Demolition Permits In Contra Costa County: 2026 Guide

Getting a demolition permit in Contra Costa County is not one application. It is a package of six approvals from five separate agencies, assembled in a specific order, and the building department will not issue anything until all of them are in the file. The machine work on a house takes two to five days. Getting legal permission to start it takes three to eight weeks. This guide is the whole sequence · who to call, what to file, what it costs and where projects get stuck.

Who Permits What: County vs City

The first question is not “what forms do I need.” It is “whose building department has jurisdiction over this address,” and getting it wrong costs you weeks.

Contra Costa County’s Department of Conservation and Development permits everything in unincorporated areas. El Sobrante is the one that surprises people most often · it has its own name, its own ZIP code and its own main street, but it is not a city. Your demolition permit comes from Martinez. Same for Kensington, North Richmond, Bay Point, Alamo, Diablo, Pacheco, Rodeo, Crockett, Discovery Bay and the unincorporated pockets that sit between the cities.

The incorporated cities · Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, El Cerrito, Hercules, Concord, Walnut Creek, Martinez, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda and the rest · each run their own building department with their own submittal list, fee schedule and turnaround. Richmond, for example, adds a pest control clearance and a DPR 523a historic form on structures over 50 years old. The county requires neither. When there is any doubt about jurisdiction, the county counter will confirm it from the assessor’s parcel number in about five minutes · ask before you pay anyone for plans.

The Full Submittal Checklist

For a residential demolition in unincorporated Contra Costa County, the package the counter expects looks like this:

• Completed demolition permit application · filed through epermits.cccounty.us or in person at 30 Muir Road.
• Site plan showing the parcel, the structure to be removed, structures that remain, setbacks, access and the limits of work.
• Planning Division approval · obtained before building permit submittal.
• Sanitary District approval · from the district serving the parcel, covering the sewer lateral cap.
• BAAQMD approval · the Regulation 11, Rule 2 notification and its J number.
• PG&E utility release · confirmation that electric and gas service is disconnected. PG&E: 800-743-5000.
• PCB Screen Assessment Form · required for applicable structures.
• Waste Management Plan · the 65% diversion plan, filed through Green Halo before the permit issues.
• SWPPP and Notice of Intent · if the project disturbs more than one acre.
• Tree protection plan · where protected trees are within the work area.
• Grading permit · separately, if your earthwork crosses the thresholds in section six.

Not every item applies to every job. All of them apply to some job, and the ones that catch people are Planning, sanitary district and the PCB form · because none of them are things a homeowner would think of as part of “demolition.”

Planning And Sanitary District: The Approvals That Come First

Two approvals block the whole package, and both live outside the building department.

Planning Division approval must be secured before you submit the building permit application. Not alongside it. Before. Planning is checking whether the parcel carries a condition of approval, sits in a special district, contains a historic or potentially historic resource, has protected trees, falls in a scenic or creek-structure setback, or is subject to a development agreement. On most straightforward residential parcels this is quick. On a parcel with an old structure, a creek, or a hillside overlay, it is not · and if you submitted to Building first, your file simply waits.

Sanitary district approval comes from whichever district serves the parcel · West County Wastewater, Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, Rodeo Sanitary District and several others each cover different areas. They are confirming that the sewer lateral will be properly capped and, for some scopes, that the connection fee status is handled. This is a separate counter with separate hours, and the cap has to be visible at the county’s final inspection.

BAAQMD And The J Number

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District notification under Regulation 11, Rule 2 is the approval that catches the most people, because the trigger is broader than almost anyone expects.

It is required for any plan to demolish a load-supporting structural member of a building or facility · regardless of asbestos content, age or size. A 1998 garage with no asbestos anywhere in it still needs the notification. There is no small-project exemption for demolition. When BAAQMD accepts the notification, they issue a J number, and the county wants to see it.

For renovation rather than demolition, the threshold is different: more than 100 square feet, 100 linear feet, or 35 cubic feet of friable asbestos-containing material.

Timing

Notification is due 10 working days before work starts. For dwellings of four or fewer units, that can be reduced to 72 hours with an added fee. Ten working days is two calendar weeks · this is usually the longest single item on the critical path, which is why we file it early rather than when the permit issues.

The confirmed-dates trap

Surveys

Residential buildings of four or fewer dwelling units do not require a certified asbestos survey. That is not permission to skip testing. Suspect materials · HVAC ducting and systems, acoustic ceiling material and acoustic plaster · still must be tested if they will be disturbed. Material that is entirely wood, glass, rubber or metal does not need testing.

Fees (effective 7/1/2026)

A $90 notification filed on time versus a $709 notification filed late is the cheapest paperwork lesson in this entire guide.

PG&E Release, PCB Screening And Capping Utilities

PG&E utility release is exactly what it sounds like: written confirmation that electric and gas service to the structure has been disconnected at the source. Start it early · 800-743-5000 · because PG&E scheduling is outside your control and outside your contractor’s. A meter pull that takes three weeks in July can take five in December.

The PCB Screen Assessment Form is a county requirement tied to polychlorinated biphenyls in older building materials · caulking, sealants, light ballasts, certain adhesives. It is a screening document, not a lab report, and it goes in the permit file.

Beyond paperwork, Cal/OSHA requires that all utilities be shut off, capped or otherwise controlled at the building or curb line before demolition begins, that the site be checked for hazardous chemicals, gases, explosives and flammables, and that pipe insulation, steel fireproofing and HVAC ductwork be surveyed for asbestos. Before any excavation, notify USA North 811 at least two working days and not more than 14 calendar days in advance; the ticket is valid for 28 days.

