ADU Constructionin Long Beach, CA
ADU construction in Long Beach runs on state law, because the City says its own ordinance no longer applies. The City's bulletin allows a detached ADU up to 800 square feet and 16 feet high, with 4 foot side and rear setbacks. Plans go in person on a USB drive, and historic or Coastal Zone sites add a planning permit.
Long Beach issued 671 ADU permits in 2023, up from 59 in 2018, according to the Long Beach Post's reading of City records, and the City says it leads California in ADUs per capita. The Rose Institute counted 1,431 permits from 2018 to 2022, which it put at 5.4 percent of the 26,502 housing units the City must add by 2029. The raw material is there: 40.1 percent of the city's housing units are detached houses, in neighborhoods such as Belmont Heights and Naples, laid out by the Alamitos Land Company, and Bixby Knolls, cut from Rancho Los Cerritos in 1916.
This page covers what the City applies in place of a local ordinance, the size and setback numbers, garage conversions, the in-person submittal, the historic and coastal reviews, SB 9 as the alternative, and the soil and hazard maps that change a price. Regional costs and the full ADU rules are on our ADU construction page.
What the Long Beach Permit Center and Planning Bureau say about ADUs
Where adu construction permits come from in Long Beach: City of Long Beach Community Development Department.
- Long Beach is applying state ADU law directly while a local ordinance is still in development, and says Municipal Code 21.51.276 no longer applies. The City states that Long Beach ranks as the highest per-capita producer of ADUs in California.
- The Planning Bureau's ADU bulletin (IB-PZ-001) sets an 800 square foot cap for detached new construction, a 500 square foot cap for a JADU, a 150 square foot minimum, 4 foot side and rear setbacks for new construction, and a detached height of 16 feet (18 feet near transit, with up to 2 more feet to match a sloped roof). It says no parking is required for ADUs within one-half mile of a transit stop, in a historic district, converted from existing space, or in the Parking Exempt Area.
- ADU plans must be submitted in person at the Permit Center on a USB drive with plan check fees paid the same day, and online submission is not available. Projects in a Historic District, in the Coastal Zone, or with major structural engineering are not eligible for over-the-counter review, and the Pre-Approved ADU Program is for new construction only, not conversions.
- In the Coastal Zone an ADU needs an administrative Local Coastal Development Permit (no hearing) filed with the building permit application, and in a historic district it needs a Certificate of Appropriateness (no hearing) filed with it.
- The Building and Safety ADU FAQ (FAQ-001, revised 8-21-24) says an ADU must meet the more restrictive of the zoning yard setback or the building code fire separation distance (0 to 5 feet from property lines under CRC R302), and that factory-built or HUD manufactured units may serve as detached ADUs but must still meet site rules such as flood regulation, methane mitigation and liquefaction where they apply.
Sources for these rules
Does Long Beach have its own ADU ordinance?
Not at the moment. Long Beach applies state ADU law directly while a local ordinance is in development, and the City says Municipal Code section 21.51.276, its older ADU chapter, no longer applies. The working documents are the Planning Bureau's ADU bulletin, IB-PZ-001, the Building and Safety Bureau's ADU FAQ and the statute itself, Government Code sections 66310 to 66342. Some of the City's bulletins carry 2024 revision dates, so where one disagrees with the current statute, we ask the City which it is applying.
The statute's clocks matter more here than in a city with its own ordinance. Under section 66317, as amended effective January 1, 2026, the City must say within 15 business days whether an application is complete and then approve or deny it within 60 days of a complete application, or the permit is deemed approved. A denial has to arrive with a full list of defects, and an appeal gets a final answer within 60 business days.
The Planning Bureau answers zoning questions for ADUs at 562.570.6194.
Build an ADU in Long Beach: how big, how tall and how close to the line?
For a new detached unit, the bulletin sets the envelope: an 800 square foot cap, a 150 square foot minimum, 4 foot side and rear setbacks, and a height of 16 feet, or 18 feet near transit with up to 2 more feet to match a sloped roof. A junior ADU is capped at 500 square feet and made from existing space. Setbacks face a second test, because the Building and Safety FAQ, revised August 21, 2024, says an ADU must meet the more restrictive of the zoning yard setback or the building code fire separation distance, which runs 0 to 5 feet from property lines under CRC R302.
The 800 figure matches the state-protected detached type. The statute's own floor for a detached ADU is higher, 850 square feet, or 1,000 with more than one bedroom, and it allows up to 1,200 (sections 66314 and 66321). Since Long Beach applies state law directly, ask the Planning Bureau which number governs your lot before the drawings start. Factory-built and HUD manufactured units may serve as detached ADUs, but the FAQ says they must still meet site rules such as flood regulation, methane mitigation and liquefaction where those apply.
