• LA County Public Works Hotline: 844-347-3332 | US Army Corps of Engineers Call Center: 213-308-8305

A man and woman stand next to a table with building plans, shaking hands with a contractor.

Finding Your Team & Planning Your Rebuild

Architects, landscape architects and designers, arborists, builders, energy raters, contractors and subcontractors all play a critical role in the design and construction of a high-performance building. To reduce costs, consider joining neighboring property owners in the rebuilding process by choosing the same architect/designer and/or builder. Coordinating efforts can bring down the cost of rebuilding by allowing the purchase of material in bulk or lower rates from builders due to the scale of the job.

Who is on your rebuild team?

Note: Some community efforts are currently underway to coordinate for potential group rebuilding, collective designing and material purchasing, etc. The information here and in other pages is still applicable and can be helpful for those efforts.

Your Architect/Designer

Your architect/designer takes your ideas and turns them into a design that meets your goals and complies with building codes and regulations. Regular meetings are important to establish requirements and discuss detailed design proposals. A licensed architect is not required to submit architectural plans for LA County Department of Regional Planning review. Many builders offer plan design as part of their services, which can be a more economical option. When submitting structural plans to Building and Safety, plans are required to be reviewed and stamped by a licensed engineer.

The California Architects Board (CAB) licenses individual architects, not firms or corporations and licenses can be searched here. CAB also offers this “Consumer’s Guide to Hiring an Architect.”

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has a Firm Finder tool that allows you to search for landscape architects by location (zip code or city, state): ASLA’s Firm Finder.

Your Builder

Your builder turns your design into reality. They are the project managers, solving problems as they arise. Your builder should be involved early in the design process to identify opportunities for saving time and money during the build.

Permits can only be issued to a contractor with the appropriate license(s) or to the property owner in certain cases. It is your choice as to which contractor(s) you employ. The Contractors State License Board (CSLB), is responsible for issuing licenses to qualified contractors. For more information regarding hiring a contractor contact the CSLB.

Your Builder’s Subcontractors

Similarly, the builder’s subcontractors should be informed and on board with the performance goals of the building.

Your Energy Rater or Certified Consultant

If you wish to build a very energy efficient, high-performance building, an energy rater or certified consultant is a must. They will work with your architect/designer to specify insulation, window, ventilation, and other standards. For homes, they also help certify that your building meets the required Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score, if required by your building code. They also typically have connections with different architects/designers and builders who know how to build to your desired level of performance and can connect you with them.

You

You are the core stakeholder in the whole process and responsible for maintaining and championing your vision for building.