Glossary of ADU-Related Terms

(Reference) - Last Updated 10/13/2022

Sorry in advance; this is by far the driest section of the course!  

No matter how hard we try, some of us are going to use jargon. And sometimes it's important to learn specific language that will help you unlock things at the planning and building department!

Because we have builders, real estate investors, developers, and other professionals in the group, along with homeowners that have never considered permitting or running a build before, we need a list of terms everyone can reference.  (I'll attempt to make it an enjoyable read.)

We made this section into a PDF document that you can print.  You might want to have it handy during the live training and interviews so you can more easily follow along.

I highly recommend a digital copy that you can search for specific keywords or acronyms (sometimes you'll want to ctrl+F for an acronym that only appears in the middle of a longer glossary term).

This section will also be growing constantly. I'm actually going to keep a piggy bank by my desk and any time you catch me using jargon that I haven't explained or a weird acronym, call me out on it and I'll put some money in the jargon jar! 

We'll do something nice with it for the group whenever it builds up high enough.

And please help with this -let us know when a word or term needs to be added to this glossary!

• ADU - starting at the top: Accessory Drinking Unit, now wait, Accessory Dwelling Unit

  • Accessory means it is piggybacking off of another house, usually described as the Primary 

  • Dwelling means it is permanent and habitable so it’s a house on a fixed foundation (ie not on wheels), and it has cooking and sanitation facilities. Rather importantly, the state can tax you on it

  • Unit means it’s independent - the resident of the primary home could lock all their doors and go on vacation and the ADU-resident wouldn’t mind because their unit has everything it needs legally to be independent

• Setback - Most often this is the distance between a structure and the edge of your lot or parcel. For example if you read that ADUs have a side and rear yard setback of 4 feet, the ADU has to be set back from the side of the lot by at least 4 feet. If you hear the front setback is 25 feet (very common), then that means the city will normally require the ADU to be 25 feet back from the front (and there will be special rules about how you measure the front lot line). Sometimes you'll also hear this term used to describe easements and required distance between structures too

• Easements - these are rights granted to others to use part of your lot or property. The most common occurrences are utility easements so the utility company can access some big old power lines or things like shared driveways where the neighbors and you have an access easement. They're generally written into your deed.

• General Contractor (GC) - This is a licensed builder. There are dozens of "types" of GCs. Type B is licensed for a lot. Type C are specialized in specific fields.

• LCP - Local Coastal Program. The local rules/admin for the Coastal Commission. This describes the basic tools and entities that help local governments regulate development in the Coastal Zone. If you're in the Coastal Zone, you should look up the ADU rules in your specific area before investing a lot more in your ADU.

• HOA - Hell On ADU… Hah, actually: Home Owners Association 

• CC&R - Shorthand for Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (which is often synonymous for the HOA rules 

• GIS - Geographic Information System, this is usually an interactive map that you can access on a computer. The cities, counties and state all provide different layers and host these maps in a million different places. You'll most commonly use these to look up local zoning maps.

• Parcel - This is how we talk about a piece of land that can be bought and sold. It's usually based on a map at the County Assessor (even if you're in a city's jurisdiction)

• APN - This is usually short for Assessor Parcel Number and it's a number that the County Assessor uses to describe each property in its maps of registered properties.

• Conditioned space - this is what you think of as the inside of your house. There's a legal definition and it usually has to do with heating/cooling/ventilation and some complicated standards. But broadly, there's a big difference between having an unconditioned garage and a conditioned, habitable apartment that never got permits.

• Existing non-conforming: Try not to call your existing structures "illegal" or "unpermitted". Whenever possible, describe them as "existing structures" and if you really have to admit that something feels like it wasn't done up to code you can say "non-conforming". Remember, sometimes structures got built before code was implemented. Some structures were built before permits were required for that type of structure. So it's not an illegal structure necessarily until somebody proves it is. Maybe it's just existing non-conforming!

• Document existing conditions: You want an architect or drafter or builder to document the existing conditions of your structure. This isn't necessarily the same work that a creative architect does so make sure the professional you hire knows you're mostly interested in documenting existing conditions and doing some minor changes to bring the place up to code (or doing some medium-sized renovations to make the most of the space... or whatever your scope/budget is). I used to work at an architecture firm that wasn't super passionate about documenting existing conditions, so we'd refer clients to a specialist engineer that liked doing that work. It would be cheaper and better done by that engineer, and then the client could come back to us if they wanted the place to look and feel amazing. Or they could stick to that plan if they were on a budget. When you ask the planning and building department about the process of converting an existing structure into an ADU, ask what needs to be included when documenting existing conditions. 

• Schematic Design: This is fancy architect talk for sketching designs and determining the rough scope/features/budget of a project... without all the detailed construction documents. It's an early phase of design when it's much easier to change things and explore ideas.