First: The Survey
Before the commencement of any demolition or renovation, the structure must be thoroughly surveyed for asbestos-containing material, including Category I and Category II nonfriable material. It comes before the notification, not alongside it, because the notification depends on what the survey found.
For residential buildings of four or fewer dwelling units the owner may sample and test rather than engage a certified consultant. For anything larger it must be a person certified by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health who has passed an EPA-approved course.
What If I Skip It?
Second: The Notification
The Air District must be notified at least ten working days before every demolition, regardless of asbestos content and regardless of the age or size of the building. Residential buildings of four or fewer dwelling units may give 72 hours instead, on payment of an additional fee, excluding emergencies.
The notification period does not begin until a complete notification is submitted, and job numbers are not issued until the applicable fee is received.
Is This Instead of a City Permit?
Third: The Job Number and Its Dates
On approval a job number is issued with an acknowledgement letter. The start and end dates specified in it are confirmed dates rather than an estimated working window, and failure to revise them by the end of the specified start date may result in a violation.
For an owner, the practical effect is that a contractor who works in this district should handle this rather than treating it as paperwork to be squared away later. A missing or inadequate survey is among the fastest routes to a stop-work order mid-demolition.
Running Separately: What the Ground Permits
The seismic acts govern the rebuild rather than the clearance, and they run on their own track.
Where a parcel sits in a mapped earthquake fault zone and the work exceeds fifty per cent of the structure's value, the city must require a geologic report by a registered geologist before approving the project. Both fault zones and seismic hazard zones appear on the natural hazard disclosure given when the property was sold.
Which Order Do These Two Run In?
What We Check
Whether anything has been tested. First, because it decides how the debris is classified and because it is the item most likely to have been skipped.
The hazard mapping. Fault and seismic hazard zones, which your own purchase disclosure may already answer.
The building. Whether the framing came through, and whether a repair could stay under the threshold.
The records. The county recorder for the deed and any liens, the assessor for the jurisdiction and build year, and the permit history.
What Comes Back
A written figure with each line visible: finished value, cost of the work, carrying cost and margin. The disposal line will state whether it assumes tested or untested debris, because that is the assumption most likely to be wrong on any offer you receive.
What If Repairing Beats Selling?
What Never Happens
No fee at any stage. No request that you clear the site, board it beyond making it safe, commission a report or repair anything first. No requirement that your claim be settled. No assignment of the contract to a third party. And we never ask a seller to begin clearing before closing, because on an untested building that makes you the owner or operator for notification purposes on a decision taken for our benefit.
Common Questions About the Process
How Long Does It Take?
Address to written figure is usually a few days. Closing depends on title. The insurance claim does not have to be settled first.
Do I Need to Be in California?
No. Out-of-state owners are common on inherited property and remote closing is routine.
Someone Has Already Started Clearing.
Then tell us, and tell any other buyer. What was done and whether anything was tested first materially affects what happens next.