Development Grading Permit

Development grading is the excavation and/or placement of fill to prepare a site for development.  Development grading has three possible permit types: removal and re-compaction, regular and engineered.  The permit type is based on the building site elevation increase and then the amount of cubic yards of earth materials that are being moved.

Development grading that does not change the elevation beneath the building greater than1-foot and moves more than 50 cubic yards of material is required to obtain a Removal and Re-compaction grading permit (R&R).

Development grading that increases the elevation beneath the building greater than 1-foot and moves 500 cubic yards or less is Regular Grading and more than 500 cubic yards is Engineered Grading.  In addition to the regular grading requirements, engineered grading requires plans to be prepared by a professional engineer and a hydrology report for the project.

Grading Permit Process

A grading permit application may be started at any time but should be submitted after a zoning clearance from Planning has been approved to save potential costs should revisions be necessary.

Once a complete application package and plan check deposit has been provided the grading plan check process can begin. The receipt should be provided to Building and Safety (B&S) to satisfy the requirement in the A part of the B&S checklist for a soils review. The grading permit plan check may occur concurrently with the Building and Safety plan check.

Development Grading  permits may go through several plan check reviews before the permit documents and plans are acceptable to issue the permit. Once the permit is issued a pre-construction meeting will need to be held prior to conducting any work.  The meeting should be attended by  the county inspector, soils representative, contractor, owner/owner’s representative, and storm water representative.

Prior to placing any fill materials, the bottom of the excavation surface will need to be approved by the soils engineer and observed by the Grading Inspector.  Upon acceptance, fill may be placed to achieve rough grade elevations.  Should building permits be necessary a request for a rough grade certification (RGC) must be made.  The County grading inspector will need to perform a site visit to document conditions, as well as perform a review of interim compaction reports and rough grade certification acceptance (Form LDS-08) by the Civil Engineer, Soils Engineer and Engineering Geologist, as necessary.

Upon acceptance of reports, certification, and site conditions, the inspector will prepare and forward to B&S a Memo (Form LDS-10) stating acceptance of the rough grade work. Depending on the complexity of the project several RGCs may be needed before completion of grading.

To close the Grading Permit as-built plans will need to be submitted, reviewed by your grading inspector, and Engineer Manager.  A  final site inspection will also be performed. LDS will then process the closure of the project during this time and may ask for additional deposits to take care of an outstanding account balance. Once closure is finished,  a completion letter  and any final grading clearances that are needed is produced. If your account has a credit balance after final charges are posted a refund will be given around 60 days after closure.

The grading permit  deposit amounts are calculated based on an  average amount of hours spent on review, processing, and inspection.  Every project is different and may require additional deposit above the initial deposit.

Application and Documents

Single Lot Grading Permit Application Package (This Download contains all necessary forms below) This Package contains an application form, fee schedule, instructions, and a checklist for use in applying for a grading permit. (PDF)

  • LDS-GP – Development Grading Check List. Checklist of the application packet.
  • Grading Permit Fee Schedule – Grading Permit Plan Review & Inspection Fees
  • LDS-01 – Grading permit application for all types of grading permits. Permit Form/application.
  • LDS-02 – Plan check agreement. Agreement to perform plan check review.
  • LDS-03 – Authorization of agent. Document authorizing the agent to manage the plan check process on the owners behalf.
  • LDS-04 – Acknowledgement of employment of consultants An owner acknowledgment regarding employment of consultants.
  • LDS-05 – Grading Plan Check Checklist. This checklist is used by the staff engineer during review of grading permit applications.
  • Stormwater Quality form(s): SW Form. Complete stormwater form.
  • LDS-11 – Consent to off-site construction. Sample Off-site Construction Permission Letter. Required if work limits is performed outside property lines. Modify to fit your project specific needs.
  • Grading Title Sheet:  The Grading Plan Cover Sheet must be included as the first sheet of all Grading Plan sets. (PDF ZIP)
  • Grading Sheet Title Block: The Grading Plan title block must be included in all Grading Plan sets.  (PDF ZIP)

Online Submittal

Grading Permits can be applied for online through the Ventura County Citizen Access website at vcca.ventura.org. You can also submit your grading permit application documents to our group email PWA_LDservices@venturacounty.gov

Fees and Deposits

Fees and Deposits are set each year by the County Board of Supervisors and can found at this location (Schedule of Fees and Deposits)

Geotechnical Report Requirements

Please see the Geotechnical Report Review page, linked here, for geotechnical report requirements.

Hydrology Report Requirements

Hydrology and hydraulic study may be required for development grading projects to demonstrate that the project will not result in diversion of storm water, increase in peak flow rates, or contribute to downstream erosion potential. Hydrology report requirements and data can be found at the following Watershed Protection District site, https://publicworks.venturacounty.gov/wpd/hydrology/.

During Construction

Rough Grade Clearance

A Rough Grade Clearance is needed if you have a portion of a project completed and ready for building permit issuance. An example would be that the soil preparation work for a retaining wall foundation is completed but to call for building permit inspection  on the retaining wall  requires that the soil engineer and civil engineer have accepted the work.  Land Development Services would issue a LDS-10 Rough Grade Clearance once we have received an interim compaction report and LDS-08 grading certification form from the project geotechnical engineer and civil engineer .

  • LDS-08 – Rough grading inspection certification(Includes R&R permits)
  • LDS-09 – Fine Grading certification form
  • Grading Inspection Certificate to be completed prior to permit Close out.

Change Order

A change order is needed after permit issuance and changes are being made to the approved grading plans. To request a change to your plan, submit a completed change order form and revised plan sheets identifying the plan changes with revision clouds and a brief description and change order request number in the revision block.

  • LDS-12 Change Order Request Form to be submitted with changes to plans during construction. List items that have changed since permit issuance.

DSIB-1 Change Order – Change orders to issued permit An informational bulletin that describes the procedures for obtaining approval for changes to plans that have already been approved and have an issued permit.

Closure of Permit

To close out your grading permit a final compaction report and as-built plans will need to be submitted. Once received your grading inspector will review the plans and report, then conduct the final site inspection to verify site conditions. Once the as-built plans and site visit are satisfactory the permit will be processed for closure.