Building an ADU can be a time intensive process. Between the planning and approval process alone, you are looking at a couple of months before you can even start the actual construction.
The actual time it takes to complete an ADU can vary between projects as well due to the type and style of the ADU.
Converting a Garage To an ADU
Converting a garage to an ADU will take much less time than building one from scratch. That is, if you avoid common mistakes many people make when developing an ADU.
On average, the entire process can take anywhere from three to six months. Depending on your design needs and size of garage, this could take even longer.
Construction Phase for Garage Conversion
The construction process will take up about the last two to three months of this time. The rest of the months are used for other parts of the process such as:
- Conducting research
- Choosing a team to work with
- Designing the architectural plans
- Waiting for city approval
Having someone who knows all the different local codes and regulations could severely speed up the design and approval process.
Building A New ADU
Whether you are building an attached or detached ADU, they take about the same amount of time because you are essentially starting from scratch with both.
These ADUs can take anywhere from six months to a year to complete depending on the size and different interior design aspects. For example, if you want a two story ADU, that is going to take more time than a one story one.
Construction Phase for New ADU
The construction phase for building an ADU from scratch is about three to six months.
The planning phase takes much longer in this building process because the city will have to take more time to go over the different aspects of the ADU and make sure everything is within code. With a garage, much of the building has already been done and is already up to code so it doesn’t take as long to approve.