Construction Timeline

The honest answer for a complex custom home in Los Angeles is 2.5 to 4+ years from initial concept to move-in. That number surprises most owners, and the reason it surprises them is that most sources only discuss construction duration. Construction is one phase. Before a single footing is poured, there are months of site investigation, design development, engineering coordination, and permitting - and in Los Angeles, permitting alone can take longer than construction. This guide breaks the full timeline into its actual phases, with real durations drawn from projects across Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and the Westside.

Last updated: February 2026

The Full Timeline - What Nobody Shows You

Most discussions of "how long does it take to build a house" focus exclusively on the construction phase. That's like asking how long a flight from LA to New York takes and only counting time in the air - ignoring the drive to the airport, security, boarding, taxiing, and the cab ride on the other end. The flight is five hours. The door-to-door experience is eight. The ratio matters, and in custom home construction, the ratio matters even more because the phases before construction often take longer than construction itself.

For a complex custom home on a hillside lot in Los Angeles, the full phase-by-phase breakdown looks like this:

For a simpler flat-lot project with no hillside triggers, no fire zone overlay, and standard permitting, the total range compresses to roughly 20 to 36 months - still significantly longer than the "12-18 months" figure most owners have in their heads.

The rest of this guide walks through each phase in detail: what happens, how long it takes, what drives duration to the low or high end of the range, and what (if anything) the owner can do to influence it. Where a phase connects to a deeper topic covered in another guide, we reference it so you can go further without repeating the full treatment here.

The Financial Cost of Time

The timeline above tells the owner how long the project takes. This section tells them what that time costs - in real dollars, not abstractions. On a custom home project in Los Angeles, time is not just a scheduling concern. It is a financial instrument that compounds against the owner every month the project runs.

Construction Loan Carry Costs

Custom residential construction in Los Angeles is financed through construction loans with interest rates that, in 2025-2026, run between 8% and 10%. Unlike a conventional mortgage where the borrower pays interest on a fixed balance, a construction loan charges interest on the amount drawn to date - and that amount grows as construction progresses. On a $10M project with a 9% construction loan, the monthly interest cost once the loan is substantially drawn is approximately $75,000. A 6-month permitting delay at that rate costs $450,000 in interest alone. A 4-month construction delay from change orders costs $300,000. These are not construction costs. They do not build anything. They are pure schedule penalty - money spent waiting.

The carry cost math is straightforward but consistently underestimated. Most owners budget for construction costs and soft costs (design, engineering, permitting fees) but do not fully account for the interest that accrues across a 30-50 month project lifecycle. On a $10M project at 9%, total interest over a 42-month build (with progressive draws) typically runs $1.5M-$2M. Every month of delay beyond the planned schedule adds $60K-$75K to that figure.

Temporary Housing Costs

An owner who has sold their previous home, is living in temporary housing during construction, or has been displaced by a fire is paying for housing that produces no equity. On the Westside, comparable rental housing runs $8,000-$15,000 per month depending on family size, location, and quality expectations. A 6-month delay adds $48,000-$90,000 in housing costs. For owners building in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, or Pacific Palisades, the temporary housing number is often at the high end of that range because the rental market in those neighborhoods is thin and expensive.

ALE Coverage Gaps for Fire Rebuilds

Insurance Additional Living Expense (ALE) coverage typically runs 24-36 months from the date of loss. A fire rebuild in a PGRAZ zone takes 30-42 months from loss to move-in. The math is uncomfortable: if the rebuild timeline exceeds ALE coverage - which it frequently does on complex hillside properties - the owner absorbs the full housing cost during the gap period. At $12,000-$15,000 per month in temporary housing, a 6-12 month gap between ALE expiration and project completion costs $72,000-$180,000. This is not a hypothetical risk. It is a near-certainty on any rebuild that encounters permitting delays, discovery of pre-existing conditions in the site, or scope changes during design. Planning for the ALE gap should happen during the feasibility phase, not when the coverage expires.

Opportunity Cost on Capital

Capital tied up in land and construction that is not generating returns has an opportunity cost that most owners feel but rarely quantify. On a project where the owner has $4M in land and is deploying $6M in construction spend over 42 months, the total capital deployed averages roughly $7M across the project lifecycle (accounting for progressive construction draws). At even a modest 5% opportunity cost, that represents $350,000 per year - or roughly $1.2M over the full project duration. This is not money the owner writes a check for. It is the return they are foregoing on capital that is otherwise locked into a non-performing asset until the project is complete and occupied or sold.

The Asymmetry of Delay vs. Compression

Every month of delay has a quantifiable cost. But compressing the timeline also has quantifiable value - and the value of compression is not just the mirror image of delay costs. Earlier occupancy means earlier equity realization on a completed asset. Earlier completion reduces exposure to material price escalation, which has run 4-8% annually in the Los Angeles market since 2020. And earlier completion reduces the window of exposure to interest rate changes on construction-to-permanent loan conversions.

