Agency Referral Sheet (LA County Building and Safety)

The Agency Referral Sheet: LA County's Hidden Critical Path for Your ADU If you are building an ADU in unincorporated Los Angeles County, the document that...

Written by 1-800-ADU-Pros

Last updated: July 16, 2026•8 min read

Agency Referral Sheet (LA County Building and Safety)

The Agency Referral Sheet: LA County's Hidden Critical Path for Your ADU

If you are building an ADU in unincorporated Los Angeles County, the document that most often decides whether you get your permit this month or three months from now is one most homeowners have never heard of: the Agency Referral Sheet.

It is not glamorous. It is a checklist. But until every box on it is cleared, the Building and Safety Division (BSD) will not hand you a building permit — full stop. Here is exactly what it is and how to get through it without losing weeks.

What the Agency Referral Sheet actually is

During plan check, after you pay your plan-check fees, BSD issues you the Agency Referral Sheet. In the County's own words, it "identifies the additional agency clearances required for permit issuance." Think of it as a personalized to-do list of every outside agency — Fire, the water company, Sanitation, Environmental Health, schools, Public Works, and others — whose written approval you must collect before BSD can issue your permit.

The key line from the County's ADU Step-by-Step Guide: "Building permits will not be issued until ALL Agency Referral approvals are complete." That is why it is the real critical path. Your plans can be perfect and your fees paid, and you still wait if one agency clearance is missing.

One more important detail: you are responsible for contacting each agency. BSD generates the list and verifies the returned clearances (on a companion "Agency Verification Sheet"), but it does not chase the agencies for you.

Which agencies show up on your sheet

Only the agencies relevant to your site get marked. Per LA County's ADU Guideline (v4.1), the usual suspects are:

Fire Department / Water Company

A Fire Department referral is required unless your Local Water Company's Form 195 (Fire Flow Availability) shows enough fire flow — for example, 1,000 GPM at 20 PSI if your ADU is not sprinklered and not in a fire hazard zone, or 500 GPM at 20 PSI if sprinklered. You will also need a "Will Serve" letter confirming water service. If your property is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, add Fuel Modification approval.

Sanitation District

A Sanitation District fee receipt — proof you have paid the connection/capacity fee to the LA County Sanitation Districts.

School District

A developer-fee clearance, but only if your new habitable area is over 500 square feet. Thanks to SB 543 (effective January 1, 2026), ADUs of 500 sq ft or less are exempt. Above that, the State Level 1 rate is $5.38 per square foot of assessable space as of January 28, 2026.

Environmental Health

Required if your ADU is served by a private septic system rather than a public sewer.

Public Works (Drainage & Grading)

Triggered by site conditions: hillsides (slope steeper than 1:3), excavations over 50 cubic yards, foundations deeper than 24 inches, or increasing impervious surface by more than 50%.

Environmental Programs Division (EPD)

Construction & Demolition Debris Recycling, plus Methane Mitigation if you are on a methane site. If you are demolishing anything, EPD approval and an SCAQMD asbestos/lead notification come first.

Mapping & Property Management (MPM)

Only if you want a separate address for the ADU. MPM assigns a fractional number — for example, 1234 1/2 Main Street. This must be done before final.

How to clear it, step by step

Pass screening and pay your plan-check fees in EPIC-LA — the sheet is issued right after.
Read which agencies are marked. Those are the only ones that apply to you.
Contact each marked agency yourself and request its clearance. Start the slow ones first (Fire, Public Works grading, Environmental Health, School District).
Pay each agency's fee and collect the signed clearance, receipt, or letter.
Upload each clearance into EPIC-LA separately — one document per agency, exactly as listed. Do not bundle them.
Once every marked item is in and plan check is approved, BSD issues your permit.

The mistakes that cost homeowners weeks

Waiting until plans are fully approved to start the referrals. Begin the day you get the sheet — these run in parallel.
Assuming BSD will contact agencies for you. It will not.
Paying a school fee you do not owe (under 500 sq ft is exempt).
Skipping the fire-flow number, then getting stuck in a full Fire Department referral you could have avoided.
Forgetting the MPM address until inspection day.

The Agency Referral Sheet is small, but it runs your timeline. Treat it as the project's spine, start early, and work the slowest agencies first — that single habit is the difference between a smooth issuance and a stalled one.

Sources: LA County Public Works Building & Safety ADU page; LA County ADU Step-by-Step Guide (Appendix IV); ADU Guideline v4.1; LA County Sanitation Districts revenue program; SB 543 school-fee exemption.

