Published: 6 Oct 2026 · Last verified: 6 Oct 2026 · Next review: Jan 2027 Cost figures are re-checked against permit records quarterly. Changes are logged in Corrections.
San Diego has a 750 square foot cliff. Oakland deleted the cliff entirely. Long Beach found a third way: it kept the cliff but cut it in half.
The city’s development impact fee schedule contains something we had not seen in any other jurisdiction in this series — a separate column of ADU-specific rates. Not an exemption. Not the standard single-family bill. A middle schedule, priced per dwelling unit, at roughly 40 to 49% of what a new single-family home pays. Fire facilities: $241.74 instead of $496. Parks and recreation: $1,781.39 instead of $4,613.04. Police facilities: $342.86 instead of $703.
So this post does two things. First, the standard six-phase breakdown for an 800 sq ft detached ADU in Long Beach — $313,000, or $391 per square foot. Then the part nobody publishes: an autopsy of the soft-cost line, fee by fee, from the city’s own schedules — including the one fee line the schedule leaves genuinely ambiguous.
The short answer
| 800 sq ft detached ADU · Long Beach · 2026 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total build cost | $313,000 |
| Cost per square foot | $391 |
| Largest single line | Systems + interior, $147,000 |
| Building permit + plan check (worked from FY26 schedule) | ≈ $3,200 |
| ADU impact fees (Fire + Parks + Police) | $2,366 |
| Transportation impact fee | $664 – $1,125 (tier unclear) |
| School district fees (LBUSD) | $4,304 |
| Water / sewer capacity charges | ≈ $209 sewer; $0 water (existing meter) |
The full line-item breakdown
Six phases. The same six used on every build in this series.
| Phase | Cost | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Soft costs (design, permits, fees) | $25,000 | 8% |
| Site work + foundation | $38,000 | 12% |
| Framing + structure | $48,000 | 15% |
| Building envelope | $42,000 | 13% |
| Systems + interior | $147,000 | 47% |
| Landscaping & hardscape | $13,000 | 4% |
| Total | $313,000 | $391 / sq ft |
Shares rounded.
The honest caveat, same as every city post: Long Beach’s agencies do not publish phase-level construction costs, and we found no public Long Beach permit-valuation dataset to anchor one. So phases two through six are carried from the Los Angeles County baseline, unchanged — we will not print a number we cannot anchor. What is rebuilt from Long Beach sources, line by line, is the soft-cost phase. That is where this city’s story lives — and it is a story about a fee schedule that thought about ADUs specifically, then left one line blurry.
Where Long Beach differs from Los Angeles
| Phase | LA County | Long Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft costs | $32,000 | $25,000 | −$7,000 |
| Site work + foundation | $38,000 | $38,000 | — |
| Framing + structure | $48,000 | $48,000 | — |
| Building envelope | $42,000 | $42,000 | — |
| Systems + interior | $147,000 | $147,000 | — |
| Landscaping & hardscape | $13,000 | $13,000 | — |
| Total | $320,000 | $313,000 | −$7,000 |
| Per sq ft | $400 | $391 | −$9 |
Long Beach is the first city in the series to come in under the Los Angeles baseline — and the entire $7,000 gap sits in soft costs. The drivers: a published valuation table that prices permits precisely instead of by rule of thumb, ADU-specific impact-fee rates at roughly half the standard bill, and a pre-approved plan program that puts downward pressure on the design line. Working against that: the highest school-district fee in the series at $4,304.
The fee autopsy: $25,000, line by line
Building permit: ≈ $1,924 (worked from the FY26 schedule). Long Beach publishes its construction valuation table (IB-077): R-3 Type VB residential construction is valued at $175.92 per sq ft, so an 800 sq ft ADU carries a $140,736 valuation. The FY26 fee schedule then prices the building permit at $1,080 for the first $100,000 plus $4.98 per additional $1,000 — $1,080 + 40.736 × $4.98 = $1,282.87. The combination R-3 permit (all trades) runs at 150% of the building permit fee: $1,924.30. This is the most transparent permit line in the series so far — a published valuation, a published rate table, and arithmetic anyone can reproduce.