A 4-month schedule compression on a $10M project saves $270,000-$330,000 in carry costs alone - which is more than the entire feasibility analysis costs. A 6-month compression saves $400,000-$500,000. The financial return on schedule compression is among the highest-ROI activities on any custom home project, which is why the delivery method discussion is not an abstract procurement question - it is a financial decision with six-figure consequences.

What Delay Actually Costs - By Scenario

For how early identification of schedule-controlling items prevents the most expensive delays, see our Feasibility Report guide. For how carry costs integrate into total project cost modeling, see Budget Development and Cost Control.

Phase 1 - Feasibility and Pre-Design (1-3 Months)

Before the architect draws a single line, the owner needs to understand what the site allows and what the regulatory environment requires. Skipping this step is one of the most expensive mistakes an owner can make, because it leads to months of design work that turns out to be incompatible with the site's actual constraints. The feasibility phase exists to prevent that.

What happens here depends on the site. On a flat lot in a standard R1 zone with no overlay restrictions, feasibility can be completed in a few weeks: a title search, a zoning review, and a walk of the property. On a hillside lot in a fire zone with a specific plan overlay and a previous structure with unknown foundation conditions, feasibility takes 1-3 months and involves multiple consultants.

Site-Specific Factors That Affect Timeline From Day One

The distinction between a hillside lot and a flat lot is the single most consequential site characteristic for project duration. A hillside lot triggers geotechnical investigation, grading analysis, retaining wall design, haul route planning, and often additional LADBS review through the hillside ordinance. Each of these adds weeks or months to permitting and construction. A flat lot in a standard zone avoids most of these triggers entirely.

Fire zone designation is the second major variable. Properties in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones (VHFHSZ) or Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas trigger additional requirements from LAFD, including brush clearance plans, fire-rated construction assemblies, and supplemental water supply. For fire rebuild projects in the Palisades, the PGRAZ regulatory framework creates its own timeline structure, with specific provisions for expedited permitting that still take months to navigate.

Lot history matters more than most owners expect. Previous structures may have foundations that need to be removed or accommodated. Lots with pre-1963 fill - common in hillside areas that were graded before modern compaction standards - trigger additional geotechnical investigation and often require over-excavation and recompaction before new foundations can be placed. Demolition of an existing structure, including asbestos abatement if the building predates 1978, adds 4-8 weeks before any new work can begin.

Zoning and entitlement complexity varies dramatically by location. R1 zoning in a standard area is straightforward. RE zoning in hillside areas comes with larger lot requirements and different development standards. Specific plan overlay zones - Bel Air, Brentwood Glen, and other areas - layer additional restrictions on height, massing, and floor area that may require design adjustments or discretionary approvals. Understanding these constraints before design begins prevents expensive redesign later.

For a detailed treatment of how site conditions drive foundation decisions and timeline, see our Foundation Systems guide. For a full overview of the regulatory environment and what triggers additional review, see the LA Permitting Overview.

Phase 2 - Design (8-14 Months)

The design phase is where the project takes shape on paper, and its duration is directly proportional to the project's complexity. A 4,000 square foot flat-lot house with a straightforward program can move through design in 8-9 months. A 15,000 square foot hillside estate with a basement, guest house, pool complex, motor court, and extensive hardscape routinely takes 12-14 months - and that is on schedule, not delayed. Design has three distinct sub-phases, each with its own duration and purpose.

Schematic Design (SD) - 2 to 3 Months

Schematic design is concept development. The architect and owner align on program (how many bedrooms, what kind of entertainment spaces, indoor-outdoor relationship, garage configuration), scale, massing, and site strategy. The output is a set of floor plans, elevations, and a site plan that establish the design direction. At the end of SD, the owner should have a clear picture of the house's overall form and layout, even though systems and details have not been addressed.

SD duration is driven primarily by alignment between architect and owner. If the owner has a clear vision and the architect captures it efficiently, SD moves quickly. If there are fundamental disagreements about approach, scale, or aesthetics, SD can stall. Multiple schematic concepts that get developed and then abandoned extend this phase significantly.

Design Development (DD) - 3 to 4 Months

Design development takes the approved schematic concept and makes it specific. Structural systems are identified. MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) routing is roughed in. Material selections begin in earnest. The interior designer typically engages during DD, starting finish selections, custom millwork concepts, and fixture research. The design becomes detailed enough to generate meaningful cost estimates for the first time - and this is often where difficult conversations happen, because the cost of what was drawn in schematic design may exceed the owner's budget.

DD is the phase where the project's true complexity becomes visible. Structural engineering for a hillside home with cantilevered decks, a subterranean garage, or a post-tensioned concrete deck over a basement adds significant coordination time. Each specialty consultant - structural, geotechnical, civil, MEP - begins producing preliminary documents that the architect must integrate into the design. The more consultants involved, the more coordination required, and the longer DD takes.

Construction Documents (CD) - 3 to 6 Months

Construction documents are the full, permit-ready drawing set. This is the longest single design phase because it requires coordinated output from every consultant on the project - typically 4 to 8 separate engineering firms producing structural, civil, geotechnical, MEP, landscape, pool, lighting, and sometimes acoustic or AV documents. All of these must be coordinated with the architect's drawings, cross-referenced for conflicts, and assembled into a complete submission package for LADBS.