Reference card

Official number: No assigned form number. Issued per the LA County ADU Step-by-Step Guide (Appendix IV) and ADU Guideline v4.1 (10/10/2024). The companion document is the "Agency Verification Sheet." A related water-company form often cited on it is "Form 195" (Fire Flow Availability).
Issuing body: Los Angeles County Public Works — Building and Safety Division (BSD)
What it is: The Agency Referral Sheet is a checklist that LA County Building and Safety (BSD) issues to you during plan check, after your plan-check fees are paid. It identifies every outside agency — County, State, federal, or private utility — whose written approval ("clearance") you must obtain before your ADU building permit can be issued. It is not a permit and it costs nothing by itself; it is the County's master list of the other approvals standing between you and permit issuance. Per the ADU Step-by-Step Guide, "The Agency Referral sheet identifies the additional agency clearances required for permit issuance," and "Building permits will not be issued until ALL Agency Referral approvals are complete." This makes it the hidden critical path of an unincorporated-LA-County ADU project.
Who needs it: Applies to ADUs and JADUs on property in unincorporated Los Angeles County (BSD jurisdiction). Every such project receives an Agency Referral Sheet at plan check, but the specific agencies marked on YOUR sheet depend on site conditions. You can skip an agency only if it is not marked on your sheet — e.g., no Environmental Health clearance if you are on a public sewer (not septic), no School District developer fee if your new habitable area is 500 sq ft or under (exempt under SB 543, effective Jan 1, 2026), no Fire Department referral if your water company's Form 195 shows adequate fire flow, and no MPM address request unless you want a separate address for the ADU. If your property is inside an incorporated city, this exact form does not apply — that city's building department runs its own referral process.
Fees: The Agency Referral Sheet itself is free — there is no fee to be issued the sheet. Costs are charged by each downstream agency: Sanitation District connection/capacity fee (varies by district and fixture units; LA County Sanitation Districts can process ADU/SFD connection-fee requests, often same-day to 2-5 business days); School District developer fee at the State Level 1 rate of $5.38 per square foot of assessable space (effective Jan 28, 2026) for ADUs over 500 sq ft — ADUs of 500 sq ft or less are exempt under SB 543 (effective Jan 1, 2026); Water Company charges for Form 195 / Will Serve / meter; Fire Department, Public Works grading, Environmental Health, and EPD charge their own review fees; MPM may charge an address-assignment fee. Plan-check and building-permit fees are separate and paid to BSD.
Timeline: The sheet is issued within days of paying plan-check fees. Clearing it is the variable — and usually longest — part of the project. Fast items (Sanitation fee receipt, MPM address) can take same-day to about a week; Will Serve / Form 195 from a water company typically a few weeks; Fire Department, Public Works grading, Environmental Health (septic), and School District can each take several weeks to a few months depending on the agency and how quickly you start. Because these run in parallel with (and after) plan review, and the permit cannot issue until ALL marked clearances are in, the Agency Referral Sheet is the de facto critical path — overall LA County ADU permitting commonly runs a few months when referrals are involved.

Requirements

Approved/accepted plan-check submittal package in EPIC-LA (or at the BSD public counter) and plan-check fees paid — the sheet is issued after payment
Fire Department clearance OR a Local Water Company Form 195 (Fire Flow Availability) showing adequate fire flow: 1,250 GPM in a fire hazard zone; 1,000 GPM at 20 PSI non-sprinklered and not in a hazard zone; 500 GPM at 20 PSI sprinklered and not in a hazard zone. Fuel Modification approval is required if the property is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ)
Local Water Company 'Will Serve' letter confirming water service availability
Sanitation District fee receipt (connection/capacity fee paid to LA County Sanitation Districts)
School District developer-fee clearance — required only when new habitable area exceeds 500 sq ft
Environmental Health clearance — required if the ADU is served by a private septic system
Public Works (Drainage & Grading Section) clearance — for hillsides (slope steeper than 1:3), excavations over 50 cubic yards, foundations deeper than 24 inches, or impervious-surface increase over 50%
Environmental Programs Division (EPD) clearance — Construction & Demolition Debris Recycling, and Methane Mitigation if on a methane site; EPD/SCAQMD notification before any demolition (asbestos/lead)
Mapping & Property Management Division (MPM) fractional-address assignment (e.g., 1234 1/2 Main St) — only if a separate ADU address is desired or required for separate utility/driveway access
Regional Planning approval (zoning) must be in hand before BSD finalizes issuance

How to file

Submit your full ADU plan set (site plan, floor plans, elevations, structural, Title 24 energy) in EPIC-LA or at the BSD public counter and pass screening.
Pay the plan-check fees when invoiced and notify your local BSD office — plan review time starts at full payment.
Receive your Agency Referral Sheet (emailed for online submittals, or handed over at the counter for in-person). Read which agencies are marked — those are the only ones that apply to you.
Contact each marked agency yourself and request its clearance. You are responsible for initiating every one; BSD does not do it for you. Start the slow ones (Fire, Public Works grading, Environmental Health, School District) first.
For each agency, pay any required fee and obtain the signed clearance/receipt/letter.
Upload each completed agency clearance into EPIC-LA separately (one document per agency, as listed on the sheet) or drop them at the BSD office. BSD logs them on the matching Agency Verification Sheet.
If you want a separate address, request a fractional number from MPM before final.
Once every marked item is cleared and plan check is approved, BSD issues the building permit.

Common pitfalls

Treating it as a formality. Permit issuance is hard-blocked until every marked clearance is in — one missing agency holds the whole permit.
Waiting until plan check is fully approved to start. You can begin contacting agencies as soon as you receive the sheet; starting late stacks weeks onto the back end.
Assuming BSD will contact the agencies. You are responsible for initiating each referral; BSD only verifies the returned clearances.
Uploading clearances in one bundle. EPIC-LA expects each agency sheet uploaded separately, exactly as listed — bundling causes rejections.
Overlooking Fire when you could avoid it. A water-company Form 195 showing adequate fire flow (e.g., 1,000 GPM at 20 PSI when not sprinklered and not in a hazard zone) can remove the Fire Department referral entirely — get the fire-flow number early.
Paying a School District developer fee you do not owe. ADUs of 500 sq ft or less are exempt under SB 543; only new habitable area over 500 sq ft is charged.
Forgetting the MPM address step. If the ADU needs its own address (separate driveway, separate utilities), the fractional address must be assigned before final — easy to miss until inspection.
Demolishing before EPD/SCAQMD sign-off. Demolition needs Environmental Programs Division approval and SCAQMD asbestos/lead notification first.

Sources

Explore more:Permits & Feasibility

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