Palms, CA · March – May 2021 · LADWP / LADBS

Palms: the inspections nobody tells you about.

Owners are told about the final. On this project it was the third inspection, and the first one came back with a correction.

Written by the Cali Energy project team · California contractor license 1032379 · Updated September 2026

A solar permit is not inspected once. Depending on what the work touches there can be a rough inspection, while conduit, mounts and wiring are still open and visible; a service or pole inspection, covering the utility-facing equipment; and the final. Each is requested separately, scheduled separately and can separately come back with a correction. On this Palms project Cali Energy took the rough inspection at the start of April, cleared the correction it returned, and booked the service release and the final together for one day in May.

At a glance

Inspections

Rough, service release, then final

Rough inspection

Conducted 1 April

Correction on it

Issued the same day

Service release and final

Both booked for 17 May

Permit

Issued well before the work concluded

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

Almost everything written for homeowners about solar permits talks about one inspection. The final. It is the one people are told to expect, the one they arrange to be home for, and the one whose result they are given.

On this Palms project the final was the third inspection, and the first of them came back with a correction.

Here is the sequence, and why it exists.

A rough inspection happens while the work is still open. Conduit that will be closed in, mounts that will disappear under modules, wiring that will be covered — somebody has to see those before they stop being visible. Once the array is on and the walls are made good, that examination is no longer possible without taking things apart, which is exactly why it is booked earlier rather than folded into the end.

A service or pole inspection covers the equipment on the utility side: the service entrance, the meter position, the connection point. It is a different scope from the array and from the interior work, and it is treated as its own visit.

And then the final, which looks at the completed installation.

Each of them is its own request, its own slot and its own queue. That is the part that surprises people, because each one can be booked, waited for, missed, rescheduled and corrected independently of the others. A project is not one appointment with the building department; it is a series of them, and the calendar is the sum.

On this project the rough inspection was requested in the third week of March for the thirty-first. It was conducted on the first of April and returned a correction the same day, which is ordinary at that stage — the rough is the inspection that produces them most often, precisely because it is looking at work that is still accessible and therefore still cheap to change. A correction at rough costs an adjustment. The same item found at final costs opening something up.

The remaining two were requested together at the start of May, for the seventeenth: the service and power release, and the final. That is the other thing worth knowing about this sequence — inspections that belong to different stages can still be booked onto one visit when the work is ready for both.

One more thing owners ask about. The permit itself had been issued well before the work concluded. A permit is not a booking with a date attached; it is an authorization that stays valid while the job moves through its inspections, and a gap between the two is not by itself a problem.

What to do with all this as an owner: ask which inspections your project needs, not when the inspection is. If the answer is more than one, ask which of them is next — because the one you were told about is the last.

Cali Energy permitted this project and carried it through its inspection sequence in Palms, Los Angeles.

How it ran

Two inspections and a correction before the one most owners think is the only one.

What we did

• Booked the rough inspection while the work was still accessible.
• Cleared the correction it returned at the stage where that is cheap.
• Booked the service release and the final together once the work was ready for both.
• Carried the permit through its full inspection sequence.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• You were told to expect one inspection and a second has appeared.
• Your project has a correction and you are not sure which stage it is against.
• Your permit was issued months ago and the work is still going.
• You want to know what an inspector actually looks at and when.

Cali Energy in Palms

Frequently asked questions

How many inspections does a solar permit need?

More than one on most projects. Depending on what the work touches there can be a rough inspection while conduit, mounts and wiring are still visible, a service or pole inspection covering the utility-facing equipment, and the final on the completed installation. Each is requested and scheduled separately.

What is a rough inspection?

An examination of the work before it is covered up — conduit that will be closed in, mounts that will disappear under modules, wiring that will be concealed. Once the array is on, that look is no longer possible without dismantling something, which is why it is booked earlier rather than folded into the end.

Is a correction at rough inspection serious?

Less serious than the same item at final. The rough is the inspection that produces corrections most often, because it is looking at work that is still accessible and therefore still cheap to change. Found at final, the same item means opening something up again.

Why was the permit issued so long before the work finished?

Because a permit is an authorization rather than an appointment. It stays valid while the job moves through its inspections, and a gap between issuance and completion is not by itself a problem — projects wait on materials, on other trades and on inspection queues.

Does Cali Energy handle inspections in Palms, Los Angeles?

Yes, all of them. Palms projects are permitted through LADBS and interconnected through LADWP, and work here often touches the service as well as the roof — which is what brings the extra inspections rather than a single visit at the end.

What this would look like on your roof

Related

• The final failed over three feet Granada Hills, CA · 31 modules · appeal or rebuild, and why rebuild won Solar
• Three appointments. Nobody came to the door North Hollywood, CA · 6.24 kW DC · all inspections by video Solar
• The correction was a water bond sixty feet away Brentwood, Los Angeles · 12.87 kW · the final that failed off the roof Solar
• The array waited on the roof's own final Glassell Park, Los Angeles · two permits, two finals · three days between them Solar
• The permit was closed. The wall was not El Sereno, Los Angeles · what an inspection does not cover Solar
• The correction came after the inspection was booked Westchester, Los Angeles · solar and storage · two permits, two plan checks Solar

This timeline reflects this property and this permitting path. Updated September 2026.