CD duration is driven by consultant coordination more than any other factor. The architect cannot submit for permit until every consultant's work is complete and integrated. A single consultant who is behind schedule delays the entire submission. On large projects, the CD coordination process alone - resolving conflicts between structural and MEP routing, aligning landscape grading with civil engineering, coordinating pool engineering with the structural foundation plan - can take 4-6 weeks beyond the time each consultant needs individually.

What Drives Design Duration

Project complexity is the primary factor. A 15,000 square foot hillside house with a basement, pool, guest house, and extensive hardscape takes longer to document than a 4,000 square foot flat-lot build at every phase. The number of rooms, systems, custom conditions, and engineering challenges compounds through each design sub-phase.

Owner decision-making pace is the factor most within the owner's control. Design cannot progress when decisions are pending. An owner who takes three weeks to respond to material selections or who reverses decisions after they have been incorporated into the documents adds months to the design phase. This is not a criticism - major design decisions deserve careful consideration. But the timeline consequence is real and should be anticipated.

Revisions are the most common source of design delay. Each significant design change - moving a staircase, adding a room, changing the roof form, reconfiguring the kitchen layout - resets portions of the documentation timeline. A change to the floor plan during CD can require recoordination across every consultant. The cost of revisions is not just the architect's time; it is the cascading impact on the entire consultant team.

For a detailed treatment of the architect's responsibilities across each design phase and how the architect-CM collaboration during pre-construction prevents the budget surprises that force redesign, see our guide on the architect's role in the CMAR process.

The Interior Designer Timeline

On luxury residential projects, the interior designer often controls 30-40% of the total project budget. Their selections affect construction in ways most owners do not anticipate, and their timeline runs parallel to - but not always in sync with - the architect's timeline.

Custom millwork requires shop drawings and fabrication lead times of 8-16 weeks after approval. Natural stone selections require quarry sourcing 4-6 months ahead of installation. Custom plumbing fixtures, specialty hardware, and imported lighting fixtures can have lead times of 12-20 weeks. High-end appliance packages - particularly professional-grade cooking equipment from European manufacturers - can require 16-24 weeks from order to delivery.

If these selections are not running parallel to the design and permitting phases, they become schedule-controlling during construction. A kitchen that cannot be installed because the range hood has not arrived, or a bathroom that sits unfinished because the custom vanity is still in fabrication, creates dead time on the job site that extends the construction phase by weeks or months. The interior designer's selection calendar is one of the most underappreciated schedule drivers on luxury projects, and we address its construction impact further in Construction Costs.

Phase 3 - Permitting (4-18 Months)

Permitting is the phase that most dramatically separates Los Angeles from the rest of the country. In many US markets, building permits for a custom home are issued in 4-8 weeks. In Los Angeles, the baseline timeline for a straightforward project is 4-6 months - and that is the optimistic scenario. Complex projects with hillside triggers, fire zone requirements, specific plan overlays, or Coastal Commission jurisdiction regularly take 10-18 months from initial submission to permit issuance.

Understanding why LA permitting takes so long requires understanding its structure. This is not a single-agency, single-review process. It is a multi-agency, multi-correction, iterative review process where each agency operates on its own timeline and the project cannot proceed until all agencies have cleared their respective reviews.

The Basic Permit Path

The standard path begins with plan check submission to LADBS (Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety). The initial plan check review takes 4-8 weeks. This review almost always results in corrections - items the plan checker identifies as non-compliant, incomplete, or requiring additional documentation. Corrections take 2-4 weeks for the design team to address. Resubmission for a second plan check review takes another 3-6 weeks. Multiple correction cycles are common on complex projects. Each cycle adds 6-12 weeks to the permitting timeline. A project that goes through three correction cycles before approval has spent 6-9 months in plan check alone.

What Extends Permitting Beyond the Baseline

The hillside ordinance (LAMC Section 12.21 C.10) is triggered by projects on lots designated as hillside areas. It imposes additional requirements for grading calculations, retaining wall height limits, and street access, and it may require Zoning Administrator approval for projects that exceed certain thresholds. The additional review and potential hearing adds 2-6 months beyond the standard plan check timeline. The Baseline Hillside Ordinance (BHO) and Baseline Mansionization Ordinance (BMO) add further zoning requirements that may necessitate design adjustments during plan check. For a comprehensive treatment of hillside regulatory requirements, see our Hillside Construction guide.

Specific plan areas impose an additional layer of review. Bel Air, Brentwood Glen, and other neighborhoods have specific plan overlays with restrictions and review processes that go beyond standard zoning. Projects in these areas must satisfy both the base zoning requirements and the specific plan provisions, which may include additional setbacks, height restrictions, view corridor protections, and design review. Each specific plan has its own review body and timeline.

