Usually, yes. In the City of Los Angeles, LADBS issues an express e-permit for replacing cabinets, counters, flooring, tile, and plumbing and electrical fixtures in the same layout, and some smaller building work is exempt. Moving a wall, changing an opening, or adding new plumbing or electrical fixtures needs a permit with plan check. Unincorporated Los Angeles County exempts cabinets and countertops from a building permit, though plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits may still be needed.
Which rules apply depends on the building department that covers your address, explained in bathroom remodel permits in Los Angeles. This page covers the kitchen side: the two LADBS routes, what changes in unincorporated Los Angeles County, and two questions that come up on almost every kitchen job, the range hood and the gas range.
The two ways LADBS issues a kitchen permit
In the City of Los Angeles, the route depends on whether the work changes a wall or an opening, or puts new plumbing or electrical fixtures into an existing wall:
| Express e-permit | Permit with plan check | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Repairing or replacing cabinets, flooring, wall finishes, tile, counters, and plumbing and electrical fixtures, with no changes to walls or openings and no new fixtures penetrating existing walls | Changes to walls or openings, or new plumbing or electrical fixtures |
| Plans | None | For changes to walls or openings, two sets of plans, each with a floor plan of the existing kitchen and one of the proposed kitchen at 1/4 inch to 1 foot, showing every room next to it |
| Where | Online, through the LADBS electronic permit system | Online through ePlanLA, or in person at an LADBS Development Services Center |
For an express kitchen permit, LADBS says one inspection is required in most cases, when the work is complete. The final inspection is requested under code 335 on its automated line: 311 from inside Los Angeles County, or (213) 482-0000 from outside it. Source: LADBS, kitchen remodel and repair.
City and County, item by item
The difference is between a building permit and a trade permit. Unincorporated Los Angeles County exempts finish work, including cabinets and countertops, from a building permit, and states that separate plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits may still be required. The City of Los Angeles lists its own exemptions from a building permit, including painting and papering, and building work valued at $2,500 or less unless it affects structural stability or public safety, is done to comply with a Department order, or changes the use or occupancy.
| Kitchen work | Unincorporated Los Angeles County | City of Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|
| Painting | Exempt | Exempt |
| New cabinets and countertops in the same layout | No building permit | Usually an express e-permit; building work valued at $2,500 or less can be exempt |
| New flooring or backsplash tile | No building permit | Usually an express e-permit; building work valued at $2,500 or less can be exempt |
| Replacing a sink or other plumbing fixture in the same place | No building permit; a plumbing permit is required to replace a plumbing fixture | Express e-permit |
| Moving the sink, or adding an island with plumbing or outlets | Plumbing and/or electrical permits, as the work requires | Permit with plan check |
| Removing a wall or changing a window or door opening | Building permit | Plan check, with plans |
Smaller plumbing swaps are treated differently in the City: its plumbing code requires no permit for repairing or replacing faucets, ball cocks, exposed fixture traps, shut-off valves or a residential garbage disposal.
Replacing the range hood
California’s 2025 Energy Code has a specific rule for an existing kitchen exhaust fan that is altered or replaced. It turns on what the house was required to have when it was permitted:
| If the home was previously required to have | The replacement must |
|---|---|
| A kitchen exhaust meeting the current Energy Code’s kitchen exhaust standard | Meet that standard’s airflow or capture efficiency requirements |
| A vented range hood or other kitchen exhaust fan, under an earlier permit | Move at least the airflow the earlier permit required, or 100 cubic feet per minute, whichever is greater |
| No kitchen exhaust | Is not required to meet the current kitchen exhaust standard |
The rule is Section 150.2(b)1Miib of the California Energy Code, the section for single-family homes. So check the airflow rating of the new hood before ordering it, not after it is installed.
Can you keep a gas range?
The City of Los Angeles no longer has an all-electric requirement. Ordinance No. 187714, which required all newly constructed buildings to be all-electric, took effect in January 2023 and was repealed in its entirety by Ordinance No. 188716, effective October 13, 2025. While it was in force, it applied to newly constructed buildings.
What a kitchen permit can trigger elsewhere
A permitted kitchen remodel brings the same house-wide requirements as any other permitted alteration. On a single-family home built on or before January 1, 1994, noncompliant plumbing fixtures in the house are replaced before the permit is finaled, including interior faucets above 2.2 gallons per minute. Any alteration that requires a permit means smoke alarms in the locations a new house needs. Carbon monoxide alarms are required in every existing home with a fuel-fired appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage that opens into the home, permit or not, and new ones are required when a fuel-burning appliance is added. Both rules, who can pull the permit, and how long it stays valid are set out in bathroom remodel permits in Los Angeles. If you are selling, what a homeowner can do without a permit covers disclosure of work done without one.
How we handle it
On every kitchen remodel, we pull all required trade permits and coordinate all inspections as standard scope. Permit time goes into the schedule from the start, as in how long a kitchen remodel takes.
