The Building Division of the Development Services Department maintains copies of building permits, inspection records, building plans and specifications for building permits issued by the department and such records are available to the public upon request. Requests to research building records must meet certain requirements. Per Section 6253 of the California Public Records Act, a request for building records must be a request that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records.

BUILDING PERMIT INFORMATION ONLINE (1992 TO CURRENT)

Building permits and inspection history for permits issued since 1992 are available online through Citizen Access™

BUILDING PERMIT INFORMATION PRIOR TO 1992

For permit information prior to 1992, please contact the City directly either via email (see next paragraph) or by phone 619-409-5868.  These records may have been digitally archived and can be researched for you by City staff.  While the department endeavors to keep records for every permit issued, there are situations when records requested are not on file.  Please take these factors into account when making requests.

 

REQUESTING COPIES OF BUILDING PERMITS
Once a building permit has passed final inspection, the permit, inspection history and plans become public record. To request building permit research, provide the following information for the property being researched:

• Assessor's Parcel Number
• Address
• Development
• Project
• Type of documents requested (permit, inspection record, plans, etc.)
• Name, Address and Phone Number

Contact us to send requests for research of building permits. Please allow up to 10 working days to process your request.

REQUESTING COPIES OF BUILDING PLANS
Requests for copies of building plans must be accompanied by the following:

• Completed Form 4553 Application for Duplication of Official Copies of Building Plans
• Completed form 4554 Affidavit

The division is required to request from the certified, licensed or registered professional and the current registered owner written permission to duplicate plans. Should a request for copies of plans be made, the process will take 30 - 60 days to complete. It is because of this process that the division cannot respond to requests for "immediate" duplication of plans except via court order or upon the request of a state agency.

Pursuant to Government Code Section 6254(k), records that are exempt from disclosure under state or federal law are also exempt under the Public Records Act. California Health and Safety Code Section 19851 provides that building plans can be inspected, but not copied without permission of the professional who signed the document and the original or current property owner. Furthermore, Federal copyright law [17 U.S.C. Sections 101 and 102(A)(8)] provides that architectural plans can be inspected, but cannot be copied without the permission of the copyright owner.