A second home on your own lot, designed so the approval is a process rather than a negotiation.

What an ADU actually needs

State law changed what a city may ask of you. An ADU that meets the state standards gets a ministerial review, which means the building counter checks it against the code and nothing else. No design review, no neighbours, no hearing. Keeping a project inside those standards is a design decision made in the first week, not a form filled in at the end.

You do not need an architect for an ADU. For a single family dwelling of woodframe construction not more than two storeys and a basement, and for buildings of up to four dwelling units on the same basis, no architect's licence is required to prepare them. What you do need, almost always, is an engineer, and that is a different section of the same law.

What comes in the set

• Cover sheet and code data, pulled fresh for your address
• Site plan with setbacks, coverage and the existing conditions
• Floor plans, elevations and sections
• Electrical, mechanical and plumbing sheets
• Structural sheets and the stamped calculation package
• Title 24 energy documents, registered and coordinated with the drawings

What decides the footprint

Setbacks and coverage, before the plan does. A 720 square foot unit that fits the rear setback is worth more than an 800 square foot unit that needs a variance, because the variance costs months and may not come.