How to Qualify an ADU or JADU Lead Before You Quote the Project - Single-Family Properties

A homeowner calls and says they want to build an ADU in the backyard. They know roughly how large they want it, they have been looking at designs online, and their next question is usually predictable: how much will it cost to get the permits handled?

There still may not be enough information to give them a responsible answer.

An ADU project is tied to a specific property. The jurisdiction matters. What is already built on the lot matters. The location of the proposed unit matters. A garage conversion creates a different permit scope from new detached construction, and a homeowner who already has plans sitting in corrections needs something very different from somebody who is still deciding whether the unit should have one bedroom or two.

We have spent years around permit-expediting sales conversations with homeowners, contractors, architects, engineers, developers, and investors. One of the easiest mistakes to make during ADU intake is treating the caller's description as though it already defines the project. It usually gives you a starting point. Qualification is where the actual scope starts becoming clear.

This guide focuses on single-family properties in California. Multifamily ADU qualification deserves its own discussion because the state rules and possible unit configurations are materially different.

What Is an ADU or JADU in California?

An accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is an independent dwelling located on the same property as a primary residence. California recognizes several common forms, including detached ADUs, attached ADUs, and units created by converting existing space such as a garage or part of the residence. The California Department of Housing and Community Development describes an ADU as having complete independent living facilities for one or more people.

A junior accessory dwelling unit, or JADU, is more limited. Under California's current state law, a JADU can contain no more than 500 square feet of interior livable space and must be contained entirely within a single-family residence. An attached garage can qualify as part of that residence for JADU purposes. The unit needs an efficiency kitchen and may either have its own sanitation facilities or share them with the primary residence.

That distinction becomes useful during a sales conversation. If a homeowner describes a small unit inside the existing house or attached garage, a JADU may be part of the discussion. If they are describing a separate structure in the backyard, they are not describing a JADU.

Be careful with broad statements about how large an ADU can be. California law gives ADUs substantial protections, but 1,200 square feet is not a universal maximum that applies identically to every project. Local ordinances can establish size standards within state-law limits, and different statutory pathways apply to different ADU configurations.

HCD's March 2026 ADU Handbook says local maximum-size rules generally must allow at least 850 square feet, or 1,000 square feet for an ADU with more than one bedroom.

Where a local agency does not have a compliant ADU ordinance, the state-law maximum for a new detached ADU is 1,200 square feet.

For someone qualifying the lead, the practical lesson is simpler: establish what the homeowner wants to build, then research the actual property and applicable jurisdiction before treating a general state-law number as the answer.

Start With the Property Address

If there is one piece of information we would rather not quote an ADU project without, it is the address.

A caller may tell you they want an 800-square-foot detached ADU. That still leaves open some of the most important questions in the project.

• Which city or county has jurisdiction?

• What does the parcel look like?

• Where does the existing house sit?

• Is there a detached garage?

• Are other structures visible?

• Does the property appear to have enough usable area for what the owner is describing?

• Are there existing permits, previous additions, open applications, or other conditions that deserve investigation?

The address gives the salesperson somewhere to start verifying the conversation.

We usually want to identify the jurisdiction and then look at whatever property information is reasonably available. That can include the jurisdiction's planning or GIS tools, permit records, assessor information, aerial imagery, previous plans when available, and other records that help the team understand what exists.

Google Maps, satellite imagery, and real-estate websites can be extremely useful during this stage because they let you look at the property while the homeowner is talking. They should be treated as research aids rather than final proof of legal conditions or exact property boundaries. If the location of a boundary materially affects the proposed ADU and reliable records do not establish it, the project may eventually require a survey.

The salesperson does not need to complete full feasibility analysis while the prospect waits on the phone, but they do need enough property context to avoid pricing an imaginary version of the site.

Find Out What the Homeowner Actually Wants to Build

Once you know where the property is, let the owner describe what they are trying to accomplish.

The conversation does not have to sound like somebody reading an intake form.

If they tell you the unit is for an adult child who is getting married, that naturally opens the conversation around privacy, bedrooms, bathroom needs, kitchen space, living area, whether the family wants the unit attached to the house, and where they imagine it sitting.

If it is intended for a parent, long-term tenant, guest space, or another use, the conversation may develop differently.

The purpose does not determine what California law allows, but it can help the person handling sales understand what the homeowner actually means when they say, "I want an ADU."

From there, you should be able to establish whether the owner is considering detached construction, an attached unit, a garage conversion, another interior conversion, or an addition that includes an ADU component. Get the approximate square footage, intended layout, bedroom and bathroom count where known, and proposed location on the property.

Homeowners are not always fully decided when they call. That is normal.

