Wildfire Rebuild Management in Santa Monica, CA
Owner representation in Santa Monica: Fire damage to homes, city permits, insurance claims and complete reconstruction.
The process of having a fire-damaged or destroyed home in Santa Monica can be challenging, from obtaining city permits, dealing with insurance companies, hiring contractors, working with codes, and supervising construction. This is not something that most homeowners have ever done. The consequences of a single wrong move can be months and tens of thousands of dollars.
PaliPM will be your own owner’s representative throughout the rebuild process. We work for YOU and NOT the contractor, NOT the insurance company, NOT the city. We’re just here in Santa Monica, at 3122 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 300. We know this city, all of its building codes, and the process. We don’t let your rebuild get out of hand, from permit to move in day.
Wildfire Rebuild in Santa Monica: What Homeowners Are Facing
When you’ve had a fire in your home, it’s more complicated than a normal home remodeling or new construction project. It will include a number of professionals, various government agencies, negotiating insurance covers and making code decisions in a hurry, often in the absence of your own home.
The City of Santa Monica has its own Building and Safety Division with a very specific local interpretation of the California Building Code, and its own systems and processes for permitting and reviewing. From the first day it could be the difference between a smooth rebuild and a years-long ordeal if it’s not done the right way, with the right team, the right submittals and the right project management.
You have a good idea of how PaliPM can be used in this situation. The founders of our company, John Anderson and Adnan Tapia, have more than 70 years combined real estate, development and construction management experience. They have supervised the development of hundreds of millions of square feet spread over the State of California. They work only in your interests as owner’s representative and decisions are based on your budget and your timeframe.
How PaliPM Manages Your Santa Monica Wildfire Rebuild
The rebuild process in Santa Monica is complex and includes a dozen or more professionals who have different interests and timeframes, including architects, structural engineers, permit expediters, general contractors, subcontractors, inspectors and insurance adjusters. PaliPM is in the middle of it all and only represents you.
Assessment of the site for damage and documentation of the same. In order to file a permit, your property has to be assessed, documented and cleared. We arrange for the removal of debris, provide hazardous material mitigation for those materials that pose hazards and prepare the photo documentation and structural assessments needed for insurance companies and the city’s Building and Safety Division. At this stage, thorough documentation helps to avoid delays at all subsequent stages.
Permit Navigation Through the City of Santa Monica From permit submittal preparation through the process of reviewing permit plans for response, to issuing permits, PaliPM manages the entire wildfire rebuild permit assistance process through Santa Monica’s Building and Safety Division. We collaborate with Architects and Engineers to prepare full code-compliant submittals to meet the 2025 California Building Standards Code (as amended locally). Applications are tracked using the city’s ProjectDox Electronic Plan Review system, plan checks are handled promptly, and Public Works Engineering is coordinated on offsite work and/or reconnections for utilities.
If the first submittal is complete and well-prepared, it will get farther down the plan check process. That’s what we offer!
Fire Resilient Design Compliance Oversight
In 2025, the City’s code will be updated to impose higher fire resistance standards for all new rebuilds within the City’s jurisdiction. In fact, PaliPM checks your design before it even gets to the city and ensures it meets the requirements for Class A roofing, ember-resistant cladding, ember-resistant vents, fire-resistant glazing and sprinkler integration. Identifying compliance issues at Plan Check helps to prevent re-submittals and delays to schedules.
Insurance Advocacy and Coverage Gap Analysis
Insurers regularly provide estimates for rebuild that are less than what it will cost to rebuild to today’s 2025 rebuild codes — particularly in terms of cost. PaliPM examines your policy, hires public adjusters and cost estimators if necessary, and makes sure your insurance claim & rebuild coordination are in line with the total loss, needs for code upgrades, and the current cost of construction. It’s much easier to reduce any exposure gaps before construction is underway than it is to find them in the middle of a project.
A contractor selection and full construction oversight process.
