HISTORICAL RESEARCH GUIDE

Researching the Building

Building Permit

Department of Building and Safety
Records Department
201 N. Figueroa St. Room 110
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 482-6899
or
6262 Van Nuys Blvd. Room 251
Van Nuys, CA 91401
(818) 374-4394

Building permits allow you to trace the complete history of construction done on the property. Building permits typically provide you with the following information:

• Date construction was completed
• Owner of the resource at time of construction
• Purpose of the building
• Number of rooms
• Valuation of the building when it was built
• Size of the building
• Architect
• Builder
• Number of stories
• Material of construction

In addition to the above, you can find certificates of occupancy and alteration permits that show changes made in the building.

All of the above listed documents can be found in the Records Department at the Department of Building and Safety. Building permits are viewable on microfilm, and copies are available for a fee.

In general, blueprints and other drawings are not available for single-family homes or commercial structures under three stories that were built before 1978. A charge of $1.50 per page (except for blueprints) is assessed for any documents you request.

To obtain building permit by fax or to order copies for pick-up:

• Download the request form.

• Submit by fax to:

Downtown office – (213) 482-6862

Van Nuys office – (818) 374-5013

• Allow 7-10 days for your request to be processed. You can request that copies be faxed to you or left for pick-up at the office closest to you.

To obtain building permits in person (same-day service):

• You must first take a number and fill out a research request form.
• When your number is called, a staff member will use your property’s address to pull up an index of existing building permits and other documents. (See Appendix 2)
• Looking at the index, you will be able to identify those permits of interest. Usually, the most useful permits are those for the original construction of the building. You can locate this permit by looking at the second column, titled subtype, of the index. Look for the building permit that has either a number 1 or 2 in the second column. This usually denotes a permit as being for original construction. Those entries in the index that have a 3 in the subtype column are usually for alterations or additions made to the building. The third column displays the date that the permit was issued. If an original construction permit is not available, the permit with the earliest date may prove helpful. (Note: If an original construction permit is not listed in the index, you may want to double check the original street address of the property, as those whose street names have changed will still be listed under the original street name. For more information on checking history of street names, see Appendix 3).
• Once you have identified the documents that you wish to view, look at the final column. It lists the reel, batch, and frame on which your document is located.
• A staff member will give you access to cabinets housing the film reels, which are organized in numeric order. Locate the film reels you require, and insert a film reel into the reader. Using the key pad, type the batch number, followed by a decimal, then type the frame number. The reader should automatically forward to the corresponding document. If it does not, you can manually locate the frame using a knob on the reader.
• When printing a page, center the document on the screen. Printouts cost $1.50/page.

Original permits for some older buildings can be found in cabinet known as the “20-year file,” which contains some documents from 1905 to the mid 1950s. If you otherwise have trouble locating a permit for your property, check this file. If there is no original building permit available, you can visit the Los Angeles County Assessor’s office to find a year of original construction on the land, and its original owner.

The document index provided is very helpful for tracing a complete history of work completed on your property. Some properties may have extended alteration and addition histories, whiles others, you may find, have had very little work done.

Maps: Sanborn Insurance Maps

Los Angeles Central Library
History Department
630 W. Fifth St.
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213)228-7400
www.lapl.org

Sanborn insurance maps were created to assist fire insurance companies in assessing the risk associated with insuring a particular property. They list street blocks and building numbers, including numbers in use at the time the map was made as well as previous numbers. These maps were made between 1867 and 1970.

To view these maps, visit the History Department at the Los Angeles Central Library. The library owns maps for the entire state of California in its set of Sanborn Maps on microfilm, ranging from 1888 to 1950 on 72 reels. They are catalogued under the number NR 912.794 S198, and are shelved in the microfilm drawers at the far end of the reading room. There is a guide to the Sanborn Map collection available at the reference desk, which is necessary in order to determine the reel on which your map is located.

The Los Angeles Sanborns cover four basic time periods:

• 1888 – original covering a small portion of downtown
• 1894 – Slightly expanded downtown area
• 1906 to 1930 – As the area grew and the Sanborn coverage expanded. These volumes exist in their original form. The date of first issue is listed right after the volume number, for example vol. 7 1907. This time frame extends from 1907 to 1930 when the last volumes were completed. This begins at the end of reel 20 and continues to reel 27.

D. 1950 – As changes were made in the covered areas the changes were reflected by pastings which were applied by Sanborn representatives. The final set of the Library of Congress are corrected atlases as they looked in 1950. Most architects and urban planners need to look at this set which begins at reel 28 and continues to reel 34.

A second set of Sanborns now available at the library covers only Los Angeles City from the 1950s through the 1960s and a few maps into the 1970s. This set does not cover outlying cities such as Santa Monica, Pasadena, or the City of Industry, etc. These are shelved after the early Sanborns in the microfilm drawer.

To find Sanborn Maps:

• There are 40 volumes covering Los Angeles Proper, so you must first determine the volume that covers your desired property’s area.
• Check the large General Index to Sanborn Maps at the reference desk for the volume number and sheet number on which your property’s area is located. The index is organized by street name, and differentiates between North, South, East, West, Street, Avenue, etc. If you are unsure of the exact address of your property (which you shouldn’t be, by this point) you can check the Thomas Guide index to Sanborns, also available at the reference desk.
• Once you’ve determined the volume and sheet number, you must next find out on which reel your map is located. This can be done by checking the Guide to Sanborns at the front desk. Look under the pages tabbed “ Los Angeles” for the appropriate reel.
• Go to the cabinet housing the reels and find the appropriate reel. Its contents can be viewed using the adjacent microfilm readers.

A library card gives you access to California Sanborns through the Los Angeles Central Library’s website.

• From the main page of the library’s website, click on “Databases.”
• You will be prompted to enter your library card number and ZIP code.
• A long list of alphabetically organized databases will be displayed. Locate and click on “Sanborn Maps.”
• On the Sanborn website’s mainpage, click on “Browse Maps.” Follow the step-by-step instructions to locate your property.

Be sure to check with the Map Librarian – the LAPL collection contains other maps that may be of use.