Someone may begin the conversation wanting a 1,000-square-foot detached unit and realize, after discussing how they intend to use it and what already exists on the site, that they want to explore another configuration. The salesperson's job at that stage is to understand their intention well enough to know what should be researched next.

Compare the Proposed ADU With What Already Exists

An ADU should not be qualified as though it will be dropped onto an empty parcel.

You need to understand the property around it.

Look at the primary residence, garages, existing accessory structures, previous additions, other dwelling units, and any work the homeowner says has already been completed or is currently underway. Ask whether any other permits are open and whether there are known code-enforcement issues or unpermitted conditions.

A natural question can uncover quite a bit:

"Is the ADU the only work you have going on at the property right now, or is anything else already permitted, under review, under construction, or being worked out with the city?"

That is usually easier for a homeowner to answer than a string of technical questions about permit history.

If something else does come up, investigate whether it actually affects the ADU scope before drawing conclusions. California ADU law contains protections that can limit a local agency's ability to force correction of unrelated nonconforming conditions as a condition of approving certain ADUs, while building and health-and-safety issues can still require attention.

The commercial point is to know the condition exists before the proposal goes out.

If the property also has an unpermitted garage conversion, an active addition permit, or a code-enforcement case, the company should understand whether that work is part of its proposed scope. Clear proposal exclusions matter when several property issues are present at once.

For homeowners already dealing with enforcement, we covered the broader legalization process separately in Code Violation for Unpermitted Work - What California Homeowners Should Do.

Find Out How Far Along the Project Already Is

Two homeowners can describe the exact same proposed ADU while requiring completely different services.

One has an idea and a property.

The other has architectural plans, structural calculations, Title 24, an application number, and two pages of correction comments from the city.

Qualification has to establish where the project currently sits.

Ask whether the owner is still exploring the project, has begun design, already has plans, has hired an engineer or contractor, has submitted anything to the jurisdiction, or has received corrections.

When a project is already in review, get specific.

If somebody wants a firm to take over an ADU that is sitting in corrections, the current correction comments and plan set are basic pricing information. A prospect who refuses to provide them is asking the new firm to price work it has not been allowed to see.

That should make you cautious.

You should also find out who is already involved. An architect, designer, structural engineer, surveyor, contractor, previous permit expediter, or other consultant may already own part of the work.

That matters because permit firms have very different service models. One company may handle permit running only. Another may provide expediting and drafting. Another may coordinate architectural and engineering work through outside professionals. A contractor may be managing the whole project and only need help on the permit side.

Understand What the Client Is Asking You to Do

"I need help with my ADU" is not a scope of work.

The person could need early feasibility research. They might need plans prepared. They may already have an architect and only want permit expediting. Their plans could be approved by one department and stalled with another. They might want someone to take over corrections after another consultant stopped responding.

Until that is clear, the sales conversation is still incomplete.

This is also where permit firms need to understand their own boundaries.

A permit expediter that does not provide design should not casually quote architectural work because the homeowner assumes everything is included. A firm that subcontracts drafting or engineering needs to know whether those services belong in the proposal. A permit runner may only be appropriate once the application path and package are already understood.

There are also callers who are not ready for an expediting proposal because what they really need is feasibility work.

They may have several ideas for the property, limited understanding of what is allowed, and a long list of feasibility questions that require actual research before anyone can define a permitting scope.

There is nothing wrong with that. It simply means the first paid service may need to be due diligence or feasibility rather than full permit management.

That distinction protects both sides. The client knows what they are buying, and the permit firm is not giving away hours of technical research under the label of a free quote.

If you are trying to understand the difference between a permit runner and expediter, our guide on permit runners and permit expediters goes deeper into what each role can look like during permitting.

Ask About Timing Without Selling a Timeline You Do Not Control

Timeline should always come up during qualification because it tells you a lot about the client.

There is a difference between a homeowner planning for next year and someone who has already selected a contractor and expects construction to begin soon.

There is also a difference between urgency and an impossible expectation.

California has become increasingly strict about how long permitting agencies can take at certain stages of ADU review. Under the March 2026 HCD guidance, a permitting agency must determine whether an ADU or JADU application is complete and provide written notice within 15 business days of receiving it. State law also contains a 60-day approve-or-deny timeline for the permit process, subject to the conditions and tolling rules described in the statute.

Those statutory clocks should not be translated into, "Your ADU will be permitted in 60 days."

A homeowner may still need design work, engineering, property research, a survey, supporting documents, application preparation, corrections, applicant revisions, or coordination with other permitting agencies. Coastal properties and other special conditions can bring additional requirements, even though current ADU law also establishes timing protections for many coastal ADU applications.