Plan check: ≈ $962 + $310. Standard plan check is 75% of the building permit fee per the FY26 schedule: $1,282.87 × 75% = $962.15. Planning plan check is billed separately — an actual 2025 ADU permit packet shows $310.00. Add permit filing ($90) and the standard surcharges (General Plan update, technology, records management, SMIP, green building — about $78 on the sample permit), and the counter total before impact fees is roughly $3,360.
Development impact fees: $2,366 + the blurry line. The city’s development impact fee schedule (effective 10/01/18, still the published schedule) sets ADU-specific per-unit rates: Fire $241.74, Parks & Recreation $1,781.39, Police $342.86 — totaling $2,365.99. For scale, the standard single-family rates are $496 / $4,613.04 / $703: the ADU pays roughly half. A 2025 ADU permit packet’s impact-fee notice confirms the same rates and cites the underlying ordinances (LBMC 18.17, 18.18, 18.22, 18.23).
School fees: $4,304 — the series high. Long Beach Unified School District charges $5.38 per square foot on ADUs over 500 square feet (LBUSD developer fees, effective 6/15/2025): 800 × $5.38 = $4,304. The city’s own IB-044 confirms the fee is due to the school district before building permit issuance. For context: Oakland charges $5.17 ($4,136), San Francisco $3.79 ($3,032). Long Beach’s classrooms are the most expensive in the series.
Water and sewer: ≈ $209 sewer, $0 water (existing meter). The sewer capacity charge follows a published formula — equivalent fixture units × the Board of Water Commissioners rate ($109.16/EFU in 2022, adjusted annually each October) — but no ADU-specific schedule exists, and we could not reverse-engineer the $208.98 charged on an actual 2025 ADU permit from public documents. Budget roughly $209 and confirm with LBUD Engineering. Water is cleaner: the LBUD Rules and Regulations assess a water capacity fee only for new service installations or upsized meters (3/4” meter: $2,578). Share the existing meter and the water line is $0 — the city’s ADU FAQ tells owners to decide the metering arrangement before design.
Design and engineering: $14,000 (carried, with relief available). The series-standard design line, carried from the baseline. But Long Beach is the rare city where the relief is real and operating: the Pre-Approved ADU Program (PAADU) lets registered designers submit plans for advance city approval, and permit applications using PAADU plans may be approved over-the-counter with same-day permit issuance (IB-068). Plan purchase prices vary by designer and are not published, so we keep the full $14,000 in the model — but a buyer who finds a fitting PAADU plan should expect this line to shrink.
The 750 square foot cliff, half height
State law (Gov. Code § 66311.5) bars impact fees on ADUs of 750 sq ft or less. At 800 sq ft, Long Beach’s ADU rates apply — but the schedule leaves one line genuinely ambiguous:
| Fee at 800 sq ft | Long Beach | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fire + Parks + Police (ADU rates) | $2,365.99 | Published ADU column |
| Transportation improvement fee | $663.75 – $1,125.00 | Tier unclear — see below |
| School district developer fees | $4,304 | LBUSD, unaffected by the 750 rule |
| Water / sewer capacity charges | ≈ $209 sewer; $0 water | Per the formulas above |
The transportation fee schedule lists “Accessory, up to 220 sq ft” ($236.25), “Secondary, up to 640 sq ft” ($663.75), and full residential ($1,125.00) — but no ADU-specific row, unlike the other three fees. An 800 sq ft ADU exceeds 640, so a literal reading points to $1,125; but the 640 sq ft cap is a relic of the pre-2020 secondary-unit era, and the city’s actual administrative practice for larger ADUs is not in any public document we could find. We carry the honest range rather than picking a tier. Note also: starting 2027-01-01, SB 1117 changes the statewide rule so impact fees apply only to square footage above 750 — which would shrink even this half-height cliff further.
One more geographic wrinkle: ADUs over 750 sq ft inside the Southeast Area Specific Plan area owe an additional $0.25 per gross square foot ($200 on 800 sq ft) under the SEASP resource impact fee. Most lots are outside it; check the map before you budget.
