How do I use a city's free PreCheck program?
Quick answer: Some cities pay for a free PreCheck of your plans before you file them. Open the city's PreCheck page (for example /submit/buena-park), drop your plan set, enter your email and the project address, click Submit for pre-check, agree to the short terms, and click Agree and start. No account or password is needed. Results arrive by email, usually in 30 to 90 minutes.
What PreCheck is
- Free to you. The city pays. You don't buy anything.
- Advisory. It checks your set against the California building code as the city adopts it, the city's local amendments, and its zoning, and returns a fix list with the code section for each item. It isn't a permit application or an official plan review, and it doesn't file anything with the city.
- For any project in that city — a new home, an addition, a tenant improvement, an EV charger, solar, multi-unit housing. A homeowner, contractor, architect, engineer, or expediter can upload.
The page address is always /submit/{city-slug}. Buena Park's is /submit/buena-park.
Steps
-
Open the city's PreCheck page.
-
Drag your plans onto Drag and drop your plans here, or click choose files. PDF works best; JPG, PNG, HEIC, and TIFF are accepted too, along with folders and ZIPs. CAD files such as DWG need to be plotted to PDF first.
-
On Almost there., enter Your email (results go there) and the Project address — start typing and pick the match. For a unit in a multi-unit building, include the unit, for example "123 Main St Unit A".
-
Click Submit for pre-check.
-
In Before we start, read the points, tick the box, and click Agree and start. See The PreCheck terms.
-
Keep the tab open while your files upload. When you see We've got your plans., you can close it.
Already got corrections from the city?
On the same page, use the Got corrections from the City? drop zone. Drop the city's letter and marked-up sheets, plus the set you submitted if you have it, and click Submit corrections. You get each correction pinned to its sheet and a draft response letter.
What if your city doesn't have PreCheck?
Run a pre-check from your own CrossBeam account instead. See Run a pre-check.