Northridge, CA · May – September 2022 · LADWP / LADBS
Northridge: 14.4 kW on barrel tile, permitted in a month.
Fourteen point four kilowatts AC-CEC on barrel tile. The permit went through full plan check in a month, and the utility's sign-off followed once its inspector was reached by email.
When a residential project goes through full plan check rather than over the counter, the route is fixed: documents uploaded, fees paid, plan assigned to a reviewer, corrections issued, corrections cleared, permit issued. What that route does not include is a guaranteed date, and the last signature is often the slowest part. On this Northridge project it ran one month from documents to permit, and permission to operate came on 22 September 2022.
At a glance
- System
- 14.4 kW AC-CEC
- Roof
- Barrel tile
- Permit route
- Full plan check
- Documents to permit
- One month
- Final inspection to PTO
- Five weeks
- Inverters
- Microinverters, one per module
- Utility / AHJ
- LADWP / LADBS
The story
Fourteen point four kilowatts AC-CEC on a barrel tile roof, laid in long runs down two slopes with the hills behind the house. On tile every attachment means lifting the tile, fixing to the structure, flashing the penetration and setting the tile back — and at this size there are a lot of attachments.
A system this large does not go over the counter. It goes through full plan check, and the route is the same every time.
Documents uploaded at the start of July. Plan check fees invoiced and paid on the seventh. Plan assigned to a reviewer on the fourteenth. Corrections issued on the twenty-second — which is not a problem, it is the normal middle of the process. Corrections cleared and plan check complete on the first of August. Permit fee paid and the permit issued on the third. One month from upload to permit.
Then the part nobody quotes for. The final inspection was scheduled for the nineteenth of August. The owner asked two sensible questions beforehand: do I need to be home, and what happens next. No — we need access to the main panel. And after the inspection we wait for permission to operate, then come back and switch the system on.
The inspection passed. The utility's side came next, and it needed following up: Cali Energy kept after it by phone and through the City, and an email to the utility inspector got a reply the next day, with one last request — a photograph of the main service panel.
We kept the owner informed at every step of that fortnight. That is the part of the job that does not appear on a proposal and is most of what a homeowner actually experiences.
The building department released the installation on the twenty-second of August. Permission to operate came on the twenty-second of September, and the house has run on the array since.
How it ran
| 1 July 2022 | Plan check documents uploaded |
|---|---|
| 7 July 2022 | Plan check fees invoiced and paid |
| 14 July 2022 | Plan assigned to a reviewer |
| 22 July 2022 | Corrections issued |
| 1 August 2022 | Plan check complete |
| 3 August 2022 | Permit fee paid; permit issued |
| 16 August 2022 | Inspection requested |
| 19 August 2022 | Final inspection |
| 22 August 2022 | Building department release |
| 26–31 August 2022 | Utility inspector reached by email; service panel photograph supplied |
| 22 September 2022 | Permission to operate |
One month from documents to permit. Five more weeks from final inspection to switch-on.
What we did
- Put a system large enough to need full plan check through the whole route rather than looking for a shortcut.
- Cleared the correction round in nine days.
- Set every attachment into barrel tile: tile lifted, mount fixed to structure, penetration flashed, tile set back.
- Followed the utility's sign-off by phone, through the City and by email until it moved.
- Kept the owner informed at every step.
- Carried the project to permission to operate at 14.4 kilowatts AC-CEC.
System specifications
| System | 14.4 kW AC-CEC |
|---|---|
| Roof | Barrel tile |
| Inverters | Microinverters, one per module |
| Combiner | Enphase IQ Combiner |
| Permit route | Full plan check, permit in one month |
| Battery | None |
| Utility / AHJ | LADWP / LADBS |
Is your project like this one?
- Your system is too large for an over-the-counter permit.
- You have been told your plans came back with corrections and want to know what that means.
- Your roof is barrel tile and you have been told solar will damage it.
- Your installation passed inspection weeks ago and nothing has happened since.
- Your permit is issued and you are waiting on the final inspection.
Cali Energy in Northridge
Northridge is inside City of Los Angeles boundaries: permits run through LADBS, interconnection through LADWP.
The larger houses on the north edge of Northridge sit on barrel tile, and systems this size go through full plan check rather than over the counter.
This installation is on the Northridge projects page alongside the others, and what the work covers is set out on the Northridge service area page.
- License and classifications: CSLB #1032379
- Official reference for this process: LADBS — plan review and permitting
- Official reference for this process: LADBS — inspections
Frequently asked questions
What is plan check and when does a solar project need it?
It is the building department's engineering review of the submitted drawings, as opposed to an express permit issued over the counter. Larger residential systems go this route. On this project the sequence was: documents uploaded, fees paid, plan assigned to a reviewer, corrections issued, corrections cleared, permit issued — one month end to end.
Are corrections a bad sign?
No. A correction round is a normal part of plan check: the reviewer asks for changes or clarification and the set is resubmitted. Here corrections were issued on the twenty-second of July and the plan check was complete on the first of August. What costs time is not the correction, it is a slow answer to it.
How is solar attached to a barrel tile roof?
The tile is lifted clear of each attachment point, the mount is fixed to the structure below and the penetration is flashed, and the tile is set back over it. Nothing is screwed through a tile. At fourteen kilowatts that is a large number of attachments, which is why tile takes longer than shingle.
Why can there be weeks between the final inspection and switch-on?
Because the final inspection and permission to operate are two different approvals from two different bodies. On this project the building department released the installation three days after the inspection; the utility's permission to operate came a month later, after its inspector was reached by email and a photograph of the main service panel supplied.
What can the installer actually do during that wait?
Chase it and keep the owner informed. Here the phone and the City were followed by an email to the utility inspector, which got a reply the next day along with a request for a photograph of the main service panel. What an installer cannot do is promise a date that is not theirs to set.
Does Cali Energy work on tile roofs in Northridge?
Yes. Cali Energy holds B, C-10 and C-39 classifications under CSLB #1032379, which covers the roofing work a tile installation involves as well as the electrical.
What this would look like on your roof
Planning solar in Northridge? Tell us your utility, your roof and what your bill looks like now, and we will model what a system like this would do on your house before you commit to anything.
Or call +1 (323) 844-7777 · Cali Energy, Northridge · CSLB #1032379 (B, C-10, C-39) — design, permits, install and electrical under one licensed contractor.
Related
This timeline reflects this property and this permitting path. Updated September 2026.