Expert General Contractor in Burbank – HomeSense Construction & Remodeling

Last updated: September 2026

What we actually see on Burbank job sites

Burbank is its own city with its own everything, and that is the single most useful thing a homeowner here can know before pricing a project. Plans go to the City of Burbank Building Division, not to LADBS - a different counter, a different plan-check queue and a different set of local amendments from the ones that govern a house three miles west in North Hollywood. We pull Burbank permit history before we quote, because the 1930s and 1940s stock in Magnolia Park and the Rancho routinely carries additions that were never finalled, and an open permit from 1988 has to be resolved before a new one is issued.

The utility is the second Burbank-specific fact. Electric and water both come from Burbank Water and Power, a municipal utility owned by the city, so a service upgrade is a BWP work order rather than an investor-owned-utility ticket. In practice that is good news - the planning contacts are local and reachable - but the sequencing is different, and a 100-amp to 200-amp upgrade on a Magnolia Park bungalow needs the BWP service-planning conversation started at the same time as plan check, not after. We have watched otherwise clean kitchen and whole-house projects idle for weeks because that call was made in the wrong order.

Two overlays decide what is actually buildable. The Verdugo Mountains put the north and east edges of the city in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which pulls in Chapter 7A ignition-resistant assemblies - Class A roofing, ember-resistant vents, exterior wall and eave detailing - and those are material specifications, not paperwork. Separately, the Rancho district's equestrian zoning constrains setbacks, accessory-structure placement and driveway geometry in ways that catch out designers who have only worked the flats. Both belong in the feasibility conversation, before anyone draws an elevation.

Our practical Burbank sequence: address permit-history pull at the Building Division, an early BWP service-planning question if the panel is under 200 amps, a fire-zone check against the state hazard map, and only then a design that we already know will survive plan check. For an ADU on a typical Burbank R-1 lot the real cost variables are the trench run from the existing panel and whether the rear yard drains to the street or to a neighbour - not the finish schedule everyone wants to talk about first.

HomeSense services for Burbank homeowners

Detailed service pages covering the work we do most often for Burbank clients:

• ADU Construction & Garage Conversions
• Home Additions & Second Storeys
• New Construction & Custom Homes
• Home Builder Services
• Whole-Home Remodeling
• Bathroom Remodeling
• Roofing & Cool-Roof Installation
• Remodeling Cost Guides

Sources & official references

The permitting, code and utility requirements described on this page come from the agencies with actual jurisdiction over Burbank addresses. Burbank is not permitted by LADBS, and these are the primary sources we work from:

• City of Burbank Community Development - Building Division — Permits, plan check, inspections and address permit history for Burbank parcels (91501-91506). Burbank issues its own permits; LADBS has no jurisdiction here. building@burbankca.gov, (818) 238-5220.
• Burbank Water and Power (BWP) — The city-owned electric and water utility. Residential electric service planning and water service planning for panel upgrades, ADU meters and new service - the step that most often controls a Burbank project's schedule.
• City of Burbank - Planning and zoning — Zoning, the Rancho equestrian district provisions, hillside development standards in the Verdugo foothills, and the local code amendments Burbank layers over Title 24.
• CAL FIRE / Office of the State Fire Marshal - Fire Hazard Severity Zones — The Verdugo Mountains place Burbank's northern and eastern hillside parcels in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, triggering Chapter 7A ignition-resistant construction - Class A roof assemblies, ember-resistant venting and exterior wall detailing.
• California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) — License verification (HomeSense holds California license #1125001), the 10%-or-$1,000 down-payment cap, and the mechanics-lien and home-improvement contract rules that govern every Burbank residential job.
• California Building Standards Commission (Title 24) — The California Residential, Plumbing, Mechanical and Electrical Codes that Burbank adopts by reference, plus the local amendments each city layers on top.
• California Energy Commission - Title 24, Part 6 Energy Standards — The 2025 energy standards as they apply to Burbank additions and alterations: envelope and duct requirements, heat-pump baselines for space and water heating, and the prescriptive alteration pathway most remodels take.
• CALGreen (Title 24, Part 11) — Construction-waste diversion, water-efficient fixtures and indoor air-quality requirements that apply to Burbank additions and remodels above the permit threshold.
• US EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule — Certified-firm containment and testing requirements on Burbank homes built before 1978 - which is most of the older housing stock here.
• California ADU statute (Gov. Code §66310 et seq.) — The state ministerial-approval framework, 60-day review clock and impact-fee exemption under 750 sq ft that every California city, including this one, must honour.

HomeSense Construction & Remodeling is a licensed California general contractor (CSLB #1125001) serving Burbank and the greater Los Angeles area since January 2011. 6571 Ponce Ave, West Hills, CA 91307 · (818) 300-3422.