What moves the number most in Long Beach
1. The transportation tier. The $461 spread between $663.75 and $1,125 is the single largest uncertainty in the soft-cost total — and it is a phone call to Development Services, not a modeling choice. Get the answer in writing before you finalize the size.
2. Whether you use a PAADU plan. Same-day over-the-counter approval is real, published, and operating. The design-line savings are unquantified (plan prices are private), but the schedule savings — weeks of plan check compressed to a day — carry their own financing value on a project with a construction loan.
3. The school fee. At $4,304 it is the largest single fee line in Long Beach’s soft costs and the highest in the series. Unlike impact fees, it does not care about the 750 sq ft threshold the same way — LBUSD’s trigger is 500 sq ft. There is no design-around; budget it.
4. Meter strategy. $0 water on the existing meter versus $2,578+ for a new 3/4” service is a binary decision the city’s FAQ flags explicitly. Decide before design, not during.
5. SEASP location. The extra $0.25/sq ft only bites inside the Southeast Area Specific Plan. A $200 line you can check on a map.
What this number does not include
| Not included in $313,000 | Typical impact |
|---|---|
| Construction loan interest | Carried 9 to 14 months |
| Property tax reassessment | Only the new construction is added (Prop 13) |
| Vacancy before first tenant | 1 to 3 months is common |
| Property management | 8% to 10% of rent |
| Water meter upsizing (if required) | $2,578+ via LBUD |
| Contingency | 10% to 15% — budget it, don’t hope |
A 12% contingency on this build is $37,560.
→ Full year-one ownership cost: ADU all-in cost in California
→ The Oakland companion, where impact fees are zero by written exemption: Oakland ADU cost
Put your own quote in these six rows
We made a blank version of the six-phase ledger. Drop your contractor’s numbers into it and see which line doesn’t match ours.
Download the worksheet — CSV (import to Google Sheets), no email required
Compare any two builds side by side →
Want the regional benchmark ranges for each phase, updated quarterly?
Methodology and sources
Every figure on this page is a modeled median, not a quote. Here is exactly how it was built, so you can check it or reproduce it yourself.
| Input | Source |
|---|---|
| Construction valuation R-3 VB $175.92/sq ft | IB-077 Construction Valuation (city) |
| Building permit $1,080 + $4.98/$1,000 over $100k; Combo 150%; Plan check 75% | FY26 Adopted Budget — Fee Adjustments (city) |
| ADU impact-fee rates: Fire $241.74, Parks $1,781.39, Police $342.86 | Development Impact Fee schedule, eff. 10/01/18 (city) |
| ADU impact-fee notice citing LBMC 18.17/18.18/18.22/18.23 | ADU Garage Conversion Submittal Packet (city) |
| Transportation fee tiers ($236.25 / $663.75 / $1,125; no ADU row) | ADU Garage Conversion Submittal Packet — DIF notice (city) |
| School fees $5.38/sq ft on ADUs over 500 sq ft | LBUSD Developer Fees (effective 6/15/2025) |
| School fee due before permit issuance; sewer capacity on new/changed use | IB-044 Development Impact Fees Guide (city) |
| Sewer capacity: per-EFU × Board rate ($109.16/EFU, 2022, annual CCI) | Board of Water Commissioners Res. WD-1441A |
| Sewer capacity $208.98 on actual 2025 ADU permit | ADU sample permit, 579 sq ft conversion, 6/11/2025 (city) |
| Water capacity fee only on new/upsize service (3/4”: $2,578) | LBUD Rules and Regulations 2024 |
| PAADU: OTC approval, same-day permit issuance | PAADU program page (city) · IB-068 |
| ADU metering decision before design | ADU FAQ-001 Q5 (city) |
| SEASP resource impact fee $0.25/sq ft on ADUs >750 sq ft | FY Development Impact Fee Reports (city) |
| State ADU law: 750 sq ft impact-fee provisions | Gov. Code § 66311.5 (SB 543, eff. 1 Jan 2026) |
| SB 1117 marginal impact fees from 2027-01-01 | SB 1117 bill page |
| Construction phases 2–6 (carried from LA baseline) | 800 sq ft ADU cost — Los Angeles County · Methodology |
| Phase-level cost shares for residential construction | NAHB Cost of Construction Survey |
On the transportation tier. The published DIF notice gives Fire, Police, and Parks each an explicit ADU row — but Transportation has none. The “Secondary, up to 640 sq ft” tier at $663.75 predates the current ADU size allowances, and no public document assigns 640+ sq ft ADUs to a tier. We carry $663.75–$1,125 as a range and recommend confirming with Development Services in writing; the soft-cost total uses the midpoint.