California Coastal Commission review adds the most significant permitting duration of any single trigger. Projects in the Coastal Zone - which includes all of Malibu and portions of Pacific Palisades - require Coastal Development Permits. The Coastal Commission review process operates on a timeline of 6-12+ months beyond LADBS plan check, and it involves a hearing process that can result in conditions of approval that require redesign. Projects with significant grading, view impacts, or public access implications face the longest Coastal Commission timelines.

Haul route permits are required for projects that involve significant soil export, which is common on hillside sites where cut-and-fill grading operations generate excess material. The haul route permit requires a traffic study, a designated haul route plan, and a separate approval process through the Department of Building and Safety and sometimes the Department of Transportation. This process runs in parallel with plan check but must be completed before grading can begin.

The Multi-Agency Reality

A single custom home project in Los Angeles can require approvals from LADBS, LADPW (Department of Public Works, for grading permits and public right-of-way work), LAFD (fire zone compliance), Bureau of Engineering (sewer connection and drainage), Department of City Planning (discretionary actions, specific plans, HPOZ review), and potentially the California Coastal Commission, Army Corps of Engineers (for projects near waterways or wetlands), and South Coast AQMD (for demolition involving regulated materials). Each agency has its own submission requirements, review timeline, correction process, and approval mechanism. None of them coordinate with each other.

The practical consequence is that the permitting phase is not a single wait - it is a series of overlapping and sequential agency reviews, each of which can generate corrections that require response and resubmission. Managing this process is a core function of preconstruction, and it is one of the areas where experienced project management has the most direct impact on schedule. For a complete walkthrough of the LA permitting process including agency-by-agency requirements and common correction items, see our LA Permitting Overview.

Phase 4 - Pre-Construction and Procurement (2-4 Months)

Between permit issuance and the day a bulldozer rolls onto the site, there is a critical phase of preparation that most owners do not see and most timelines do not account for. Pre-construction is where the project transitions from documents to execution: subcontractors are selected, materials are ordered, logistics are planned, and the construction schedule is built from actual trade commitments rather than assumptions.

Subcontractor bidding and buyout is the largest task in this phase. Every trade scope on the project - earthwork, concrete, structural steel, framing, roofing, waterproofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall, painting, tile, stone, millwork, landscaping, and often 10-15 additional specialty trades - must be bid competitively among qualified subcontractors. Bid solicitation, review, scope clarification, negotiation, and contract execution takes 4-8 weeks across all trades. This is also where the budget transitions from estimates to committed pricing - the progression from +/-15% at design development to fixed GMP at construction documents.

Long-lead material procurement begins here and often extends into the first months of construction. Structural steel fabrication typically requires 8-12 weeks from shop drawing approval to delivery. Custom window systems - particularly European manufacturers like Vitrocsa, Sky-Frame, or Schuco - require 16-24 weeks. Specialty stone that is being sourced from a specific quarry block can take 12-20 weeks from slab selection to fabricated delivery. These lead times are not compressible; they are driven by manufacturing capacity and shipping logistics. If procurement does not begin during pre-construction, these items become critical-path delays during the construction phase.

Logistics planning covers site access strategy, equipment staging, material storage, temporary utilities (power, water, sanitation), construction fencing, tree protection, and neighbor notifications. On hillside sites with limited access, logistics planning is particularly consequential because the sequence of material deliveries must be coordinated with available staging area - you cannot store materials on a hillside lot the way you can on a flat pad.

Phase 5 - Construction (14-28 Months)

This is the phase everyone thinks about. It is also the phase where estimates go wrong most often, because construction duration is a function of site complexity, finish level, decision-making pace, and a dozen variables that cannot be fully predicted at the start. The range of 14-28 months is wide because the projects it covers are wide - from a relatively straightforward 5,000 square foot flat-lot build to a 15,000+ square foot hillside estate with subterranean levels, complex structural systems, and ultra-luxury finishes.

Site Work, Demolition, and Grading - 1 to 3 Months

Every project begins with site preparation. On a vacant flat lot, this may be as simple as clearing, grubbing, and rough grading - a matter of weeks. On a hillside lot with an existing structure, this phase includes demolition (with potential asbestos abatement), debris removal, tree protection, temporary shoring installation, and grading operations that may involve thousands of cubic yards of soil export via a permitted haul route. Hillside grading is weather-dependent, equipment-intensive, and governed by strict city requirements for dust control, noise hours, and truck traffic. A major hillside grading operation can take 2-3 months on its own.

Foundation and Shoring - 2 to 5 Months

The foundation phase is where the gap between simple projects and complex ones becomes most pronounced. A conventional spread footing or slab-on-grade foundation on a flat lot with competent soil takes 3-5 weeks from excavation to foundation complete. A caisson and grade beam foundation on a hillside - with 30-60 foot deep drilled piers socketed into bedrock, soldier pile shoring walls, and tieback anchors - takes 3-5 months. Projects with subterranean levels add another dimension: excavation support systems, dewatering (if the water table is encountered), waterproofing of below-grade walls, and structural concrete for basement walls and slabs.

