Permits & licenses in Berkeley.
Inside the Berkeley city line the building permit, the plan review and the inspection belong to the city. California writes one code for the whole state — Title 24, the California Building Standards Code, republished by the Building Standards Commission every three years — and state law hands its enforcement to local government: the city's department inside the line, the county's on the unincorporated land outside it. Hospitals answer to HCAI and public schools to the Division of the State Architect, not to either building counter.
- The Permit Service Center of the Planning and Development Department is the city's one-stop shop for building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire and some public works permits.
- Building permit applications, plan uploads, plan check responses, fee payments and inspection scheduling run through Permits Online, the city's Accela Citizen Access portal; zoning permits follow a separate Land Use process.
Talk to a permit specialist — for your Berkeley project.
Berkeley sits in Alameda County · outline drawn from Census boundaries
What we clear here
- Building permits — new construction, fit-outs, renovations
- Trade permits — electrical, plumbing, gas, mechanical
- Use & occupancy and the inspections behind it
- Business & contractor licensing
- Signs, site work, and right-of-way
How it moves
Your package is reviewed against the current Berkeley submission requirements before it's filed — forms, editions, scales, signatures. Then it's tracked in the queue and carried through comments. A resubmittal means the back of the line; the pre-filing review is there to help keep you out of it. The habit comes from volume: the team has processed 400+ permits annually across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia counters.
Straight answers
Who issues building permits in Berkeley?
City of Berkeley Planning and Development Department — Permit Service Center — with the trade, health, and fire reviews that attach depending on the project.
Does DaKa work in Berkeley?
Yes — Berkeley is one of the California markets we serve. Call (240) 344-5075, or send the project over, and we'll lay out your project's permits and licenses, in order, with what each review will take.
Talk to a permit specialist
Ten minutes on your project. You leave knowing the approvals it needs, in what order, and what each review will take. Or send the address, scope, and plans and we start from there.