If you’re planning a kitchen update before selling, or buying a home with a remodel in mind, Lake Forest’s permit schedule gives you new figures to check. The City Council adopted updated fees 5-0 on September 1, 2026, with an effective date of November 2, 2026. The adopted totals include $345 for a minor kitchen remodel and $493 for a major one. Which category fits your work needs a separate answer from the city.
This is general information and not legal advice.
What did the council adopt?
The Lake Forest City Council adopted a resolution establishing updated fees and charges for various municipal services after a noticed public hearing on September 1, 2026.
The meeting minutes record the 5-0 vote. The resolution sets November 2, 2026 as the effective date for newly adopted fees and fines and adjustments to existing fees and fines.
For homeowners, a useful change is that common projects now have separately identified permit entries. Building and Safety’s summary names kitchen and bathroom remodels, EV chargers, panel upgrades, water heaters, SolarAPP+, and window and door alterations. It also describes consolidated and restructured fees and minimum fees for certain standalone inspections.
What did the fee study cover?
The study reviewed municipal service fees across building and safety, planning, community preservation, engineering and inspection, and recreation; it did not examine development impact fees, taxes, assessments, fines, or penalties.
ClearSource Financial Consulting reviewed about 789 fees and charges, although the staff report also gives a count of 788. The last full fee study was April 2024. For Building and Safety, the report lists an estimated revenue impact of “No increase.”
That department-level finding doesn’t mean every project keeps its previous fee. Some entries changed, and others are newly listed. The September 1 agenda packet contains the staff report, adopted schedule in Exhibit A, and current-versus-proposed comparison. Use Exhibit A to check the adopted entry for your work.
What are the kitchen, bathroom, and equipment fees?
The adopted kitchen totals are $345 for a minor remodel and $493 for a major remodel, with separate entries for bathrooms and common equipment changes.
These listed totals combine intake/processing, plan check, and permit:
- Kitchen remodel: minor $345; major $493.
- Bathroom remodel: first full bathroom $444; each additional full bathroom $286; half bathroom $247; layout modification or wall partition removal $79.
- Residential main panel upgrade or replacement: $227.
- Residential EV outlet or wall charger: $118.
- Residential water heater change-out: $148, compared with the old schedule’s $85 total.
The schedule doesn’t explain how the city distinguishes a minor kitchen remodel from a major one. Bring your proposed scope to the Building and Safety counter and ask which entry applies. For water heater work connected with a sale, also check the questions covered in the water heater rules at sale guide.
Say a buyer plans a kitchen remodel in a home under consideration and sees the adopted $345 minor remodel total. The buyer would bring the proposed scope to the Building and Safety counter to ask whether the minor or $493 major entry applies, because the schedule does not define that distinction. If the buyer also plans a water heater change-out, the adopted schedule lists that work separately at $148. The buyer would ask which inspections and reviews apply before treating the listed permit totals as the full fee picture.
What are the window, roof, solar, ADU, and other home project fees?
The adopted schedule separately lists window and door work, re-roofing, residential solar, a fixed ADU permit fee, and fees for pools/spas, patio covers, and residential seismic retrofits.
Check the description as closely as the dollar amount:
- Windows/doors retrofit: up to 10 items $178; each additional 10 items $49.
- Fenestration alteration with framing modification: $247 minimum; new skylight $148.
- Re-roof without calculations: up to 2,000 square feet $247; each additional 1,000 square feet $49. The old base total was $225.
- Residential roof-mounted PV system under 15 kW: $385.
- SolarAPP+ approved PV and energy storage system: $385.
- Single battery paired with PV: $148.
- ADU permits: $802 fixed fee, previously $687.
- Swimming pool/spa: $1,135; patio cover without calculations or pre-engineered: $395.
- Residential seismic retrofit: $454.
The city’s schedule note cites California Government Code Section 66015(a)(1) and says residential PV fees shall not exceed $450 unless written findings are adopted.
For an ADU, keep the listed permit fee separate from questions about the proposed project. The ADU rules guide can help frame those questions; ask the city which other entries or agencies you need to check.
What happens if work lacks a permit or exceeds its scope?
The adopted schedule lists twice the permit fee for “Work Without a Permit or Work Beyond Scope of Permit.”
For a seller, that makes the scope of an existing permit worth checking before describing a remodel to buyers. A permit’s existence alone doesn’t answer whether it covers the work in question. For a buyer, ask for the permit information and compare its scope with the changes you’re evaluating. The unpermitted work disclosure guide and seller disclosure guide address related sale questions.
Say a seller is preparing a home for sale after a kitchen remodel and water heater change-out. The seller would check whether the permits cover both projects before relying on the new fee list. If the kitchen work goes beyond the permit’s scope, the adopted schedule lists twice the permit fee. A buyer reviewing that same work would ask about the permit scope and ask the city what is needed, rather than treating the listed minor kitchen fee as the answer to every permit question.
Which inspection and review charges need a closer look?
The schedule includes inspection and review add-ons, including a $197 re-inspection fee that applies after the second re-inspection, meaning at the third.
Other listed charges are:
- Miscellaneous inspection: $197 per hour.
- After-hours inspection: $237 per hour with a 4-hour minimum.
- Plan check revisions: $197 per hour.
- Minimum residential electrical inspection: $148.
An excess plan review fee of $197 per hour applies at the 4th plan review.
These entries are reasons to check what a quoted permit amount includes. Ask which inspections and reviews apply to your scope and when an additional charge would arise.
What should you ask before applying or agreeing to work?
Ask the Building and Safety counter to confirm your project category, the applicable fee schedule, and any charges outside the listed permit total.
Start with the scope, especially for a kitchen remodel. Then ask how the November 2 effective date applies if you submit an application before that date. The city’s records don’t say whether that application would receive old or new fees.
Also ask about other agencies’ fees, including any school district, water district, or Orange County Fire Authority charges, and development impact fees. The fee schedule does not set other agencies’ fees, and the study did not examine development impact fees. Association approval, if any, is separate, so check that requirement separately.
The short version
Lake Forest adopted updated fees 5-0, effective November 2, 2026, with separately listed totals for common home projects.
Match the work to the correct entry, confirm application timing, and check permit scope before relying on a fee figure during a purchase or sale. Twice the permit fee is listed for work without a permit or beyond its scope.
As you plan your sale, you can also check your home’s value with the home value tool.
Common questions
When do Lake Forest's updated building permit fees take effect?
The updated fees take effect November 2, 2026. Ask the city which schedule applies to an application submitted before that date.
What are the adopted kitchen remodel permit fees?
The adopted totals are $345 for a minor kitchen remodel and $493 for a major kitchen remodel. Ask the Building and Safety counter how it classifies your scope.
What does the schedule charge for work without a permit?
The adopted schedule lists twice the permit fee for work without a permit or work beyond the scope of a permit.
When does the re-inspection fee apply?
The $197 re-inspection fee applies after the second re-inspection, meaning at the third re-inspection.
