ADU Construction in West Hollywood, Drawn for Review
West Hollywood ADUs drawn for plan check: rated walls and opening limits near lot lines, distance to the main house, footings and drainage on a grade.
Openings in any wall near a property line are among the first things a West Hollywood plan reviewer counts on an ADU set. The city's own building and safety staff check how far each wall of the unit stands from the line and from the main house, because those distances decide whether the wall needs a fire rating and how much glass it may hold. We measure from a survey so the set matches the ground.
Rated walls and their openings
Under the California Residential Code, an exterior wall less than 5 feet from a lot line takes a one-hour fire rating, and windows in it are capped at a share of the wall area. Closer than 3 feet, openings are not allowed at all. Eaves pointing toward the line are limited in depth and need a protected underside. For a unit and a main house on the same lot, the designer sets an assumed line between them, and both buildings are checked against it. Every one of these items is dimensioned on the drawings.
The rest of a West Hollywood plan check
Beyond fire separation, the reviewer reads the unit's height and footprint against the lot, and checks for an open path on foot between the sidewalk and the entry of the unit. If the parcel has grade, footing depth and any retaining wall come under review too, along with a drainage route that keeps runoff off the neighboring lot. Rated walls are inspected before they are covered, so the gypsum layers and their fastening are seen while still exposed. At the final, the inspector compares the finished walls and windows with the approved drawings.
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That depends on how much room the setbacks and the fire separation rules leave. Moving the unit a little farther from a side line can drop the rated wall and free up windows. If the ground slopes, the usable area is then ranked by how deep its footings would go and whether waste still falls to the house sewer.
The package applies to a qualifying design that keeps to one story and 500 square feet at most. On a narrow West Hollywood lot, the wall sections show each rated assembly and the size of every opening near a line, which the reviewer measures. Grade engineering and the construction each get their own quote after we visit.
Fire separation and the foundation, mostly. A wall close to a lot line needs Type X gypsum, rated sheathing or plaster, and an extra inspection. Where the parcel has grade, deeper footing concrete and a low retaining wall join in. Drain lines that carry runoff away from the neighbor add trenching.
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