Progressive Council Members Propose Self-Certification Plan

Los Angeles might let architects certify their own building plans for certain small-scale construction projects.

The city will study how to roll out a self-certification program that could free up inspectors to focus on more complex construction projects and hasten the pace of permitting overall, thanks to a motion sponsored by City Councilmember Nithya Raman that passed the council unanimously Wednesday.

Raman, the Democratic councilmember for Silver Lake, the Hollywood Hills, Studio City and Encino, describes herself as “pragmatic progressive,” and she’s lately been lending an ear to local developers like Mott Smith, a boutique commercial kitchen developer and board member of the nonprofit Council of Infill Builders.

I’m kind of a nerd about this stuff.
Mott Smith, co-founder of Civic Enterprise

It takes 800 days on average to complete a single-family home in Los Angeles, compared to about eight months in the rest of the country, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders.

Smith, co-founder and CEO of Amped Kitchens, sees an opening for Los Angeles to speed up its notoriously slow permitting pipeline through a program that’s been up and running for years in some cities, like New York and San Diego.

Building inspectors make dozens of visits to construction sites and sign off on every phase of the project from what types of bolts are used to how far apart a building’s studs are, according to the city’s building code.

“There’s been an increasing awareness that this is the primary way cities make sure people are doing stuff to code,” Smith said. “I’m kind of a nerd about this stuff.”

The initial plan-check, by contrast, is sometimes merely a routine step in the process, and Raman is onboard with the idea of letting the city outsource it to licensed architects and engineers on certain small projects.

“Right now, about half of the planning department’s work is tied up in permit approvals that are for relatively simple projects,” Raman said in Wednesday’s full council meeting. “All of these don’t need the eyes of our bureaucracy.”

It’s a “win-win for everybody,” Raman said.

Self-certification could make a significant dent in the backlog since some 59 percent of all plan checks are for small-scale single-family home projects, according to Smith’s analysis of the past 10 years of permitting data in Los Angeles.

Those projects would be prime candidates for the program, along with small commercial interior renovations, according to Smith.

The council’s motion gives the city’s Planning and Building and Safety Departments 30 days to study how self-certification could work in Los Angeles and report back with their findings.

Raman and spokespeople for the agencies did not reply to requests for comment.

Mayor Karen Bass is also interested in the idea. Bass ordered the buildings department to report to her office about it too. A spokesperson for Bass did not immediately respond to a request for comment.