We screen, bid, and hire quality general contractors and subcontractors for you. We create definite scopes of work, schedules, and payment structures based on milestones. During the construction process, we do quality checks on each phase of the project, we control the construction cost and make sure that your budget is protected, we do track and approve change orders, and we solve problems before they get out of hand. From top to bottom, all your rebuilds in Santa Monica are handled by someone who cares solely about you.
Why Santa Monica Homeowners Choose PaliPM
We’re not a contractor; we’re your advocate.
The majority of ‘project management’ services in the fire rebuild arena are, in fact a contractor coordination. PaliPM is not like other services: it’s a dedicated owner’s representative. We are not on the contractor’s payroll at any time! No financial motivation for our construction costs, contractor profit, or scope of the project. Our only duty is to YOU — and it’s different for every dialogue and every choice during your rebuild.
If a contractor’s work is not up to the standard, we have him/her correct it. If it’s not necessary, we say NO. If insurance settlement is inadequate, we stand up for them. It’s all up to you. Advise them that they are well-informed.
We are based in Santa Monica The address of PaliPM’s office is 3122 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 300 — where we live. Our principals are well connected professionally in this community. We are not a national company or disaster response company that came in to see what happened after the fires and then left. This is where we’re at work. We know the building department of the City of Santa Monica, the review process and the standards.
70+ years of combined real estate expertise Co-founders John Anderson and Adnan Tapia boast more than 70 years of combined experience in real estate investment, development, project management and construction oversight throughout California and beyond. They have dealt in billions of dollars worth of real estate; and they practice the institutional approach to every single-family rebuild they manage. Nothing gets missed. Nothing gets rushed. There is nothing that is decided without your understanding and approval.
Transparent, flat-fee pricing PaliPM charges a professional fee — there is no hidden professional fee in PaliPM, which is a percentage of the construction costs. This removes any monetary pressure on the part of the approver to make high-priced decisions or overestimate the scope of the project. We do it because of our incentive: a well-run, successful rebuild.
Our Rebuild Process for Santa Monica Homeowners
Phase 1 — Assessment and Planning
We visit your property to record all damage in detail, as well as provide you access to immediate housing support if necessary; we create a whole-of-rebuild picture. We evaluate your insurance and find out what you’re missing from your policy, and get your whole team of professionals — architects, structural engineers and permit expediters — working on your site, your goals, and your timeline.
Phase 2 — Permits, Insurance, and Design Coordination
allows us to oversee the architectural and engineering design process, submit a comprehensive permit application to the Building and Safety Division of the City of Santa Monica, follow up on the design plan review process in ProjectDox, and respond to plan check corrections. Simultaneously, we work with you to adjust your insurance coverage to the current construction costs and to the insurance code requirements of 2025 so you are covered before the first contractor arrives on-site.
Phase 3 — Contractor Selection, Construction, and Closeout
We competitively select and contract qualified builders under clear, enforceable agreements. A construction schedule is set up, containing a series of milestones and inspections at each stage of the construction. Construction fund controls are managed to ensure that your budget is protected. We ensure quality at all levels, deal with change orders, address problems as they occur, conduct the project through to the final inspection by the city, certificate of occupancy and move-in.
Ready to Rebuild Your Santa Monica Home?
You have been given all you need to do. The rebuild process after a wildfire is complex, technical and a multitude of decisions must be made by the homeowner — not necessarily because they aren’t smart, but because it’s complicated and lawyers and others work for years to get this right.
With PaliPM you don’t have to bear that burden. From day one to move in, we take care of all your professionals, permits, contractors and budget lines. It’s up to you to make decisions that are important to you. We ensure they’re the correct ones!
Our office is in Santa Monica — 3122 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 300. Call (310) 207-1147 or email Build@PaliPM.com to schedule your consultation.
FAQs
The rebuilding process of a fire-damaged home in Santa Monica takes approximately how long ?
What happens if the city rejects my permit application ?
How do I know if my insurance payout is enough to cover my Santa Monica rebuild ?
Does PaliPM only work on full rebuilds, or can you help with partial damage and repairs ?
Why do I need an owner's representative if I already have a contractor ?
