House Plans and Custom Drafting in San Jose, CA
Remote Residential Drafting for San Jose, California
In July 2024, San Jose became the first city in California to let homeowners sell an ADU separately from the main house as a condominium under AB 1033, and the first conversions were approved in August 2025. In a city where the average home is worth $1,462,209 (Zillow, May 2026), that single ordinance changed what a backyard unit is. It is no longer just a rental or a guest suite. It can be a standalone, sellable asset. Apex Drafting Services drafts the plans behind that opportunity: ADU designs, permit-ready drawing sets, and full house plans, produced 100% remotely and delivered ready for San Jose's mandatory SJePlans e-submission.
The City That Turned Backyard Units Into Real Estate You Can Sell
San Jose adopted Ordinance No. 31095 on June 11, 2024, effective July 18, 2024, implementing AB 1033 before any other city in California. Under it, a homeowner can convert an ADU into a condominium and sell it separately from the primary residence, and the first ADU condominium conversions were approved in August 2025 (reported by CapRadio, San Jose Spotlight, and the Bay Area Council). For anyone deciding whether a backyard unit is worth drawing, that changes the underwriting: the unit is no longer only rental income, it is potential resale inventory.
The economics explain why San Jose moved first. Zillow puts the average home value at $1,462,209, up 0.7% year over year as of May 31, 2026, and Redfin shows a median sale price of roughly $1.5 million over the three months ending May 2026, down 1.4% year over year, with homes going pending in about 15 days. That makes San Jose the highest-value major metro among the markets we focus on. When entry-level ownership costs that much, a sellable ADU becomes one of the few ways to create a lower-priced ownership product on land that already exists.
Here is the part that matters for anyone drawing plans: all of this is happening in a city that is not growing. San Jose's population is around 984,000 in 2026 and has been declining roughly 0.55% per year since 2020 (World Population Review, from a 2020 Census count of 1,009,573), even as the surrounding metro grew 0.76% to about 1,848,000 in 2025 (Macrotrends). New subdivisions are not the story here. The story is existing lots working harder: second and third units, additions, remodels, and ADUs designed from the first sketch to stand alone as sellable property.
Permits and Plan Review: What the San Jose Numbers Show
San Jose's residential permitting activity is concentrated in ADUs, and the city publishes its own ADU Permit Activity Dashboards at sanjoseca.gov, so this is one of the better-documented ADU markets in the country. Per city planning department data reported by San Jose Spotlight: roughly 1,500 ADUs have been permitted since 2022, with more than 1,100 final building permits issued; nearly 3,000 ADU permits have been issued and 1,451 units completed since the preapproved plans program launched in 2019; and 123 ADU permits were issued in Q1 2024 alone. One honest gap: broader all-residential permit totals for the metro are not something we have independently confirmed, so we do not quote them.
Two practical realities shape how you should prepare a submission. First, SJePlans electronic submission is mandatory, so every plan set enters the city as a digital package no matter who drew it. Second, plan review is currently running 2 to 3 weeks longer than standard because of application volume. The city offers a fast-track ADU permit service and the preapproved plans program to shorten the path, but the backlog makes one thing more valuable, not less: a complete, coordinated, correction-resistant drawing set the first time. Every review cycle you avoid is time you get back.
California ADU Law and What San Jose Adds on Top
California has the most permissive statewide ADU framework in the country, and it is worth being precise about which rules come from Sacramento and which come from San Jose City Hall, because they stack. Unlike Texas or New York, where no statewide ADU mandate exists and every city writes its own rules, California guarantees a baseline in every jurisdiction. Florida also has a statewide framework, but California's goes further.
Guaranteed by California state law
- AB 68, AB 881, and SB 13 (2020): ministerial approval within 60 days and a guaranteed minimum of 850 square feet
- SB 897 (2023): statewide height minimums
- AB 976 (2023): permanently eliminated owner-occupancy requirements
- AB 2533 (2025): an amnesty path for unpermitted ADUs built before 2020
- SB 543 (2026): a 15-business-day completeness review, with projects automatically deemed approved if a city misses the 60-day clock
Added by the City of San Jose
- AB 1033 opt-in: ADUs may be converted to condominiums and sold separately. This is a local option, not a statewide right, and San Jose was the first city in California to adopt it (Ordinance No. 31095, effective July 18, 2024). Santa Monica and the City and County of San Diego have since followed.
- Up to 3 ADUs allowed on a single-family lot
- A preapproved plans program and a fast-track ADU permit service
- Mandatory SJePlans e-submission for plan review
The design consequence: an ADU drawn for San Jose should be planned with the condo option in mind even if you never use it. A unit that can stand alone as sellable property is worth designing for from day one.
The Drafting Services That Fit This Market
We offer eight residential drafting services. These are the ones the San Jose data argues for most strongly.