An experienced salesperson should be able to explain the difference between an agency review deadline and the total time required to take a project from an early idea to a permit that can actually be issued.

If the caller insists that the entire ADU must be designed, reviewed, corrected, and permitted within a timeline nobody can responsibly support, take that seriously before accepting the project. Expectations formed during sales tend to follow the project long after the salesperson hangs up.

When Is an ADU Lead Ready for a Proposal?

There is no universal qualification threshold for every permit business.

Some firms send proposals relatively early because they want the homeowner to see pricing and scope while the conversation is fresh. Others are more selective, especially when their services include plans drafting, engineering, feasibility, or complicated permitting work.

The useful standard is whether you understand enough of the project to know what you are pricing.

Before a meaningful proposal goes out, we would generally want to understand the property address, jurisdiction, basic ADU configuration, approximate scope, current project status, and the services the prospect expects the firm to perform.

That does not mean every detail has to be solved.

A homeowner can still be choosing finishes or working through minor layout decisions.

Those items may have little effect on the permit-expediting fee.

The missing information becomes a problem when it can materially change the work you are agreeing to perform.

An existing project in corrections is a good example. If the prospect wants you to take over permit coordination but will not provide the current plans or correction comments, you cannot see what has already been submitted, what the jurisdiction is asking for, or how much coordination may be required.

Giving a firm number anyway creates avoidable risk.

When You Should Pause Before Quoting

A missing address is one of the clearest reasons to slow down.

There may be businesses that can provide standardized preliminary pricing without it, but if your fee depends on researching the property, understanding the jurisdiction, or seeing what exists on the lot, quoting without an address removes one of the most basic inputs you have.

A scope that never becomes definable creates the same problem. If the caller keeps changing between a garage conversion, detached ADU, addition, and general property remodel without deciding what they want researched, you may need to narrow the assignment or offer feasibility first.

Takeover work deserves another level of caution when the prospect will not provide existing plans, applications, or correction comments.

Impossible schedule expectations are also worth addressing before a contract is signed. A homeowner who needs a permit by an arbitrary date may simply need a clearer explanation of the process. If they continue expecting the firm to promise something outside its control, the project can become difficult very quickly.

The same applies to approval guarantees.

California requires ADU and JADU applications subject to state law to be considered ministerially, using objective standards rather than discretionary review. That gives qualifying ADUs meaningful legal protection, but the application still has to comply with applicable requirements and can receive deficiency or correction comments when it does not.

A permit professional can explain the likely path after researching the property.

Guaranteeing a particular approval before reviewing the project is a different proposition.

Poor communication by itself deserves more judgment.

People get busy. Some homeowners are anxious. Others disappear for weeks after paying and then return when they finally have the documents you requested. Slow replies can be frustrating, but they do not automatically make someone a bad client.

The concern is greater when the lack of cooperation prevents you from understanding or performing the work.

The Biggest ADU Qualification Mistake Is Quoting Before You Understand the Property

Imagine the entire intake consists of this:

The homeowner wants an 800-square-foot ADU.

You know the approximate size. You know they want permits. You may even know roughly what similar work usually costs.

You still do not know enough.

There is no address. Nobody has looked at the site. You do not know whether the owner means attached or detached construction. You do not know what already exists, whether they have plans, whether another permit is active, who is on the project team, or whether the fee they are asking about includes design, engineering coordination, feasibility, corrections, or permit processing alone.

Any price given at that point is being attached to a description rather than an understood project.

That is why the address carries so much weight in ADU qualification.

It lets you connect the sales conversation with the actual property.

From there, the rest of the questions become easier to organize. What does the homeowner want to build? Does it make sense in relation to what exists? How far along are they? Who has already been hired? What work is still missing? What part of that work does your company actually provide?

An experienced permit salesperson does not need to solve every code question on the first phone call. They need to recognize which questions have to be answered before the firm commits to a scope and price.

That is a much more useful standard.

Conclusion

ADU leads can sound simple because homeowners usually know the headline version of what they want: a backyard unit, a garage conversion, a small attached space for family, or another residence somewhere on the property.

The permit scope becomes clearer once that idea is connected to a real address, the existing site, the applicable jurisdiction, the status of the project, and the professionals already involved.

For permit expediters, contractors, engineers, architects, and salespeople handling these inquiries, good qualification protects more than the proposal. It helps the client understand what they are actually asking for and gives the delivery team a much cleaner starting point if the project moves forward.

You do not need every technical answer before sending a proposal.

You do need enough information to know what you are proposing.

And for an ADU project, that usually starts with one very basic question:

What's the property address?