Hillside foundation work is also where inspection delays have the most impact. Each phase of foundation work requires LADBS inspection before the next phase can proceed: excavation bottom inspection, rebar inspection before concrete pour, concrete placement inspection. If LADBS inspection scheduling is running 3-5 days behind (which is typical in busy periods), and a project has 8-10 required inspections during the foundation phase, the cumulative delay from inspection wait times alone can be 3-4 weeks.

Framing and Structural - 3 to 5 Months

Structural framing transforms the project from a foundation into a three-dimensional form. This phase includes structural steel erection (if applicable), wood framing of walls, floors, and roof, shear wall installation, and roof structure completion. The duration depends on the structural system - a conventional wood-frame house frames faster than a steel moment-frame structure with welded connections and special inspection requirements - and on the building's complexity. Multi-level structures with varying floor plates, cantilevered elements, and complex roof geometries take longer to frame than simple rectangular floor plans.

MEP Rough-In - 2 to 3 Months

Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in is the phase where all building systems are installed within the walls, floors, and ceilings before the structure is enclosed. Plumbing supply and waste lines, HVAC ductwork and refrigerant piping, electrical wiring and panel installation, low-voltage systems (data, audio, security, lighting control), and fire sprinkler piping all must be installed and coordinated within the framing cavities. This phase requires multiple trades working simultaneously in the same spaces, and coordination failures here - a duct run that conflicts with a structural beam, a plumbing stack that collides with an electrical panel - create field conflicts that take days to resolve.

Rough-in is followed by a critical inspection milestone: the LADBS rough inspection covers framing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and insulation in a series of inspections that must all pass before walls can be closed. A failed inspection requires correction and re-inspection, adding 1-2 weeks per failed inspection.

Exterior Envelope - 2 to 3 Months

The exterior envelope includes waterproofing, window installation, exterior cladding (stucco, stone, metal panel, wood siding, or combinations), and roofing. This phase overlaps with MEP rough-in in most schedules, with exterior work proceeding on the outside while trades work on the inside. The envelope is weather-sensitive - waterproofing and certain cladding installations cannot proceed in rain - and it is critical for protecting the structure and interior work from water damage. On hillside projects with complex exterior geometries and multiple cladding materials, envelope work takes longer and requires more specialized labor.

Interior Finishes - 4 to 8 Months

Interior finishes are the longest construction sub-phase on luxury projects, and this is where the timeline range is widest. The sequence runs from drywall through paint, flooring, tile, stone, millwork, cabinetry, countertops, fixture installation, hardware, and final detailing. Each finish trade works in sequence - tile cannot begin until waterproofing is complete, millwork cannot be installed until walls are painted, countertops cannot be templated until cabinets are set.

On standard-finish projects, this phase takes 4-5 months. On ultra-luxury projects with custom stone installations (book-matched marble walls, waterjet-cut floor patterns), hand-applied plaster finishes, custom millwork with lacquer or exotic veneer finishes, specialty metalwork, and imported fixtures, this phase takes 6-8 months. The difference is not just the number of hours required - it is the precision, the material lead times, and the fact that many luxury finishes require sequential application with cure times between coats or installations.

This is also the phase where the interior designer's advance work (or lack of it) becomes schedule-controlling. A stone slab that was not selected during design development means a 6-8 week delay for sourcing, selection, fabrication, and delivery before installation can begin. A custom light fixture ordered during construction rather than during pre-construction adds 12-16 weeks of wait time to a phase that could otherwise proceed without interruption.

Hardscape, Landscape, and Pool - 2 to 4 Months

Exterior construction - concrete flatwork, decking, retaining walls, planting, irrigation, and pool construction - partially overlaps with interior finishes but cannot fully complete until the building exterior is finished and site access is restored. Pool construction alone takes 8-12 weeks from excavation through plaster, plus equipment installation and commissioning. On hillside sites, landscape and hardscape work is complicated by access constraints and the need to protect completed work from construction traffic.

ADU and Guest House Components

An increasing number of custom home projects in Los Angeles include an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) or guest house - whether for rental income, staff quarters, aging parents, or guest accommodations. The timeline impact of an ADU depends entirely on its relationship to the main structure.

ADU permitting in Los Angeles has been streamlined under state legislation (AB 68, SB 13, and subsequent amendments), but "streamlined" still means a separate plan check process and potentially separate inspections. If the ADU shares foundation, utility connections, or structural systems with the main house, it integrates into the main construction schedule with minimal additional duration - the ADU scope is simply part of the overall project. If the ADU is a detached structure on a separate part of the site, it can be built concurrently with the main house, potentially adding no schedule time at all. Alternatively, if site access or crew logistics require sequential construction, a detached ADU adds 4-8 months after the main house reaches a point where the ADU site becomes accessible.

The most common timeline mistake with ADUs is assuming the ADU "comes along for free" on the schedule. It does not. A detached ADU requires its own permitting track, and on hillside sites, it may require its own foundation system and grading analysis, adding engineering and permitting complexity that the owner did not anticipate. The decision about ADU scope, location, and construction phasing should be made during feasibility so it can be integrated into the project schedule from the start rather than bolted on later.

