How to Choose a Contractor for a Palisades Fire Rebuild

Because CSLB requires it. The board treats rebuilding a home after a wildfire or another declared disaster as a home improvement project, so the contractor has to follow every home improvement contract and payment rule rather than treating the job as new construction. The contract must be a fixed-price contract that lists the full agreed price for the project; time-and-materials and cost-plus contracts are not allowed for disaster-related home improvement work, and the same rules cover ADUs and solar (CSLB Disaster Help Center).

A fixed price protects you only when the scope is written down with it. Business and Professions Code 7159 lists what the contract must contain: the contractor's name, address and license number, approximate start and completion dates, the total price, the down payment with its bold-type notice, a schedule of progress payments that names the work each payment covers, a description of the work and the main materials, the Mechanics Lien Warning and the notice of your right to cancel (CSLB consumer guide). If a contractor cannot meet these terms, CSLB's advice is to seek other bids (CSLB).

Yes, for a short time, and longer than usual after a disaster. A contract to repair or rebuild a home damaged in a declared disaster can be cancelled within seven business days of signing, in writing and without penalty (Cal OES, County workshop slides); the usual window is three business days, or five if you are 65 or older (CSLB). The contractor has to give you a written notice of the right (County workshop slides) and return your payments within 10 days of receiving your cancellation (Civil Code 1689.10). You do not have to give a reason (County workshop slides).

Use the window: seven business days is enough time to run the License Check, call the references and read the contract against the list above.

These questions come from the City's own rebuild rules, and a Palisades bid should answer them. What moves the number itself is in our Palisades rebuild cost guide. If your lot is in unincorporated Altadena, the County asks different questions, and they are on our Altadena rebuild page. Ask each Palisades bidder:

• Which path does the bid assume? Executive Order 1 covers a like-for-like rebuild within 110% of the old footprint and height; Executive Order 8 covers a zoning-compliant single-family home in the Coastal Zone. The path sets the review, the Coastal paperwork and the schedule, so the bid should name it.
• Who prepares the soils and compaction documents? LADBS bulletin P/BC 2026-157 requires combined geology and soils reports on lots in the orange and yellow geohazard zones and lets the consulting engineer certify compaction elsewhere. The contract should say who hires the engineer and whose price includes the reports.
• Who makes the LADBS submittal and answers corrections? Ask who files, who answers plan-check comments and who goes to the Palisades Inspections and Permitting Support Center at 16925 Marquez Ave when a question needs a counter visit (LADBS wildfire information).
• Are the LADWP panel and conduit in the scope? LADWP's undergrounding requirements call for a combination overhead/underground service panel rated up to 400 A, one 3-inch conduit from the panel to the front property line, an early meter-spot request and a pre-construction meeting with the Electric Service Representative (LADWP, Rev. 01/2026). Two bids compare only when both include them.
• Are the wildfire-code assemblies itemized? Pacific Palisades has been a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone since 1999 (City Planning), so the house is built to the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (formerly Chapter 7A): Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, ignition-resistant walls, multi-pane glazing with a tempered pane, rated doors and decks (code summary). Ask for them line by line.
• Does the bid assume a new foundation? LADBS says fire-damaged footings and slabs are not typically permitted to be reused without a licensed engineer's evaluation and LADBS approval (City of LA rebuilding guide). A bid that keeps the old slab should say who evaluated it.
• Can the ADU go first, and is it priced as its own structure? Under Executive Order 1 or 8 an ADU may be built with, before or after the house and does not count against its floor area, and under the Governor's order N-9-25 it can receive its certificate of occupancy before the house does (City Planning rebuild FAQ, EO 8 guidelines, section I.C, N-9-25). If you plan to live on the lot during construction, the bid should sequence the ADU first and carry its foundation, utility connections and wildfire-code assemblies as their own lines. What we build is on our Pacific Palisades ADU page.

In part, and the answer depends on the date and the jurisdiction. Penal Code 396(c) makes it unlawful for a contractor to charge more than 10% above the price it charged for repair or reconstruction services immediately before the emergency was declared, unless the increase is directly attributable to higher supplier, labor or material costs (California Attorney General). Cal OES repeats the 10% rule in its guidance for fire survivors (Cal OES). The rule itself is settled; what to confirm is whether a declaration keeps it in force on the day you sign.

The protections run on emergency declarations, and those have different end dates. Los Angeles County extended its own protections month by month and let them expire on May 28, 2026, while the City of Los Angeles kept its local emergency in force, so, in the words of the City Attorney's report of June 22, 2026, price-gouging protections remain in effect within the City (City Attorney report). Pacific Palisades is inside the City. We have not seen a later official statement, so confirm the current status with the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs at (800) 593-8222 or the Attorney General's office before you rely on it (County workshop slides, Attorney General).