ADU Builder in Burbank, CA

Looking for an ADU builder in Burbank? The right builder here does more than pour a foundation — they have to navigate Burbank’s own ADU ordinance (Burbank Municipal Code section 10-1-620.3), a Tier 2 electronic plan-check process with a 48-hour zoning screen, Burbank Water and Power clearances, the Rancho horsekeeping zone where new construction is off the table, hillside and Mountain Fire Zone parcels in the Verdugo foothills, and a city pre-approved plan program with exactly two plans in its library. This page lays out how an ADU project in Burbank actually runs, and what to check before you hire anyone.

ADU Cities designs, permits, and builds ADUs across Southern California as one design-build team. For the citywide rules picture, start with our Burbank ADU page; for the statewide builder picture, see our ADU contractor guide.

What We Build in Burbank

• Garage conversions — the workhorse Burbank project, especially in the bungalow neighborhoods with detached, often alley-loaded rear garages. Full treatment: our Burbank garage conversion guide.
• Detached new-construction ADUs — a backyard cottage on the deeper lots in the flats and on hillside parcels, including above-garage units where the parcel supports them — but not in the Rancho, where the code bars new ADU construction (below).
• Attached ADUs and additions — new living space built onto the main house, detailed to match its rooflines and materials — often the pragmatic path on hillside lots where new grading is expensive.
• Junior ADUs (JADUs) — a unit of up to 500 square feet created inside the existing home or an attached garage. Burbank’s code requires owner occupancy for a JADU (the owner lives in the main home or the JADU) and a recorded deed restriction — the builder should surface both before design, not at final.
• Burbank pre-approved plan builds — we build one of the city’s two BPAP library plans on your lot when it fits (next sections).

Choosing the Path: Conversion, Custom Build, or City Pre-Approved Plan

Burbank’s Own Numbers (BMC §10-1-620.3)

Burbank’s ADU ordinance applies in the city’s single-family and multifamily residential zones (R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, MDR-3, MDR-4, and R-1-H) and reviews ADUs ministerially — no discretionary hearing for a complete application, which the city must approve or deny within the state’s 60-day review period. As adopted (Ordinance No. 23-4,002, effective December 8, 2023), its local standards layer on top of the state floor like this:

• Size: new attached and detached ADUs are capped at 850 square feet, or 1,000 square feet for an ADU with more than one bedroom — measured exterior wall to exterior wall in Burbank (the midpoint of a shared wall for an attached unit). A conversion of an existing accessory structure may instead use the greater of that cap or the structure’s existing size, plus up to 150 square feet for entry only. Each extra on-site parking stall beyond the required minimum can add up to 120 square feet, with a recorded deed restriction. A JADU is capped at 500 square feet. New ADUs are exempt from floor area ratio, lot coverage, open space, and minimum lot size requirements.
• Height: a detached ADU not built over a garage is limited to 17 feet to its architectural features; 18 feet within a half-mile walking distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor (plus 2 feet for a roof pitch matching the main house), and 18 feet on a lot with an existing or proposed multistory multifamily dwelling. An ADU built on top of a detached garage or accessory structure may reach a 20-foot top plate and 23 feet to architectural features, with ground-floor access (stairs and landing) limited to 150 square feet.
• Setbacks: 4 feet from side and rear property lines for new ADUs, conversions keep the existing structure’s legal setbacks, and new ADUs must also hold a 5-foot building-face-to-building-face separation and 4 feet eave-to-eave from other structures (unless fitting an 800-square-foot ADU with 4-foot setbacks is physically infeasible).
• Parking: at most one space per ADU or per bedroom, whichever is less, with exemptions the code lists (transit proximity, historic district, conversions and other units inside existing structures, permit-parking areas that do not offer the ADU occupant a permit, a car share within one block, proven infeasibility) — and never replacement parking when a garage is converted or demolished for an ADU.
• Terms: a standard ADU carries no owner-occupancy requirement — Burbank’s code says so itself, suspending its own owner-occupancy subsection under state law. A JADU is different: owner occupancy and a recorded covenant are required. Burbank’s code as adopted sets ADU rental terms at longer than 90 days — stricter than the state’s 30-day floor — and an ADU may be rented separately from the main home but never sold separately.
• Fees: development impact fees are not charged for an ADU under 750 square feet and are charged proportionally (ADU square footage relative to the primary dwelling) above that size; the same proportionality applies to the sewer facilities charge. Two line items a homeowner can verify in the FY 2026–27 Adopted Fee Schedule: the Planning application for an ADU is $1,728.42 per application, and Public Works ADU plan check reviews are $273.95. Building permit fees are calculated from the project, not flat — total budgets by ADU type are in our ADU cost guide.

Two cautions belong with any local numbers. First, the state floor in Government Code sections 66310–66342 applies no matter what the local text says — including the protected 800-square-foot detached pathway and the conversion pathway for existing structures. Second, Burbank spent 2026 in an HCD-reviewed update of this ordinance (the City Council took up draft updates in July 2026 after HCD’s comment letter), so treat the figures above as the starting point and confirm the current standards for your parcel with the Planning Division. Our size and setback guide covers the statewide framework these numbers sit inside.

The Burbank Pre-Approved ADU Program (BPAP) — What Is Actually Available

Burbank runs a Pre-Approved ADU Program under AB 1332, created to cut permit issuance timeframes for preapproved plans toward 30 days. The library is small and specific — exactly two plans are listed:

• BPAP 24001: the City of Burbank’s own 432-square-foot, one-story studio ADU.
• ADU17: a 360-square-foot, one-story studio by IT House, accepted through the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety’s listing.

