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Los Angeles pool removal permits and process
The rules, then the path.What LADBS actually requires to backfill a pool, and why the two methods matter if the house is sold later.
Use this page when you want the city bulletin in plain language, with sources, and a clear picture of what happens after the fill.
In the City of Los Angeles, a swimming pool is not abandoned by filling it with whatever dirt is handy. Information Bulletin P/BC 2023-111 — effective January 1, 2023, previously issued as P/BC 2020-111 — sets two methods and requires a grading permit for both.[1]
The official bulletin
Two ways to backfill a pool in Los Angeles
The purpose of the bulletin, in the department’s words, is to establish the requirements for backfilling existing pools. The method depends on the intended future use of the fill: a pool may be backfilled with structural compacted fill suitable for the support of footings, or the shell may be left in place and backfilled with uncertified fill.[1]
Path 1 — Structural compacted fill (full removal)
Under Los Angeles Building Code Section 7011.3, material used to backfill swimming pools must be placed on natural undisturbed material or an approved compacted fill and compacted to a minimum of 90 percent relative compaction as determined by ASTM D 1557. The fill is tested by a soil testing agency approved by LADBS. A compaction report including a Certificate of Compliance must be submitted before approval of any fill.[1]
- A grading pre-inspection (GPI) report is required when the site is in the Hillside Grading Area.[1]
- When the department requires it, a soil report from a licensed soils engineer goes to the Grading Division.[1]
- The grading permit must specify the total number of cubic yards of fill.[1]
- The pool shell shall be removed from the site.[1]
- The bottom of the excavation is inspected and approved before compacted fill is placed.[1]
- No foundation shall be constructed before the compaction report is reviewed and approved.[1]
Inspections called out for this path are an initial meeting, a bottom or excavation inspection, and a final inspection.[1]
Path 2 — Uncertified fill, shell left in place
Leaving the shell and placing uncertified fill is allowed under Exception No. 1 of LABC Section 7011.3, with conditions:[1]
- A grading permit is obtained with a plot plan showing the pool and distances to buildings and property lines. The permit shall indicate that the fill is uncertified.[1]
- The backfill shall be used for landscaping purpose only.[1]
- The existing pool shall not be on ground sloping steeper than 10 percent. If it is, the structural procedures in Part I of the bulletin apply instead.[1]
- Drainage holes at least 12 inches in diameter shall be provided in the concrete pool bottom, a maximum of 8 feet apart, with one hole in the deepest section.[1]
- Backfill shall consist of clean soil or gravel and shall be moistened and tractor-rolled or tamped with a whacker into place.[1]
Inspections for this path are an initial meeting, a bottom inspection after the drainage holes are made and before any fill, and a final inspection.[1]
Read the bulletin itself before you treat this summary as complete. The official PDF is linked in the sources below. (In some network environments that URL currently redirects to the LADBS homepage; the text summarized here is the search-indexed content of that official file, and it matches the department’s earlier P/BC 2014-111 language on the uncertified-fill conditions.)
LADBS also publishes a general page on when grading permits are needed for cuts, fills and related work.[2]
Independent cities
This guide is about the City of Los Angeles. Neighborhoods such as Sherman Oaks and Encino are inside that city.[3][4] Places that are their own cities — Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and others — run their own building departments. Say so on the form if that is your property.
When the house is sold
The paperwork follows the method you chose
On most California residential sales, Civil Code section 1102 requires the seller to give the buyer a Transfer Disclosure Statement.[5] The form set out in section 1102.6, and reprinted by the California Department of Real Estate, asks whether the seller is aware of fill (compacted or otherwise) on the property, alterations or repairs made without necessary permits, settling or other soil problems, and flooding, drainage or grading problems.[6][7]
That lines up with how the City of Los Angeles bulletin is written. A landscaping fill-in leaves uncertified fill in the shell and is not the path described for supporting footings. Full removal with structural compacted fill is tested, and no foundation may be built until the compaction report is approved.[1]
A later buyer who wants to build, or a seller answering those questions, may care which path was used and whether the work was permitted. This page is not legal advice about any particular sale. It is a reason to match the method to the next use and to keep the city’s paperwork.
Draining, briefly
Water quality rules sit beside the grading permit.
LA Sanitation’s residential guidance calls for dechlorination (holding time or a dechlorinating agent such as sodium thiosulfate), a chlorine residual no higher than 0.1 mg/L, and pH between 6.5 and 8.5 when water is discharged under those best-management practices.[8][9] Salt, copper-based algaecides and other restricted chemicals have additional limits.[9] Storm-drain discharges are described as allowed from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.; very large discharges need advance notice.[9]
After the fill
Landscaping is not the same as a building pad.
Lawn and garden match the landscaping-only path on a qualifying lot. An ADU or addition needs the structural path and then its own city process.[1][10] Outdoor living with footings belongs with the structural path; a lightweight surface on uncertified fill can settle.
Sherman Oaks and Encino are both City of Los Angeles neighborhoods, so these rules apply there.[3][4]
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Permits and process questions
Do I always need a grading permit?
Can I build on a filled pool later if I only did a landscaping fill-in?
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Sources
- Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, Information Bulletin P/BC 2023-111: Backfill of Swimming Pools (effective January 1, 2023; previously issued as P/BC 2020-111)
- Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety: Grading Permits
- Wikipedia: Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles
- Wikipedia: Encino, Los Angeles
- California Civil Code § 1102: disclosures required upon transfer of residential real property
- California Civil Code § 1102.6: the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement form required on most residential sales
- California Department of Real Estate, booklet RE 6: Disclosures in Real Property Transactions, reprinting the Transfer Disclosure Statement, including whether the seller is aware of fill (compacted or otherwise) on the property, alterations or repairs made without necessary permits, settling or other soil problems, and flooding, drainage or grading problems
- LA Sanitation: Tips for Pools, Spas, Fountain Owners
- LA Sanitation Watershed Protection Program: Discharge Requirements for Pools, Spas and Fountain Owners (fact sheet)
- Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety: Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU)