PermitsPros is a California and nationwide permit expediting firm specializing in building permits and fire protection. Since 2008. Most permit guides stop at city hall. This one covers a fire district — because in the south bay, the district is the fire authority, and we file there.
The district, in plain language
The Santa Clara County Fire Department is the community-facing name of the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, an independent fire district. Its Fire Prevention Division — under Fire Marshal Richard J. Birt — is the office that reviews fire plans and issues fire permits for the district's territory. The Fire Prevention Office is at district headquarters: 1315 Dell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008 · (408) 378-4010; the district publishes headquarters hours of Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The cities the district serves
- Campbell
- Cupertino
- Los Altos
- Los Altos Hills
- Los Gatos
- Monte Sereno
- Saratoga
- Plus fire prevention services in the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County, under contract with the County
That list is why this page exists: a contractor with a fire alarm job in Los Altos or a sprinkler job in Cupertino does not file with a city — the district is the reviewer, the district's standards are the standards, and the district's counter is the counter. PermitsPros files fire alarm and fire sprinkler permits with SCCFD across its territory, Los Altos included.
What files at the district
The district's Fire Protection Systems Permit application names the scope directly: fire sprinkler systems (new and modified — 13, 13R, and 13D), fire alarm systems (new, modified, and monitoring), hood and duct systems, fire service underground, fire hydrants, two-way communication systems, EWAS, ERRCS, alternate suppression (clean agent, dry chemical), and hazardous materials work. The district maintains its own Standard Details & Specifications for each — including its C-2 standard for Emergency Responder Radio Coverage Systems and the C-5 standard for fire alarm below.
The C-5 fire alarm standard — what it demands
- A permit is required to install or modify a fire alarm system (CFC 105.6.6) — and the standard names the modifications filers forget: demolition of any part of a system, a change of communicator or supervising station, and panel replacement
- Shop drawings and submittal documents follow NFPA 72 §7.2.1 and CFC 907.1.2
- A detailed title sheet; floor plans at a scale no smaller than 3/32″ = 1′-0″
- Battery load and voltage-drop calculations, included in the drawings
- Attachments: technical data sheets and CSFM listing sheets for all equipment and devices requiring listing
- If the installation deviates from the approved plan: three copies of as-built plans
The submittal, item by item (the district's Plan Submittals page)
- Fire alarm: application · city/town building permit copy (if applicable) · 3 sets of plans, minimum 24″ × 36″ · 2 device cut sheets · 2 battery calculations · 2 voltage drop calculations · 2 CSFM listing info · business license for the city/town of the work · fee
- Fire sprinkler: application · fee · 3 sets of plans, minimum 24″ × 36″ · 2 calculations · 2 manufacturers' data/listing sheets for each sprinkler model · building permit copy (if applicable) · business license · water supply data from the water purveyor, with flow data from within the last 12 months · hydraulic data nameplate information on the plan for hydraulically designed systems
- Hood and duct: application · copy of the system design specifications/manual · 3 sets of plans, minimum 24″ × 36″ · building permit copy (if applicable) · business license · fee
Submittals go to the Fire Prevention Office at 1315 Dell Avenue — the district does not publish a general online submittal lane for city projects, and the fee amounts themselves are not published online. What is published is the turnaround: original submittals reviewed in ten business days or fewer; resubmittals, revisions, and as-builts in five business days or fewer — and no fee for resubmittals, revisions, or as-builts. An afternoon submittal is date-stamped for the following business day. The district also publishes an Incorporated Express Plan Check application for fire protection systems, and its Form 1409 overtime lane for inspections and expedited review.
How PermitsPros files at SCCFD
We assemble the package to the district's own published lists — three sets at 24″ × 36″, cut sheets in duplicate, battery and voltage-drop calculations in the drawings, CSFM listing sheets attached — file it at the Dell Avenue Fire Prevention Office, carry the correction cycles inside the district's five-business-day resubmittal lane, and deliver the issued permit. Fire protection filing is $250 for the filing service or $495 for the complete package through issuance; district fees are always separate and are paid to the district. Start at portal.permitspros.com or call (888) 907-9511.
District facts on this page are drawn from the Santa Clara County Fire Department's own published pages and documents — its Plan Submittals page, its C-5 Fire Alarm standard, its Fire Protection Systems Permit application, and its Applications & Forms page (sccfd.org). Where the district does not publish a figure, this page does not print one: the district does not publish its permit fee amounts online.
Questions and answers
Q: Who handles fire permits in Los Altos, Cupertino, and Saratoga?
A: The Santa Clara County Fire Department — formally the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District. Its Fire Prevention Division is the fire authority for Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, and Saratoga, and it also provides fire prevention services in the unincorporated areas under contract with the County. A fire alarm or sprinkler job in Los Altos files with the district, not with a city fire department — those cities contract their fire protection to the district.
Q: Where do SCCFD plan submittals go?
A: To the Fire Prevention Office at 1315 Dell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008 — call (408) 378-4010 and ask for Fire Prevention. The district's Plan Submittals page directs submittals to that office; it does not publish a general online submittal lane for city projects. (One published email lane exists: the Overtime Inspection & Plan Review Request, Form 1409, may be emailed to the Division.) Every submittal is assigned a Fire Prevention plan check number.
Q: What does an SCCFD fire alarm submittal need?
A: Per the district's Plan Submittals page: the application; a copy of the city or town building permit, if applicable; three sets of plans, minimum size 24 by 36 inches; two device cut sheets; two battery calculations; two voltage drop calculations; two sets of CSFM listing information; the business license for the city or town where the work is; and the fee. The district's C-5 Fire Alarm standard adds the drawing rules: a detailed title sheet, floor plans at a scale no smaller than 3/32 inch to the foot, the battery and voltage-drop calculations included in the drawings, and technical data sheets plus CSFM listing sheets attached for all equipment that requires listing.
Q: How long does SCCFD plan review take?
A: The district publishes its turnaround: original submittals are reviewed in ten business days or fewer, and resubmittals, revisions, and as-builts in five business days or fewer. Two clock rules worth knowing: a submittal dropped in the afternoon is date-stamped for the following business day, and resubmittals, revisions, and as-builts carry no fee. Those are the district's own published expectations — a complete package, in the published format, is what starts the fastest version of that clock.
Q: How do unincorporated Santa Clara County addresses file?
A: Through the County Fire Marshal's Office: plan submittals and over-the-counter reviews for unincorporated properties are performed at 70 W. Hedding Street, 7th Floor, San Jose — (408) 299-5700, [email protected]. The County contracts with the Santa Clara County Fire Department to provide fire prevention services in the unincorporated areas, and inspections for unincorporated properties are scheduled through the district at (408) 378-4010. Same badge family, different counter — knowing which office owns the address is the first filing decision, and it is one PermitsPros makes before anything is submitted.