On the sewer sample. The $208.98 figure is the actual sewer capacity charge on a city-published 2025 ADU permit (579 sq ft conversion). The calculation method (fixture units × Board rate, adjusted annually) is public; the inputs for that specific permit are not. We treat $209 as an observed data point, not a rate-table value.
On the DIF schedule date. The published impact-fee schedule is marked effective 10/01/18. A 2025 ADU permit packet cites the same rates, but we could not confirm whether a newer schedule exists. Flagged for the quarterly re-verification.
On the construction phases. Long Beach’s agencies do not publish phase-level construction costs, and we located no public Long Beach permit-valuation dataset for ADUs. Phases two through six are therefore carried unchanged from the Los Angeles County baseline rather than adjusted by an unanchored regional factor. If you hold Long Beach permit valuations or contractor data, we want them — see Corrections.
Check this number against your own address
- Call Development Services and ask which transportation impact-fee tier applies to an 800 sq ft detached ADU — get it in writing.
- Confirm your water meter arrangement with LBUD before design: existing meter shared means $0 water capacity.
- Check whether your lot falls inside the Southeast Area Specific Plan ($0.25/sq ft above 750 sq ft).
Declared valuations run below contract price — treat them as a floor, not a total. Full detail on Methodology.
If your local numbers diverge meaningfully from ours, we want to know. See Corrections.
Our position
We don’t build ADUs. We don’t sell plans. We don’t sell your information to contractors. No figure on this site has been paid for or reviewed by anyone whose costs we publish. More on About.
Figures are Long Beach, 2026, stated as medians of contractor ranges. Costs vary by site conditions and finish level. The transportation impact-fee tier ($663.75–$1,125) is genuinely ambiguous in the published schedule — the soft-cost total uses the midpoint. The sewer capacity figure ($209) is observed on a 2025 sample permit, not a rate-table calculation. This is construction cost information — not a quote, and not legal, engineering, or financial advice. Confirm requirements with the City of Long Beach Development Services and a licensed California contractor.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an ADU cost in Long Beach in 2026?
About $313,000 for an 800 sq ft detached, single-story, new-construction unit with mid-grade finishes in Long Beach — roughly $391 per square foot. That is our modeled median: the soft-cost phase is rebuilt from the city’s official fee schedules (a published valuation table, ADU-specific impact-fee rates, and a $5.38 per sq ft school fee), while construction phases are carried from the Los Angeles County baseline because Long Beach does not publish phase-level construction costs.
Does Long Beach charge impact fees on ADUs?
Yes, but at ADU-specific reduced rates — the “third way” between San Diego’s cliff and Oakland’s exemption. Fire $241.74, Parks & Recreation $1,781.39, Police $342.86 per ADU: roughly 40 to 49% of standard single-family rates. The transportation fee tier for an 800 sq ft ADU is ambiguous in the published schedule, carried here as $663.75–$1,125.
How much are ADU permit fees in Long Beach?
Worked from the published FY26 schedule: the $140,736 valuation (800 sq ft × $175.92) prices the building permit at about $1,283, the combination R-3 permit at $1,924, standard plan check at $962, plus $310 planning plan check and roughly $168 in filing and surcharges — about $3,360 at the counter before impact and school fees.
Do I pay school district fees on an ADU in Long Beach?
Yes — $4,304, the highest in this series. LBUSD charges $5.38 per square foot on ADUs over 500 square feet. Oakland charges $5.17 and San Francisco $3.79 by comparison.
Does Long Beach have pre-approved ADU plans?
Yes, and the program genuinely operates. PAADU plans from registered designers can be approved over-the-counter with same-day permit issuance — unlike San Francisco, whose published library holds zero approved plans.