork to pull. The Bureau of Engineering requires a picture of the damaged area in order to waive the fees. Not only that, but the tree roots must be trimmed before the new sidewalk is poured. In order to ensure that the trees are correctly pruned, you have to also get an additional Street Tree permit issued by the Bureau of Street Services. You can get the A-Permit before getting the Street Tree permit, but you will need that Street Tree permit to prune the tree roots to avoid additional sidewalk damage.
Why you should hire an expeditor to get an A-Permit
As you can see, pulling an A-Permit can become more complex in certain situations.
A-Permits are probably one of the more common permits to pull for minor construction projects in Los Angeles. The A-Permit is the city’s way of making sure that minor street construction meets the city’s design and materials specification. It also verifies that the construction work is property inspected and the applicant receives a quality construction project.
Because they are so common and cover just minor construction, A-Permits can take as little as 1-3 days to pull. This doesn’t mean that the application process is easy. The city provides an entire 6-page document enumerating the necessary information needed to apply for an A-Permit.
A permit-expeditor has extensive knowledge and experience in applying for A-Permits. Instead of slogging through the city’s document with all it’s technical jargon, it’s much easier to just hire a permit expeditor. A professional permit expeditor already knows all the information the city requires and will work with your contractor to ensure that the plans and specifications are up to code. A permit expeditor also will check in with the city’s Bureau of Engineering to make sure that your application doesn’t get lost in their sea of paperwork.
