Permit Center

Welcome to the City of Alameda Permit Center  

The Permit Center is your central hub for Building, Fire, Planning, and Special Events permits. While in-person assistance is still available, the entire permit process is now fully online including:

  • Applying for permits
  • Plan reviews
  • Payments

Paper plans are no longer accepted. All submittals must be completed through Permit Portal.

Permit Portal  

Fraud Alert

Beware of scammers are calling and sending texts pretending to be from the City of Alameda. We will never ask for credit card information over the phone. If you are unsure if you're speaking to a city employee, hang up and call us directly at (510)747-6800. 

Low and Moderate-income Homeowner:

View Homeowner Residential Rehabilitation Programs(PDF, 223KB).

Earthquake Soft-Story:

The California Residential Mitigation Program has now opened registration for Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS)seismic retrofit grant program. See if your house qualifies for Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): 

FEMA has identified over 1,000 properties in Alameda within Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), or 100-year floodplains. If your property is in an SFHA, you may be required to carry flood insurance and take steps to reduce flood risk. 

 Learn more about flood zones and home renovation considerations.

Register for an account or login to the Permit Portal to apply for building permits. 

Learn more about applying for building permits:

  • Type of permits required (Express, Fire, Certificate of Occupancies, and non-residential).
  • How to register and use our Permit Portal.
  • Pre-application processes.

 

We now accept, review, receive payments, and issue Planning entitlements through our online Accela Citizen Access Portal (ACA).

Click here for Planning & Zoning Applications

  • Certificate of Approval
  • Design Review
  • Development Plan/Amendment
  • Home Occupation Permit
  • Preliminary Review Application
  • Sign Permit
  • Subdivision/Parcel Maps
  • Use Permit
  • Work Live Permit
  • Zoning Clearance
  • Zoning Letter/Compliance Determinations

Special event permits are required for street fairs, races, block parties and other events, as well as permits for specific activities, such as filming, charitable solicitation, street banners, and bingo. 

Learn more about Special Events Permits. 

To search a property's permit history

There are multiple options to search for permit history of a property located in the "Reports" tab at the very top of the Permit Portal.

Accela Citizen Access Portal (ACA). ACA is the public portal to the City's online permit system.  You can look up permit records for Building, Fire, Planning, and Public Works by address, assessor's parcel number (APN# in 9-digit format: 00-0000-000), permit number, or date range.  Use ACA for permit records issued after 1995.  

Click here(PDF, 266KB) for instructions

BuildingEye. BuildingEye displays permit info from ACA in a map display. Search by address, or use the filters on the left sidebar to filter by permit number, date, or permit type. 

Historical Permit Building Records.  Permits issued before 1995 are available on microfiche and are now available online. You can also view microfiche records in the Permit Center.  Further instructions here: How to Search for Historical Documents(PDF, 224KB)

CommunityView.  Use CommunityView to look up zoning and other information about a parcel.

Can't find it?  If you can't find the permit record in the methods above, then very likely the record does not exist in City archives.  If you believe the City has the record and that you can provide specific information to help the City locate it, you may submit a Public Records Request. 

In accordance with Assembly Bill (AB) 2234, the following information is provided for transparency for residential development post-entitlement processing. View the Post Entitlement requirements, fees, and sample documents.

 

Contact Us

Phone

(510) 747-6800

Email

permits@alamedaca.gov

Location

2263 Santa Clara Ave. Rm 190
Alameda
94501
View Map

Quick Links

Permit Portal (Accela)

Forms & Handouts

Permit Center Hours

Monday - Thursday

8:00am - 12:30pm*
1:30pm - 3:30pm*

FRIDAY - CLOSED

 

No appointments necessary

*Walk-ins must sign in at least 15 mins before closing time. 

Construction Hours

Construction is allowed during the following hours:

Monday - Friday
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Saturday
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Click AMC 4-10.5 for additional details. 

To Schedule an Inspection

Call (510) 747- 6830
Mon - Thur 7:30-8:30 AM
FRIDAY - CLOSED

How To Videos

ADU Permits

Tree Removal

 

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