How Los Angeles pre-approved ADU plans work

What pre-approved means

The LADBS Standard Plan Program is a library of plans that private firms have drawn and LADBS has checked. LADBS's description is specific: a plan is not approved until LADBS verifies compliance with the Building, Residential, Green Building and Energy Codes, and the use of a standard plan greatly reduces the time required for plan check. New designs are added on a rolling basis.

Pre-approved does not mean pre-permitted. The same page says a standard plan does not waive the necessity for a building permit. What changes is what the city reviews when you apply.

What the city still checks on your property

With a standard plan, LADBS's review is about your site, not the drawings. Its ADU page says LADBS checks that an approved plan fits your property, including zoning and foundation needs. The program page adds that plans need final review to ensure compliance and address site-specific conditions and clearances before a building permit is issued, and that localized soil conditions may require site-specific foundation work.

In practice that review covers:

• Zoning. Where the ADU sits: at least 4 ft from the side and back of the property, the height limit (16 ft, or 18 ft within half a mile of major transit), and any overlay such as a hillside area, a very high fire hazard zone, a historic district or a specific plan.
• Foundation. The plan's foundation may be adjusted to your soil.
• Clearances. Fire access, including the distance from a hydrant to every part of the ADU, and utilities.

The free property report runs the zoning part before you pick a plan, and shows each plan's footprint to scale in the space behind your home.

The plans available

ADUCheck reads the LADBS listing and the LA County catalog and lists every plan with its firm, size, bedrooms, stories and a link to the official page. As of November 6, 2026 the library holds:

• 30 standard ADU plans from the LADBS program, from 280 sq ft (ADU89) to 1,200 sq ft (ADU58), with studios and one- to three-bedroom homes, drawn by more than 20 firms, among them Butterfly Dwellings, Cover, VL Architects, YD Group, Aging in Place ADU and Taalman Architecture. The city-provided YOU-ADU plan, at 455 sq ft, is in the list.
• Three LA County plans for unincorporated areas: Plan A (1,200 sq ft, three bedrooms), Plan B (1,200 sq ft, two bedrooms) and Plan C (800 sq ft, one bedroom). The county says these may be used by homeowners free of charge, and that plans from local design firms will be added later.

The LADBS program also includes single-family home and miscellaneous plans, which the library lists separately. Browse the plan library, or the one-bedroom and studio filters.

What a plan costs

The plan set and the permit are two different costs.

• The plan set. LADBS says the plans in its program are privately owned: you contact the owner of the plan to purchase a copy and coordinate directly with the plan owner for access, pricing and the terms of use. The price is the firm's to set, and it is not published on the listing.
• The permit. LADBS charges plan check and permit fees based on the project's valuation. In the county program, plan check and permit fees are paid through EPIC-LA.
• Fee waivers. Since January 1, 2026, no development impact fees apply to an ADU of 750 sq ft or less and no school fees to an ADU of 500 sq ft or less. Most plans in the library fall under one or both lines. See ADU fees in Los Angeles.

Can you change a plan?

For the county plans the answer is written down: they cannot be revised and must be permitted as designed, though they can be placed in any orientation and the floor plan can be mirrored. Other changes mean an appointment with Building and Safety.

For the LADBS program, the plan was approved as drawn. A changed plan is a different plan, and the parts you change go through regular plan check. Ask the firm and LADBS before you alter anything, including the roof deck, which on some zones needs additional setbacks.

How to check whether a plan fits your property

Three things decide it: the space behind your home after the 4 ft setbacks and a clear driveway, the height limit on your street, and the overlays on the property. Each plan page on ADUCheck has a "Check the fit" box. Enter your address and the report draws the plan to scale behind your home and gives one of three answers: Fits, Check with LADBS, or Doesn't fit.

One honest limit: a plan can only be drawn once its firm has confirmed the plan's width, depth and height. ADUCheck is asking every firm for those figures, and until a firm answers, its plan shows "Check with LADBS" rather than a guess.

A guide is a starting point, not a permit. Confirm the plan and your site with LADBS before you buy a plan set.