| Quick Answer
Each Contra Costa city runs its own permit process with its own portal and its own published turnaround. What they have in common is more useful than what separates them: every city’s stated review time is measured from a complete submittal, and almost all real delay comes from correction rounds rather than from the city being slow. |
Why the number everybody asks for is the wrong number
“How long does a permit take in Concord?” has an answer, and the answer is misleading, because the published figure describes one review cycle on a complete application. Two correction rounds on a four-week review is twelve weeks, and none of those extra eight weeks appear in any published figure.
Submittal quality is the variable you control. The city’s speed is not. That is the whole article in two sentences, and everything below is the detail of how each city expresses it.
Concord
| Item | What the city publishes |
|---|---|
| Where you apply | The Virtual Permit Center, an online portal. You register an account, and you are advised to include phone and email because that is how the city contacts you about the permit. |
| Who reviews | Review times include concurrent reviews by the Building, Engineering, Planning and Transportation divisions. The city publishes a Plan Review Turn-a-Round Schedule giving estimated maximum times by project type. |
| Expedited review | Available for an additional fee and subject to reviewer availability. Worth knowing: it typically reduces the Building division’s review by about five business days and does not reduce the other divisions’ times at all. |
| Floodplain | Projects in the floodplain may add roughly a week to review. |
| ADUs | Typically issued within sixty calendar days of a complete application. Pre-approved ADU plan permits are issued considerably faster, because only the site plan requires review. ADUs and JADUs are ministerial no public review process. |
| Fee estimate before you apply | The city offers a tool to obtain zoning information, determine which permits a project requires and estimate fees. |
| Practical note | The Planning Division advises that staff cannot accept and process new applications after 4:00 pm. |
The expedited review detail is the one most people miss. Paying for expedited review on a project whose critical path runs through Planning or Engineering buys you very little.
Martinez
| Item | What the city publishes |
|---|---|
| The big change | As of 1 September 2026 the Building Division operates a fully electronic permit application process. All new building permit applications residential, commercial and industrial must be submitted electronically through the city’s online portal. Paper applications and paper plan sets are no longer accepted unless the Chief Building Official grants an exception for exceptional circumstances. |
| Where you apply | The city’s Citizen’s Online Portal. Applying online requires being the property owner or a licensed contractor with an active state licence and a current City of Martinez business licence. |
| Fees | Plan check and permit fees are determined at the time of application. |
| Handouts | Martinez publishes project-specific handouts worth reading before you submit, including a Kitchen Remodel handout, a Bathroom Remodel handout, an ADU/JADU submittal checklist and a Single Family New or Addition requirements sheet. |
| ADUs | Martinez runs a pre-approved ADU plan programme offering expedited review and reduced permit and plan check fees. Modified plans are subject to additional review and fees. |
| Solar | Residential solar is handled through SolarAPP+, an automated plan review portal, for eligible projects. |
Walnut Creek
| Item | What the city publishes |
|---|---|
| Where you apply | Online only. The city states plainly that it does not accept paper or emailed submittals and does not issue permits over the counter. The permit counter handles status questions, payments, portal assistance and code questions. |
| Over-the-counter scopes | Simple scopes of work are typically reviewed within three to five business days. Vinyl siding over existing siding is given as an example though if the existing siding is removed first, a full building permit is required. |
| Published turnarounds | The city publishes a plan check turnaround time document and a separate expedited plan check turnaround table. |
| The detail that matters most | Hourly plan check fees are charged after the third round of building division review. Submitting incomplete is not just slow in Walnut Creek, it becomes directly expensive. |
| Fees | Plan check is charged at an hourly rate against a deposit, with the deposit set by the value of work. A 3% service fee applies to card payments. |
| Checklists | The city publishes submittal checklists including one specifically for single family additions and remodels covering bathroom, kitchen, laundry room and windows and doors. |
| Who signs | Permit issuance requires the signature of the legal property owner or a California licensed contractor, or an authorised agent with written authorisation. |
Pleasant Hill, for comparison
Covered in full in our separate Pleasant Hill guide, but the headline for comparison: the city states a typical plan check review time of two to three weeks for a residential addition, reviewed by the Planning, Engineering and Building divisions. Applications go through the PHill Online Service Center, and for anything requiring technical plan review the city invoices fifty percent of the permit fee up front plan review does not begin until that payment is verified.
The five things that actually cause delay, in every city
- An incomplete submittal. The published review time measures a complete application. Everything else is the correction loop, and the correction loop is where the months go.
- Not reading the city’s own checklist or handout. Martinez publishes a handout for kitchen remodels and one for bathrooms. Walnut Creek publishes a checklist for single family additions and remodels. Concord publishes a residential plan review checklist. Reading the one that matches your job is free and it removes the most common corrections.
- Not paying promptly. Pleasant Hill does not start plan review until the fifty percent invoice clears. Concord routes for review once application fees are paid. A week sitting on an invoice is a week of nothing happening.
- An unmonitored email address on the application. Correction notices go to the address on file. More projects stall on an unchecked inbox than anyone admits.
- Outside agency reviews started late. Fire districts, sanitary districts and utilities run on their own timelines. Concord explicitly recommends submitting to outside agencies at the same time as, or even before, applying to the city.
What this means for your schedule
Work backwards. If you want to be on site in January, you want an issued permit in December, which means a complete submittal in October or early November with at least one correction round allowed for, which means final drawings now.
It is also why autumn is the busy season for design conversations in Contra Costa and why the people who call in January about a summer project are usually already late.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a building permit take in Concord?
Concord publishes a Plan Review Turn-a-Round Schedule with estimated maximum times by project type, covering concurrent review by the Building, Engineering, Planning and Transportation divisions. For ADUs the city states permits are typically issued within sixty calendar days of a complete application. Correction rounds add their own review period each time.
Can I still submit paper plans in Martinez?
No. Since 1 September 2026 the Building Division requires all new building permit applications to be submitted electronically through the city’s online portal, unless the Chief Building Official grants an exception for exceptional circumstances.
Does Walnut Creek charge extra if my plans need corrections?
Yes. Hourly plan check fees are charged after the third round of building division review. It is the clearest financial incentive in the county to submit a complete and correct set first time.
What is the fastest way to get a permit approved?
Submit complete, in the format the city asks for, having read that city’s checklist or handout for your project type. Pay the invoice the day it arrives, put a monitored email on the application, and start any outside agency reviews at the same time rather than afterwards.
Do I need a permit to remodel a kitchen or bathroom?
Yes for anything touching plumbing, gas, electrical or ventilation, and for any structural or layout change. Martinez and Walnut Creek both publish specific handouts and checklists for exactly these projects.
Should my contractor pull the permit?
Yes, in their own name, and they should manage the inspections. A contractor asking you to pull an owner-builder permit for work they are doing is transferring the liability to you.