ADU Plans & Design
The core service for this market. With up to 3 units allowed per single-family lot and AB 1033 conversion on the table, we design ADUs as potential standalone assets: independent access, sensible utility separation, and layouts that hold value if the unit is ever sold as a condominium.
Permit-Ready Drawings & As-Builts
With review running 2 to 3 weeks longer than standard, submission quality is the variable you control. We deliver digital sets built for SJePlans. As-builts matter here too: AB 2533 opened an amnesty path for unpermitted pre-2020 ADUs, and legalizing one starts with accurate as-built documentation.
Home Additions & Remodel Drafting
A flat-to-declining city population beside a growing metro means most owners are improving in place rather than moving. At an average value of $1.46M, a well-drawn addition or remodel is an investment in an appreciating asset, and it deserves drawings that clear review cleanly.
3D Renderings & Walkthroughs
If your ADU may one day be sold as a condominium, or your project needs buy-in from a lender, a partner, or a family member, photorealistic renderings let people evaluate a unit that does not exist yet. In a market where homes go pending in about 15 days, showing the finished product has real value.
Multigenerational & Universal Design
Three units on one lot is a family compound rule in all but name. When the median sale price sits near $1.5 million, keeping parents or adult children on the same property is often the practical answer, and universal design keeps every unit usable for decades.
Stock House Plans
Starting at $799. San Jose runs its own preapproved ADU plan program, and if one of those designs fits your lot, it is a legitimate route. Our stock library covers what the preapproved list does not: full houses, plans you want to modify, and designs you can adapt before submission.
San Jose also has established local drafting and design firms, plus design-build companies that bundle plans with construction. We do not build, and we are not local. What we offer is drafting as a dedicated remote service: your plans are the product, priced and scoped on their own, delivered in the digital format the city already requires.
How Remote Drafting Works for a San Jose Project
Apex Drafting Services is a remote studio based in Colorado City, Arizona. We have no San Jose office and we do not claim one. For drafting in this city, that costs you nothing in practice, because San Jose requires every plan set to be submitted electronically through SJePlans anyway. The work product is digital from the first sketch to the permit set you file.
Scope by phone or video
We review your lot, your goals, and the rules that apply, from state ADU law to San Jose's 3-unit allowance and condo ordinance. You get a written quote before any drafting starts.
Draft and refine
We produce your plans in CAD and walk you through them remotely. Revision rounds are defined in your quote, and timelines depend on project size and complexity, so we state both up front instead of promising a universal number.
Deliver SJePlans-ready files
You receive a complete digital set formatted for electronic submission. If the city issues plan-check comments, we handle corrections per the scope agreed in your quote.
San Jose Drafting and ADU Questions
Can I really sell my San Jose ADU separately from my house?
Yes. San Jose adopted its AB 1033 ADU condominium ordinance (Ordinance No. 31095) on June 11, 2024, effective July 18, 2024, making it the first city in California to allow ADUs to be sold separately as condominiums. The first conversions were approved in August 2025. Note that AB 1033 is a local option under state law, so this right exists in San Jose because the city opted in; it is not automatic statewide.
How many ADUs can I build on a single-family lot in San Jose?
The City of San Jose allows up to 3 ADUs on a single-family lot. State law adds a guaranteed baseline: ministerial approval within 60 days and a minimum of 850 square feet. As of 2026, SB 543 also requires cities to complete a completeness review within 15 business days and deems a project automatically approved if the city misses the 60-day clock.
How long is San Jose plan review taking right now?
Per the city, plan review is currently running 2 to 3 weeks longer than standard because of application volume, and all submissions must go through the SJePlans electronic system. San Jose offers a fast-track ADU permit service and a preapproved plans program that can shorten the path. Our own drafting timelines vary with project scope, so we quote them per project rather than promising a fixed number of days.
Should I just use one of San Jose's preapproved ADU plans?
Sometimes, yes. The program works: nearly 3,000 ADU permits have been issued and 1,451 units completed since it launched in 2019. A preapproved plan fits when a standard design works on your lot as drawn. Custom or adapted plans make more sense when you are designing around an AB 1033 condo sale, fitting 2 or 3 units on one lot, or working with site constraints a stock design cannot absorb. Our own stock house plans start at $799 if you want a middle path.
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Get a Free Quote for Your San Jose, CA Project
Tell us what you're building and we'll scope it, confirm the timeline, and give you a firm number before any drafting starts. Every plan set is drafted to your local jurisdiction's documentation standards.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (435) 668-1095.
Put Real Plans Behind Your San Jose Project
Whether it is an ADU designed with a future condo sale in mind, an addition, or a full custom home, it starts with a drawing set the city will accept. Tell us about your lot and we will send a written quote.