Final Inspections, Punch List, and Commissioning - 1 to 2 Months

The final phase includes LADBS final inspection and certificate of occupancy issuance, building systems commissioning (HVAC balancing, control system programming, pool equipment startup), and punch list completion. The punch list is the systematic review and correction of every deficiency, incomplete item, and finish imperfection in the project. On a large luxury project, the initial punch list can contain 200-500 items. Working through them takes 3-6 weeks with multiple trades returning to address their respective items.

What Drives Construction Duration

Site complexity is the baseline driver. Hillside construction is slower than flat-lot construction at every phase - access is more difficult, material staging is constrained, soil conditions require more robust (and time-consuming) foundation systems, and grading operations add months at the front end.

Finish level has a direct, measurable impact on the interior finish phase. The difference between builder-grade finishes and ultra-luxury finishes is not just cost - it is 2-4 months of additional construction duration for the same square footage.

Change orders during construction are the most preventable source of delay. Every significant change - moving a wall, changing a window size, reconfiguring a bathroom, upgrading a structural system - requires revised drawings, potential re-engineering, resubmittal to LADBS if the change affects permitted work, and field rework. A single consequential change order can add 2-6 weeks to the construction schedule depending on what it affects and how far into construction the change occurs.

Weather affects earthwork, concrete placement, waterproofing, and exterior finish work. Los Angeles benefits from a dry climate for most of the year, but El Nino winters can produce weeks of consecutive rain days that shut down exterior operations entirely. A typical LA project loses 5-10 days per year to weather. An El Nino year can double or triple that number.

What Compresses the Timeline (and What Doesn't)

One of the first questions owners ask after hearing the real timeline is: "What can we do to speed this up?" The answer is specific, and it is worth distinguishing between the things that actually compress a schedule and the things that feel like they should but don't.

What Actually Works

Delivery method has the largest single impact on total timeline. A CMAR engagement allows pre-construction, procurement, and permitting coordination to begin during the design phase rather than waiting until design and permitting are complete. The construction manager is involved from early design, providing cost feedback that prevents redesign, prequalifying subcontractors while construction documents are being completed, ordering long-lead materials while permits are in plan check, and building the construction schedule from actual trade commitments. The result is 6-10 months of schedule compression compared to the traditional design-bid-build model, where each phase must finish before the next begins. On a 4-year project, that is the difference between moving in before summer and moving in after the holidays.

CMAR vs. Design-Bid-Build - Where the Time Goes

The compression is not theoretical. It is structural - built into how the phases relate to each other. To see it clearly, walk through both delivery methods on the same project: a complex hillside custom home with subterranean garage, 10,000+ SF, multiple engineering consultants, and hillside ordinance triggers.

Design-Bid-Build: ~52 Months (Fully Sequential)

In the traditional model, every phase waits for the prior phase to complete. Design runs months 1-14. The completed construction documents are submitted for permitting, which runs months 15-26. During the entire permitting phase, nothing else is happening - no subcontractor engagement, no procurement, no schedule development. After permit issuance, the owner solicits bids from general contractors, evaluates proposals, negotiates contracts, and the selected contractor buys out subcontractors and orders materials. Contractor selection and buyout runs months 27-31. Construction finally begins at month 32 and runs through month 52. The total is roughly 52 months, with 5 months of dead time between permit issuance and construction start where nothing is being built, designed, or permitted - just procurement and contractor onboarding that could have started months earlier.

CMAR: ~44 Months (Overlapping Phases)

In the CMAR model, the construction manager engages during schematic design. Feasibility analysis runs concurrent with early design. The CM provides progressive budget feedback during design development, preventing the budget-driven redesign cycle that adds months to the design phase. Subcontractor prequalification begins during construction documents. Long-lead material procurement starts during permitting. The GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price) is established before the permit is issued. When the permit arrives, there is no contractor selection phase - the CM is already under contract. Subcontractor buyout is substantially complete. Long-lead materials are already in fabrication. Construction starts within weeks of permit issuance, not months.

Where the Compression Happens

The 6-10 months of compression come from four specific overlaps. First, pre-construction overlaps with permitting. In DBB, the entire permitting phase is idle time for the contractor because no contractor has been selected yet. In CMAR, the CM uses the permitting phase productively - prequalifying subcontractors, soliciting preliminary bids, planning logistics, and developing the construction schedule. This saves 2-3 months. Second, long-lead procurement begins during permitting rather than after permit issuance. Structural steel, custom windows, and specialty materials with 16-24 week lead times are ordered while the permit is in plan check. This saves 2-4 months of construction-phase waiting. Third, the GMP is established before permit issuance. In DBB, the contractor cannot commit to pricing until permits are in hand, creating a 1-2 month gap between permit and construction start while contracts are finalized. In CMAR, the GMP is already in place. Fourth, there is no "contractor selection" phase. In DBB, the post-permit bidding, evaluation, and negotiation process takes 2-3 months. In CMAR, the CM has been under contract since schematic design.

Net compression on a complex project: 6-10 months. At $72,000 per month in carry and housing costs, that represents $430,000-$720,000 in time-value savings - a return that dwarfs the cost of the CMAR pre-construction engagement.

