.010 The Building Official is authorized and directed, in consultation with the Fire Chief and the General Manager of Public Utilities, to develop and adopt a checklist of all requirements with which small rooftop solar energy systems shall comply to be eligible for expedited review. The checklist shall be in substantial conformance with the recommendations for expedited permitting, including the checklists and standard plans, contained in the most current version of the California Solar Permitting Guidebook adopted by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. The checklist and required permitting documentation shall be published on the city’s internet website.
.020 An application that satisfies the information requirements in the checklist, as determined by the Building Official, shall be deemed complete. Upon confirmation by the Building Official of the application and supporting documents being complete and meeting the requirements of the checklist, and consistent with this Chapter, the Building Official shall approve the application and issue all required permits or authorizations. Upon receipt of an incomplete application, the Building Official shall issue a written correction notice detailing all deficiencies in the application and any additional information required to be eligible for expedited permit issuance.
.030 The applicant may submit the permit application and associated documentation to the Planning and Building Department of the City by personal, mailed or, to the extent the City is technologically capable, electronic submittal, and shall pay any required permit processing and inspection fees. In the case of electronic submittal, the electronic signature of the applicant on all forms, applications and other documentation may be used in lieu of a wet signature. In connection with each permit application, an applicant shall:
.0301 Verify to the Building Official’s reasonable satisfaction through the use of standard engineering evaluation techniques that the support structure for the small residential rooftop solar energy system is stable and adequate to transfer all wind, seismic, and dead and live loads associated with the system to the building foundation; and
.0302 At the applicant’s cost, verify to the Building Official’s reasonable satisfaction using standard electrical inspection techniques that the existing electrical system, including existing line, load, ground and bonding wiring as well as main panel and subpanel sizes, are adequately sized, based on the existing electrical system’s current use, to carry all new photovoltaic electrical loads.
.040 For a small residential rooftop solar energy system eligible for expedited review, only one inspection shall be required, which shall be done in a timely manner and may include a consolidated inspection by the Building Official and Fire Chief. If a small residential rooftop solar energy system fails inspection, a subsequent inspection is authorized; however the subsequent inspection need not conform to the requirements of this subsection.
.050 Upon confirmation by the Building Official of the application and supporting documentation being complete and meeting the requirements of the checklist, the Building Official shall administratively approve the application and issue all required permits or authorizations. Such approval does not authorize an applicant to connect the small residential rooftop energy system to the local utility provider’s electricity grid. The applicant is responsible for obtaining such approval or permission from the local utility provider. (Ord. 6337, § 1 (part); August 18, 2015.)