Concord ADU Permit History: The First Thing to Pull
Concord ADU permit history is the first thing to pull when an exemption notice arrives for a unit your parent built and you can’t find the final inspection. The notice isn’t asking whether the ADU is nice, or rented, or has a kitchen. It’s asking whether the unit was ever legal. And the answer to that lives in a set of records that most heirs don’t know how to request.
You’re holding a form that says “exemption” and you’re supposed to sign it. But if the ADU was never permitted, signing that form is a statement about the unit’s legal status. Get it wrong and you’ve either admitted to an unpermitted unit or claimed an exemption you can’t support. Neither is a position you want to be in with the city.
The Real Challenge: The Paper Trail Is Not Obvious
Most people assume there’s one central place where a property’s permit history lives. In Concord, that’s not how it works. The city and the county each hold different pieces, and an ADU built decades ago might have records scattered across both. A final inspection from 1998 isn’t going to show up in a quick online search.
The deeper problem is that the exemption notice itself doesn’t tell you what it’s actually asking. Concord’s rent ordinance exempts single-family homes, condos, and ADUs, but the exemption isn’t automatic. You have to demonstrate that the unit qualifies. For an ADU, that means showing it was legally created: permits pulled, inspections passed, final sign-off recorded. If you can’t find the final inspection, you can’t just assume it happened.
What people get wrong is treating the notice as a request for information they already have. It’s not. It’s a request for proof. And the proof has to come from the official record, not from your memory of what your parent said.
A Genuine Partial Answer: How to Pull the Records
Start with the city. Concord’s Building Division keeps permit records for work done within city limits. You can request a permit history for a specific address. The request is usually in writing, and you’ll need the parcel number or the full street address. Ask specifically for any permits related to an accessory dwelling unit, a second unit, a guest house, or a conversion. The terminology matters because older permits might not use the term “ADU.”
Then go to the county. Contra Costa County’s assessor and recorder hold different records. The assessor’s office can tell you how the property is classified for tax purposes, which sometimes reflects whether a second unit was legally recognized. The recorder’s office holds documents like notices of completion, which are filed when a contractor finishes work. A notice of completion for the ADU is strong evidence that the project reached a final stage, even if the final inspection card is missing.
If you find a permit number, request the full permit file. That file should include the approved plans, the inspection history, and the final sign-off. If the final inspection is missing from the file, you’ve found the gap. And that gap is exactly what the exemption notice is poking at.
What the Exemption Notice Is Actually Asking
The notice isn’t a trap, but it is a legal document. When Concord’s rent ordinance says an ADU is exempt, it means an ADU that was legally established. An unpermitted ADU doesn’t get the exemption just because it looks like an ADU. So the notice is asking you to confirm, under penalty of perjury in some cases, that the unit meets the exemption criteria. If you sign it and the unit was never permitted, you’ve made a false statement. If you don’t sign it and the unit was permitted, you’ve left a valid exemption on the table.
That’s why the permit history matters before you sign anything. You need to know what the record shows. If the record shows a fully permitted ADU with a final inspection, you sign with confidence. If the record shows a permit was pulled but never finaled, you have a different problem: the unit might be legal but incomplete, or the final inspection was done but never recorded. If the record shows no permits at all, the ADU was never legal, and signing the exemption notice would be a mistake.
This is where the paper trail gets specific to Concord. A landlord in another state might pull a single county record and be done. Here, you’re cross-referencing city permits, county assessor data, and recorder documents. The ADU exemption under Concord’s ordinance has its own quirks, and the city’s process for verifying an ADU’s legal status isn’t always spelled out on the form. We’ve written about the Concord ADU rent exemption in more detail, including how the city thinks about legal nonconforming units.
When the Final Inspection Is Missing
Here’s the scenario that brings most people to us: the permit was pulled, the ADU was built, but the final inspection never happened. Maybe your parent got busy, or the contractor disappeared, or the city lost the record. Whatever the reason, the unit exists but the paperwork is incomplete. That’s a legal gray area, and it’s the worst place to be when an exemption notice arrives.
In that situation, you have options, but none of them involve signing the notice as if everything is fine. You can request a new inspection, though that might open a can of worms if the ADU doesn’t meet current code. You can apply for a retroactive permit, which is a longer process. Or you can disclose the situation to the city and ask how they want to handle it. What you can’t do is pretend the final inspection exists when it doesn’t.
Our property management team has walked Concord owners through this exact situation. The first step is always the same: pull the full permit history and see what’s actually there. Then we help you decide what to do with what you find.
How We Walk You Through It
When you bring us a Concord ADU permit history question, we start with the records. We request the permit file from the city, pull the assessor’s classification, and check the recorder for notices of completion. We put all of it side by side so you can see what the official record says, not what anyone remembers.
Then we read the exemption notice against that record. We tell you what the notice is actually asking, which box you can honestly check, and what the consequences are for each option. If the ADU is fully permitted, we help you gather the proof and respond. If it’s not, we lay out the paths to legalize it or to respond without making a false statement.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. The right answer depends on what the records show, what the notice says, and what you’re willing to do about a unit that may never have been legal. We don’t guess, and we don’t tell you to sign something we wouldn’t sign ourselves.
If you’re holding an exemption notice for an ADU and you can’t find the final inspection, reach out to us. We’ll help you pull the Concord ADU permit history and figure out what the notice is really asking before you put your name on it.
What Would You Do With a Missing Final Inspection?
If the records show the ADU was never finaled, would you try to legalize it, or would you respond to the notice differently? Tell us in the comments.
About this article. This is general information and our own opinion, written from how we run operations for owners and businesses in Contra Costa County. It is not legal, tax, accounting, financial or other professional advice, it is not a recommendation to take or avoid any action, and it is not a substitute for advice about your own property, tenancy or business. CAO Investment Group is not a law firm, and reading this does not create an attorney-client or any other professional relationship. Local ordinances, fee schedules, forms, thresholds and deadlines change often and differ from city to city within Contra Costa County — anything here may be out of date by the time you read it, including as of the publication date shown above. Verify anything you plan to rely on against the current rules published by your own city or county, and speak to a qualified attorney, CPA or licensed professional about your specific situation before you act. We make no warranty that this information is current, complete or accurate, and we accept no liability for any action taken or not taken on the basis of it.
