City permit rule
What Santa Clara requires
Santa Clara calls them Simple Permits: streamlined residential permits that cover HVAC replacements, along with water heaters and re-roofs.
- Single-family homeowners, licensed contractors and owners of buildings with four units or less can use them.
- You apply through the city's Permitting Online Portal, at any hour, with no trip to City Hall.
Checked November 2026City of Santa Clara bulletin, Introducing Simple Permits (06/01/2023)
Checked against Santa Clara's own bulletin, November 2026.