For a detailed treatment of the CMAR delivery method, see What Is CMAR and Delivery Methods Compared. For how the CMAR accountability structure eliminates the need for a separate oversight layer, see CM at Risk vs. Owner's Representative.

Other Strategies That Compress the Timeline

Decision-making pace matters more than most owners realize. Every pending decision - a finish material, a fixture selection, a design change, a color approval - holds up downstream work. On a complex project, there can be hundreds of owner decisions required between design development and construction completion. The cumulative impact of slow decisions is substantial. An owner who responds to selection requests within a week keeps the project on schedule. An owner who takes three weeks per decision across dozens of decisions can add 2-4 months to the total project duration without any single decision feeling consequential in the moment.

Early geotechnical work prevents redesign. Commissioning the geotech investigation before design begins - or at the very start of schematic design - means the foundation and grading strategy inform the architectural design rather than forcing redesign after the geotech report reveals conditions the architect did not anticipate. A geotech report that comes back showing 40 feet to bedrock on a hillside where the architect assumed 15 can force 2-3 months of structural redesign and re-engineering. Starting with the facts prevents that entirely.

Complete, well-coordinated construction documents reduce permitting cycles. LADBS plan check corrections are the primary driver of permitting duration beyond the initial review. A submission package that is thorough, well-coordinated across all consultants, and compliant with current code requirements on the first submission reduces the number of correction cycles and shortens the permitting phase by weeks or months.

What Does Not Work

Throwing more labor at it does not compress the timeline. Construction has hard sequencing dependencies. You cannot frame before the foundation is complete. You cannot rough in plumbing before framing is standing. You cannot close walls before MEP rough-in is inspected. You cannot install tile before waterproofing has cured. Adding more carpenters to a framing crew helps, but adding framers during the foundation phase does not. The critical path of construction is governed by sequential dependencies, not labor volume.

Rushing permitting does not work. LADBS processes applications in the order they are received, at the pace their staffing allows. There is no mechanism for paying more to get faster review (with limited exceptions for expedited services on certain permit types). Submitting incomplete or poorly coordinated documents in an attempt to "get in the queue faster" backfires - it results in more corrections, more resubmission cycles, and longer total duration than a thorough initial submission would have produced.

Skipping design phases creates more problems than it solves. Owners sometimes push to abbreviate or combine design phases to save time. The result is incomplete construction documents that generate change orders, requests for information (RFIs), and field conflicts during construction - each of which costs more time (and money) than the design phase would have. A change order during construction takes 3-6 weeks to resolve. A design decision during design development takes days. The math always favors thorough documentation.

Real Timeline Examples

The ranges presented throughout this guide describe the full spectrum. The following project profiles illustrate how the phases stack for specific project types we see regularly in Los Angeles. These are composites drawn from actual projects, presented as representative timelines rather than specific case studies.

The comparison across these profiles makes a critical point visible: the construction phase does not vary as dramatically as the pre-construction phases do. A flat-lot project and a major hillside estate differ by about 10 months of construction time (16 vs. 26 months). But they differ by 9 months of permitting time and 6 months of design time. The pre-construction phases are where site complexity and regulatory environment have their greatest schedule impact, and they are the phases that most generic timeline estimates ignore entirely.

The Renovation Timeline

Everything above focuses on new construction. Renovations have a fundamentally different timeline structure - and the most important thing to understand about that structure is that renovations are rarely faster than new construction. On a major hillside renovation in the $3M-$8M scope range, the timeline is often comparable to new construction and sometimes exceeds it, because the owner is simultaneously solving two problems: removing what does not work and building what does, all while managing the uncertainties of concealed conditions that no amount of pre-construction investigation can fully eliminate.

Why Renovations Take Longer Than Owners Expect

The intuition that "it's just a renovation, it should be faster" is one of the most persistent misconceptions in residential construction. It is understandable - you are starting with an existing structure rather than bare dirt, which seems like a head start. But the existing structure is not a foundation to build on. It is an unknown that must be investigated, assessed, and resolved before new work can proceed. On a complex renovation, the existing conditions create more uncertainty, not less, than starting from scratch.

The Discovery Phase

Renovation timelines include a phase that new construction does not: investigative demolition and condition assessment. This is the period after selective demolition where the team discovers what is actually inside the walls, under the floors, and behind the finishes. The discoveries are rarely good news. Concealed termite damage that has compromised structural framing. Foundation cracks or settlement that surface inspections missed. Galvanized steel plumbing that is 80% corroded. Knob-and-tube electrical wiring in walls that were supposedly updated in the 1990s. Drainage systems behind retaining walls that have failed and are directing water into the foundation. Inadequate or absent waterproofing on below-grade walls.

Each of these discoveries redefines the scope. A framing repair that was estimated at $40,000 becomes a $150,000 structural remediation once the full extent of termite damage is visible. An electrical panel upgrade becomes a full rewire. A "cosmetic" bathroom renovation becomes a waterproofing and structural repair project once the shower pan is removed and the subfloor condition is revealed. Budget 1-2 months for selective demolition, testing, and scope reassessment on any major renovation. This is not a delay - it is a necessary phase that produces the information required to execute the project accurately.