Garage conversion ADU in Long Beach: parking, the 150 square feet and the pre-approved plans
A garage conversion is the lighter lift. State law lets an existing garage become an ADU, a JADU or both, with no new setbacks for the structure that is already there, up to 150 square feet of added space for entry and exit, and no replacement parking for the spaces lost. The City's bulletin agrees on parking: none is required for an ADU converted from existing space, one inside a historic district, one within half a mile of a transit stop or one in the Parking Exempt Area.
Two Long Beach details matter. The City's Pre-Approved ADU Program is for new construction only, so a conversion goes through regular plan check. And an existing garage still has to meet building code as a dwelling, so the slab, the infill of the door opening, insulation, egress and a bathroom are scoped item by item in the proposal. Our garage conversion permit steps post is written for Los Angeles, so use it as a checklist of construction items and the City's pages for the Long Beach process. If the garage was converted without a permit before 2020, Government Code section 66311.7 limits what the City may deny.
Building an ADU in a Long Beach historic district or the Coastal Zone
A Long Beach ADU in a historic district needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, filed with the building permit application and decided without a hearing. In the Coastal Zone it needs an administrative Local Coastal Development Permit, also decided without a hearing. Neither type is eligible for the over-the-counter review the City offers other ADUs. The City lists 18 historic districts, including Belmont Heights, Bluff Park, California Heights and Rose Park.
The City's two pages disagree on timing: the ADU page says the coastal permit comes before the building permit application, while the bulletin says it is filed with it. Ask the Planning Bureau which order it wants for your address. State law, section 66329, requires the City or the Coastal Commission to act on a coastal permit within 60 days. We did not map the Coastal Zone, so we cannot say which blocks fall inside it. The County's tsunami layer covers sample points in Belmont Shore, Naples and the port area, which is a reason to check flood and tsunami maps for a shoreline lot.
How do you submit ADU plans to the Long Beach Permit Center?
Long Beach takes ADU plans in person. Bring the application and a full set of plans as a PDF on a USB drive to the Permit Center, pay plan check fees the same day, and know that online submission is not available. A planner and an engineer then review the plans at the same time, and the City sends written notice of incomplete items; revised plans go back to both. You can follow progress on the City's Plan Check Status page, Building and Safety emails when the permit is ready to issue, and the permit itself is issued in person. Inspections are scheduled online at each phase, not by phone.
Fees are valuation based. Standard plan review is 85 percent of the building permit fee, with a minimum of $154, on the schedule effective October 1, 2026. Under Government Code section 66311.5 no impact fee may be charged on an ADU of 750 square feet or less, but utility connection and capacity charges are separate, and school fees depend on size. We list City fees, utility charges and design costs as separate lines. The Permit Center is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed daily from noon to 1:00 p.m.
ADU or SB 9 unit on a Long Beach R-1 lot?
On a lot zoned R-1, an owner can also look at SB 9. The City says the property must be zoned R-1 and hold no more than one existing single-family dwelling, and a vacant R-1 lot can build two new SB 9 units. An SB 9 unit is a principal dwelling, subject to the same fees and rules as any new home, which makes it a heavier project than an ADU. A limited waiver of development standards may apply when they would otherwise prevent a unit of up to 800 square feet, and SB 9 units are allowed on lots with non-contributing structures in historic districts.
An urban lot split divides an R-1 parcel into no more than two lots, with the smaller at least 40 percent and the larger no more than 60 percent of the original. It starts with a Tentative Parcel Map and an owner-occupancy affidavit, then a Final Parcel Map through Public Works, and the City says it is updating its lot split ordinance. If the goal is more space for family rather than a rental, compare the routes in our room addition vs ADU guide and on our Long Beach room addition page.
Soil, methane, fault and fire maps to check before an ADU price
Hazard maps decide cost as often as zoning. The County's GIS layer, which carries California Geological Survey data, shows the State's liquefaction zone over parts of Long Beach, including points checked in Belmont Shore, North Long Beach and Wrigley but not downtown, Bixby Knolls or Naples, and Alquist-Priolo fault zone boundaries on the Long Beach and Los Alamitos quadrangles. The City's mapped methane zone triggers Chapter 18.79, and a single-family or up to four-unit project may use a battery-backed single-station methane sensor. The reason is the oil field under the city since the 1921 Alamitos No. 1 discovery, and the Housing Element notes that many remaining vacant sites are former oil drilling sites.
On wildfire, every grid point we sampled in the County's copy of CAL FIRE's local-responsibility map, revised August 21, 2025, that returned a zone came back Non-Wildland. A point sample is not a parcel map, so check the address on the CAL FIRE viewer. We found no Long Beach page on electrical panel upgrades or sewer laterals, so we price a utility check and trenching as their own lines.
ADU and garage conversion details from Long Beach area projects
Framing, finishes and site work from ADU projects near Long Beach. Tap a photo to enlarge it.
