← PCG Engineering

Permit guides

ADU Permits in Tracy: a Homeowner's Guide

Tracy reviews ADUs ministerially through building plan check — no discretionary hearing, and the code even drops the passageway requirement. Here's the process.

Last updated October 2026. Rules change; always confirm current requirements with the city before you build.

Who handles your permit

ADU permits in Tracy run through the Community & Economic Development Department — Building Division. Under Tracy Municipal Code 10.08.3180, ADU and JADU applications are considered ministerially through the building plan check process — no separate discretionary zoning permit for a conforming unit. The director must approve or deny a complete application within 60 days.

What you can build

Tracy's ADU rules, in one place

Tracy's ADU ordinance is written into the municipal code rather than a separate handbook, so a few specifics are worth knowing up front: no passageway is required between the street and the ADU entrance, review is ministerial (staff review, not a hearing), and a complete application gets a 60-day decision.

Permit and plan-check fees follow the city's FY 2025/26 Master Fee Schedule (adopted May 2025) and are set by project valuation — ask for a fee estimate at intake so the check you bring matches. Tracy does not currently publish a city pre-approved ADU plan library, so most homeowners go the custom-plan route.

What goes into the submittal

• Building permit application with project valuation — fees are assessed from it.
• Site plan and floor plans, fully dimensioned, with setbacks, easements, driveways, and utility connections.
• Structural details and calculations, plus truss engineering where trusses are used.
• Title 24 energy compliance and mechanical/electrical/plumbing layouts.
• Plan check deposit at submittal; don't start work before the permit issues.

Where applications usually get stuck

• Incomplete applications. The 60-day clock only starts on a complete application — missing structural details or energy forms are the usual holdup.
• Flood zone checks. Parts of Tracy sit in FEMA flood zones; elevation and drainage notes get added to plan check comments.
• HOA/CC&R letters. Newer subdivisions have HOAs whose rules look stricter than the city's — state ADU law preempts them, but sorting it out costs time.
• Utility capacity letters. Tracy's fast growth means water/sewer capacity and meter sizing get scrutinized — line up utility answers early.
• Garage conversions. Foundation, insulation, egress, and fire separation for a garage-to-ADU conversion are never as simple as they look on paper.