The 50% Rule and Its Timeline Impact

In Los Angeles, if the renovation cost exceeds 50% of the replacement value of the existing structure, the project triggers substantial remodel requirements - bringing the entire building to current code compliance including seismic, energy efficiency, accessibility, and fire/life safety standards. This is not a minor escalation. It means the project requires new structural engineering for seismic upgrade, new energy calculations and potentially new mechanical systems for Title 24 compliance, fire sprinkler installation if the floor area exceeds the threshold, and accessibility upgrades. What started as "we are keeping the bones and upgrading the finishes" becomes a near-complete reconstruction with the added complexity of working around existing conditions.

The 50% rule does not just add cost. It adds months of engineering analysis, redesign to integrate code-required upgrades, and additional permitting review. Understanding whether a project will trigger the 50% threshold should happen during feasibility analysis, not during construction.

Working Within Existing Conditions

New construction proceeds on a clean site with known geometry. The framing crew works from dimensioned drawings on level foundations with plumb walls. Renovation proceeds within an existing structure where nothing is quite where the drawings say it is. Walls are not plumb. Floors are not level. Ceiling heights vary. Corners are not square. Every connection, every junction, every interface between new work and existing work requires field measurement and custom fitting.

The practical consequence is that construction pace on renovation work is typically 20-40% slower than equivalent new construction work. A framing crew that frames 1,000 SF of new wall per day might complete 600-700 SF of renovation framing because every stud, every header, and every connection requires measurement against existing conditions and custom cutting to fit. This pace reduction is not a function of skill or effort. It is the inherent nature of working within an existing structure.

Phased Occupancy Complications

Some renovation projects involve phased construction where the owner continues to occupy portions of the home during construction. This adds logistical constraints - dust control barriers, noise management, security between zones, restricted access for deliveries - that slow construction and increase general conditions costs. Projects with phased occupancy typically run 15-25% longer than equivalent projects with full vacancy, and the general conditions cost increase often offsets much of the temporary housing savings the owner was trying to avoid.

The Retaining Wall Discovery

On hillside renovations, existing retaining walls are frequently found to be in worse condition than surface inspection suggests. A retaining wall that appears serviceable from the exterior - no visible cracking, no obvious lean, no surface erosion - may have failed drainage systems behind it, corroded tiebacks that have lost their holding capacity, or deteriorated concrete with carbonation that has reached the reinforcing steel. A retaining wall that requires full replacement adds $150,000-$400,000 to the project budget and 2-4 months to the construction timeline.

Renovation Timeline Profiles

The Timeline Conversation to Have Before You Start

Before committing to a custom home project in Los Angeles, the owner should have a clear-eyed understanding of the full timeline - not just the construction phase, but the complete arc from concept to certificate of occupancy. That number is almost always longer than expected, and understanding it upfront prevents a cascade of problems: financial strain from carrying a construction loan longer than anticipated, frustration with a process that feels stalled when it is actually proceeding normally, and pressure to cut corners or rush decisions that ends up costing more time than it saves.

The most productive question to ask at the start of a project is not "how fast can we do this" but "what does a realistic schedule look like for this specific site, this specific program, and this specific regulatory environment?" A 5,000 square foot house on a flat lot in a standard zone has a fundamentally different timeline than a 12,000 square foot house on a hillside lot in a fire zone with a specific plan overlay and Coastal Commission jurisdiction. Generic estimates that do not account for these differences are not just unhelpful - they are actively misleading.

A feasibility assessment at the start of the project provides a site-specific timeline estimate based on actual conditions: the regulatory triggers for that particular lot, the geotechnical conditions, the permitting agencies that will have jurisdiction, and the project scope as understood at that point. It does not eliminate uncertainty - no upfront analysis can predict every correction cycle or every weather delay - but it establishes a realistic baseline that the owner can plan around, rather than a generic range that may bear no relationship to the specific project.

The owners who navigate this process most successfully are the ones who go in with accurate expectations. They understand that the design phase is an investment in quality and cost control, not an obstacle to be rushed through. They understand that permitting is a regulatory process governed by agency timelines, not a negotiation that can be accelerated with pressure. They understand that decisions made slowly during construction have a direct, measurable cost in schedule and money. And they understand that the total timeline - 2.5 to 4+ years for a complex project - is not a failure of the process. It is what it takes to build something exceptional on a challenging site in one of the most heavily regulated construction environments in the country.

That understanding is the foundation of a successful project. Everything else - the design, the engineering, the permitting, the construction - follows from it.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page provides general information about construction timelines in Los Angeles and is not intended as legal, financial, or professional advice. Specific projects require evaluation by licensed professionals. Regulatory information reflects conditions as of February 2026; ordinances, agency timelines, and requirements are subject to change. Consult LADBS, LA City Planning, and applicable agencies for current requirements applicable to your property.