Stormwater, Trees And Grading Permits

Stormwater. If your project disturbs more than one acre, you need a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan and a Notice of Intent filed under the state construction general permit. Most single-lot residential teardowns fall below this. Multi-parcel clearing and larger land clearing jobs often do not.

Trees. Where protected trees sit within or near the work area, a tree protection plan is required as a condition of the permit. In practice this means fencing at the dripline, no equipment staging or material storage inside that fence, and sometimes an arborist letter. Damaging a protected tree during demolition is expensive in a way that has nothing to do with the tree.

Grading. A separate grading permit is required in Contra Costa County when you excavate more than 5 feet deep or move more than 200 cubic yards, or place fill that supports a structure, exceeds 3 feet in depth, or exceeds 200 cubic yards. Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda drop that threshold to 50 cubic yards. Grading of 1,000 cubic yards or more triggers neighbor notification. The application takes three sets of plans stamped by a licensed California civil engineer or architect, plus two copies of a geotechnical report. If you are removing a foundation and re-establishing a pad, check your quantities early · see foundation and slab removal and grading and leveling.

The 65% Diversion Requirement And Green Halo

California requires a minimum 65% diversion of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste. Unincorporated Contra Costa enforces it in two stages, and both are mandatory:

• Waste Management Plan · before the permit issues. No plan, no permit. This is not a form you catch up on later.
• Waste Management Report · after completion, with receipts. It must show facility name, date, place of origin, material type and quantity for every load.

Since August 4, 2025, all plans and reports go through the Green Halo portal. Paper submittals are no longer the process. Excavated soil and land-clearing debris are excluded from the diversion calculation, which matters more than it sounds · you cannot hit 65% by counting dirt.

For RecycleSmart jurisdictions · Danville, Moraga, Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek and unincorporated Contra Costa · debris must move via a Registered C&D Transporter to an Approved C&D Processing Facility. Transporter registration runs $370 per year. If your hauler is not registered, your tickets do not count toward diversion. Ask before the first box lands. Our debris hauling and recycling page covers how we handle the sorting and the reporting.

Universal Waste And What Cannot Go In The Box

Fluorescent tubes and PCB ballasts are Universal Waste and must be recycled. They cannot go into the demolition debris box, and they cannot go into a household trash can. This is the single most common violation on garage, shop and light-commercial interior demolition jobs, because a shop ceiling full of eight-foot fluorescents looks like ordinary junk and is not.

Same discipline for mercury thermostats, refrigerant-bearing appliances, treated wood waste and any container that held solvent, fuel or pesticide. Pull them, log them and send them where they belong before the machine touches the structure. Asbestos-containing material, if present, must be abated by a properly certified contractor first · California requires specific certification for asbestos work involving 100 square feet or more, plus Cal/OSHA registration and 24 hours’ notice to the nearest enforcement district office.

The Final Inspection

There is one final inspection on a county demolition permit, and it is straightforward if you set the site up for it.

The inspector needs to see the structure gone, the site cleaned and stable · and the capped utilities visible. Not backfilled. Not graded over. Visible. This is the most common reason a demolition final gets a re-inspection: the crew finished, graded a beautiful pad and buried the sewer cap under eight inches of soil. Leave the caps proud, flag them, photograph them and grade around them. Have your permit card, your J number and your diversion documentation on site, and finish the grade after the inspection passes.

A Realistic Week-By-Week Timeline

This is what a clean, no-surprises unincorporated Contra Costa residential teardown actually looks like on a calendar. Add two to four weeks if abatement is required, if Planning flags the parcel, or if PG&E scheduling runs long.

Notice where the time actually goes. Six of the seven weeks are agencies, labs and utilities. One is demolition. That ratio is the whole reason we start the permit clock the day a scope is approved rather than the day equipment is available · and it is worth reading alongside our Bay Area demolition cost guide, because a schedule slip is a cost line too.

What Gets Your Permit Rejected

These are the rejections we see, in rough order of frequency:

• Submitted to Building before Planning signed off. The file sits. Planning first, always.
• No J number in the package. BAAQMD is required on every structural demolition, not just asbestos jobs.
• Waste Management Plan missing. The permit cannot issue without it, and it must be in Green Halo.
• Site plan too vague. No dimensions, no setbacks, no indication of what stays. Draw the limits of work.
• No sanitary district approval. People forget the sewer lateral is a different agency’s business.
• PCB Screen Assessment Form omitted on a structure that needs it.
• PG&E release not yet issued. Requested is not the same as released.
• Wrong jurisdiction entirely · a Richmond or San Pablo address filed at the county counter, or an El Sobrante address filed at a city.
• Grading quantities over threshold with no grading permit and no stamped plans.
• Contractor not properly licensed. C-21 is California’s Building Moving/Demolition classification; asbestos work over 100 sq ft needs its own certification.

Almost every one of those is a sequencing error rather than a substantive problem. The county is not trying to stop you from demolishing your building. It is trying to make sure four other agencies have already said yes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Legacy Demolitions Team

Licensed California demolition contractor, CA License #1122603, based at 4533 Appian Way in El Sobrante · inside unincorporated Contra Costa County. We file these permit packages at 30 Muir Road every week. Questions on a specific parcel? Call (510) 804-1333 or read our full demolition permits and compliance reference.