Permits & Inspections

Overview

UC Irvine Design & Construction Services (D&CS) administers permits and inspections on campus land, including the Research Park, American Campus Community Student Housing, University Hills, and other third-party partners on campus land. All plan checks, permits, inspections, and certificates of occupancy are the responsibility of D&CS and the Designated Campus Building Official or Certified Building Official. (Permits pulled at the city of Irvine prior to July 1, 2024 will still be processed and completed by the city).

For this process, D&CS will be using the services of a third-party inspection firm (Willdan Engineering) to provide the additional staffing and expertise needed. All Willdan employees providing plan check and inspection services are trained and certified at the state level, just as D&CS and city of Irvine staff are. Plans are not approved, nor may any work commence on any permit, until the UC Irvine Chief Building Official stamps the plans reviewed by Willdan. The intent is to generally mirror the city of Irvine process regarding the steps, timing, and fees for permits and inspections at UC Irvine.

Fees

Willdan has been instructed to use the city of Irvine permit fee schedule for all work at UC Irvine. Once an application for a permit is received by Willdan, they will let the applicant know what permit(s) is/are required and provide the fees due. Once the fees are paid to Willdan, the plan check process for permitting will commence.

Timeline

Willdan has committed to provide first plan check comments to a completed application (i.e.: all necessary plans, reports, and documentation) within 21 days. Once the applicant (or the applicant’s contractor) has responded to those comments with updated plans, reports, and documentation, Willdan will provide a second set of comments within 7 days. Any further comment time beyond the second submittal will depend on the issues at hand, but generally should follow the 7-day timeframe until all building code issues are resolved.

D&CS uses the California Building Code, along with any applicable UC Regents’ policies or requirements for analyzing applications for permits.

University Hills Special Process

Because there are various architectural processes within University Hills, D&CS requires that University Hills residents with a proposed property improvement first contact ICHA to help them navigate the requirements of the Ground Sublease and any Condo CC&Rs for their dwelling unit. To start the process, send an email to homeimprovements@icha.uci.edu. ICHA will first determine what approvals are needed per the Ground Sublease and any applicable CC&Rs. Once those approvals are complete, ICHA will then connect homeowners needing permits to a Willdan staff member that will process all permits on behalf of UCI.