What adu construction costs around Long Beach
On our ADU construction page, the regional ranges are about $100,000 to $200,000 for a garage conversion and $200,000 to $400,000 for a new detached ADU of 400 to 800 square feet. They come from a UC Berkeley survey of 2018 and 2019 projects, Remodeling magazine's 2025 Cost vs. Value figure of $178,536 for Los Angeles and builder quotes, and we rate them medium-low confidence. For Long Beach alone, the Long Beach Post relayed a City memo in 2022 that put an 800 square foot ADU at about $220,000 at 2022 prices. Our ADU cost guide lays the sources side by side, and the ADU vs JADU guide explains the smaller unit. Neighboring cities have their own staff and bulletins, as Los Angeles, Glendale and Pasadena show. The City's water-saving fixture limits for a new unit's bathroom are summarized on our Long Beach bathroom page.
| What it covers | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Garage conversion to a studio or one bedroom | $100,000 to $200,000 |
| New detached ADU, 400 to 800 sq ft | $200,000 to $400,000 |
| UC Berkeley survey, Los Angeles County median, 2018 and 2019 projects | $100,000 overall. $90,000 garage. $180,000 detached. |
| Terner Center and Berkeley CCI, 2020 | $148,000 Los Angeles estimate. $167,000 statewide average. |
| Remodeling Cost vs. Value 2025, Los Angeles | $178,536 job cost |
| Electrical and plumbing, Angi Los Angeles, January 2026 | Electrical $2,600 to $7,800. plumbing $3,900 to $10,400. |
| City permit and plan check fees | Not priced here |
Long Beach ADU size, parking, permit and rental questions
Does Long Beach have its own ADU ordinance?
No, not one the City is applying. Long Beach says it applies state ADU law directly while a local ordinance is in development, and that Municipal Code section 21.51.276 no longer applies. The Planning Bureau's bulletin IB-PZ-001 sets the practical limits on size, height, setbacks and parking. Because the process is changing, confirm current figures with the Planning Bureau at 562.570.6194 before drawing.
How big can an ADU be in Long Beach?
The City's bulletin caps a new detached ADU at 800 square feet, with a 150 square foot minimum, and a junior ADU at 500 square feet. State law sets a higher floor for detached units, 850 square feet or 1,000 with more than one bedroom, so ask the Planning Bureau which figure governs your lot before you commit to a design.
Do I need to provide parking for an ADU in Long Beach?
Usually not. The City's bulletin says no parking is required within one-half mile of a transit stop, inside a historic district, when the ADU is converted from existing space, or in the Parking Exempt Area. State law also says garage conversions need no replacement parking. Check your address against the transit and Parking Exempt Area maps.
Can I convert my garage to an ADU in Long Beach?
Yes. State law lets an existing garage become an ADU, a junior ADU or both, with up to 150 square feet added for access and no replacement parking. In Long Beach the conversion goes through regular plan check, because the Pre-Approved ADU Program covers new construction only. Historic district and Coastal Zone addresses add a planning permit.
How long does it take to get an ADU permit in Long Beach?
State law gives the City 15 business days to call an application complete and then 60 days to approve or deny it. We found no published average for Long Beach plan check, so we do not quote one. A planner and an engineer review at the same time, and each round of corrections adds time. Construction then takes additional months that depend on the unit type.
How much does it cost to build an ADU in Long Beach?
Regional ranges run about $100,000 to $200,000 for a garage conversion and $200,000 to $400,000 for a new detached ADU of 400 to 800 square feet. A City memo reported by the Long Beach Post in 2022 put an 800 square foot ADU at about $220,000 at 2022 prices. Utilities, soil and finishes move the number, so get a written proposal.
Do I have to live on the property to build or rent an ADU?
No for an ADU. State law bars owner-occupancy requirements for ADUs and lets a city require rentals of 30 days or longer. A junior ADU needs owner occupancy only if it shares a bathroom with the main house. We did not confirm Long Beach's short-term rental rules for ADUs, so ask the City before listing one on a booking site.
Can I build an ADU in a Long Beach historic district or the Coastal Zone?
Yes, with an extra permit. A historic district needs a Certificate of Appropriateness and the Coastal Zone needs an administrative Local Coastal Development Permit, both decided without a hearing. Neither is eligible for over-the-counter review. The City's pages differ on whether the coastal permit comes before or with the building permit application, so ask the Planning Bureau which order it wants.
Can my HOA stop me from building an ADU?
Not if the rule effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts one on a single-family lot. HCD's ADU handbook says Civil Code sections 4751 and 714.3 void such provisions, and AB 130 bars reasonable restrictions from including fees or financial requirements. Read your governing documents, and ask a lawyer about unusual cases.
Can I build an ADU and a junior ADU on the same Long Beach lot?
Often yes. State law requires cities to approve any combination of a converted ADU and JADU inside the house or an existing garage, plus one new detached ADU of up to 800 square feet with 4 foot setbacks. Ask the Planning Bureau to confirm the exact combination your zone and lot allow.
Tell us about your Long Beach lot
Send the neighborhood, whether the lot has a garage you would convert or room for a detached unit, and whether it is near the coast or in a historic district, and we will plan the first visit around that.