WHAT TO KNOW FIRST
Utility and site work can materially change an ADU scope. Map access, staging, protection, demolition, grade, drainage, and candidate service routes early, then assign the investigation and connection responsibilities.
- Visible equipment is not proof of available capacity.
- A complete proposal addresses access, protection, and restoration.
- Utility routes must be coordinated with the house and lot and project type.
Trace how the work reaches the building area.
Measure gates and side yards, identify steps and grade changes, locate overhead constraints, and plan material delivery, equipment movement, staging, waste removal, worker access, and protection for an occupied property. A wide-looking yard may still have a constrained route.
Describe the ground and existing improvements.
Record demolition, pools, patios, walls, trees, irrigation, drainage paths, retaining, soil or geotechnical questions, foundation assumptions, and restoration. A detached ADU commonly makes these items especially visible; a garage conversion shifts the investigation toward the existing shell.
Photographs should show relationships, not only isolated features. Include views from the street to the work area, both sides of narrow passages, grade transitions, visible drains, roof discharge, panels and meters, cleanouts, equipment, and the surfaces that may be disturbed. Mark uncertain locations rather than turning them into scope assumptions.
Separate route, capacity, design, and provider responsibility.
Electrical, water, sewer, gas, communications, heating and cooling, and drainage each have different questions. Identify candidate connection points, distance, elevation, existing condition, capacity investigation, trenching or repair, meters, panels, and agency coordination. Do not treat a preliminary route as approved work.
For each system, the project record should state who confirms capacity, who designs the route, who coordinates with the provider or City, which fees are excluded, and what happens to paving or landscape after installation. A line item labeled “utilities” is not enough when these responsibilities remain open.
Walk through the site questions.
Call (949) 763-5237 with photographs of the proposed area, access, and visible services.
Make site work reviewable in the estimate.
Ask what is included, what is an allowance, what remains to be investigated, who coordinates providers, and what restoration follows trenching or access. Continue to the estimate preparation checklist or return to Irvine ADU Contractor.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Sources for Irvine ADU Utilities & Site Preparation
Links checked September 7, 2026.
Before acting on irvine adu utilities & site preparation, check the latest agency material and resolve open questions with the right professional.
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