Four facts matter before you count on one:

• New construction only: the city’s FAQ is explicit that garage conversions cannot be submitted to BPAP, and stackable or side-by-side ADUs and added accessory spaces are not in the program either.
• As drawn, or not at all: any rearrangement of the preapproved design — even moving kitchen cabinets or bathroom fixtures — voids the preapproval and sends the project through standard plan check.
• Program size limits still apply: 850 square feet for a studio or one-bedroom and up to 1,000 for a two-bedroom, unless special zoning requirements control — the city caps Very High Fire Zone projects at 800 square feet with no exceptions, and the Rancho allows no new ADU construction at all.
• Preapproval is not the whole permit: enrollment covers Building & Safety review for life safety, structural, and energy; the site-specific permit still runs through Planning, Public Works, BWP Electric, BWP Water, and Fire, plus Burbank Unified school facilities fees. The city states BPAP permit review timelines of 30 business days for a first review and 15 for each recheck, and a preapproval lasts only until the current triennial building code cycle expires.
• Solar is sized into new construction: the city’s BPAP documents require a photovoltaic system for new construction at the 718-square-foot threshold (per the California Energy Code equation the city cites, with an exception where the calculation comes out under 1.8 kWdc), permitted separately and installed before final inspection.

A builder who knows the program will run this fit test honestly — lot, zone, fire status, and your actual space needs — before steering you toward a library plan or a custom design.

Burbank Pitfalls a Builder Should Catch Up Front

The Rancho: no new construction

The Rancho’s R-1-H horsekeeping zone is the sharpest local rule in Burbank: under section 10-1-620.3(N), a standalone new-construction ADU is not permitted there at all. The paths that remain are conversions — an existing permitted garage, an existing permitted guest dwelling, or space inside the main dwelling (outside the rear 35 feet reserved for horsekeeping) — while converting a barn, stable, shed, or other accessory structure is prohibited, and the lot gets at most one ADU or one JADU. A builder who proposes a brand-new detached cottage on a Rancho lot has not read the code; confirm zoning first, because the city’s own application asks every applicant whether the property is in the Rancho area.

Hillside lots and the fire zones

Burbank’s hillside neighborhoods climb into the Verdugo foothills above the flats. Slope changes the project — grading, retaining, drainage, and foundation design cost more, and construction access is tighter — and Burbank layers two distinct fire rules on top. The Municipal Code’s Mountain Fire Zone provision (section 10-1-620.3(M)) limits R-1 and R-1-H lots in the city’s designated Mountain Fire Zones to one ADU of no more than 800 square feet, or one JADU of no more than 500 square feet, with brush clearance compliance; the BPAP page separately caps Very High Fire Zone projects at 800 square feet with no exceptions. Hillside development standards can also require a Hillside Development Permit first where a project involves grading, a taller roof, or larger floor area — the permit itself is listed at $9,421.36 per application in the current fee schedule, so whether it applies belongs in the feasibility answer, not in a change order. (Fire sprinklers follow the main house: an ADU needs them only if the primary dwelling does.) On a steep lot, a compact attached ADU or a conversion of the existing garage frequently pencils better than a large detached structure — a builder should show you that math, not just the rendering.

The BWP step nobody budgets for

Burbank Water and Power is the city’s own utility, and its Electric and Water departments are both in the ADU clearance set — the city’s correction list carries a dedicated BWP Electric ADU plan check section. Electrical service capacity is the usual pinch point in Burbank’s 1920s–50s bungalow stock: if the main service needs an upgrade to carry the ADU, that is real money and real schedule, and it belongs in the feasibility budget. The same older stock routinely needs a sewer lateral evaluation before design is finalized.

An ordinance in mid-update

Burbank’s ADU ordinance sits under the state floor in Government Code sections 66310–66342, and during 2026 the city was working through an HCD-reviewed update — draft changes went to HCD in February 2026, HCD commented in April, and the City Council directed staff on the draft in July 2026. The practical consequence for a homeowner: the standards that govern your project are the ones in force at your submittal, confirmed parcel by parcel with the Planning Division. A builder who designs to the state floor and verifies the local layer at intake will not have to redesign mid-review.

How an ADU Cities Project Runs in Burbank

1. Feasibility first: zoning check (Rancho R-1-H, hillside, and Mountain Fire Zone status included), trees and access, panel and sewer condition, and which path — conversion, custom, or BPAP library plan — the lot actually supports. See the feasibility report.
2. Planning application: the section 10-1-620.7 package — application form, site plans, floor plans, elevations, pictures, and the property deed — filed with the Planning Division.
3. Electronic plan check: Tier 2 submittal through ProjectDox, the 48-hour Zoning Pre-clearance screen, and department clearances (Planning, Public Works, BWP Electric and Water, Fire, plus the BUSD receipt) — inside the 180-day plan check window. The statewide flow is in our permit process guide.
4. Design to the context: rooflines, window rhythms, and materials matched to the main house and the street; budgets by type are in the cost guide and financing paths in the financing guide.
5. One accountable build: design, permitting, and construction under one contract and one license — the process is laid out on Our Process.

This page summarizes California law (Gov. Code §§66310–66342) and City of Burbank sources (Burbank Municipal Code §§10-1-620.1–620.7, as amended by Ordinance No. 23-4,002; the Community Development Department’s BPAP and building-permit pages, the Residential/ADU Plan Check Correction List, and the FY 2026–27 Adopted Fee Schedule; the Community Development staff report of July 28, 2026 on the pending ordinance update) as of November 2026. Ordinances and program offerings change — confirm parcel-specific requirements with the City of Burbank Community Development Department.