Engineered Grading in Hillside Areas: What LAMC §91.7004 Means for Your Palisades Rebuild
If you are planning to rebuild in Pacific Palisades, one line in the Los Angeles Municipal Code will shape your permit timeline more than almost any other: §91.7004. It is the section that decides whether your project counts as "engineered grading." And in the Palisades, the answer is almost always yes.
That sounds intimidating. It is not. Once you understand why the requirement applies and what documents it asks for, engineered grading becomes a predictable, manageable part of your rebuild—one that protects your home and your investment for decades. This guide walks you through it in plain language.
What "engineered grading" actually means
In most of Los Angeles, the City sorts grading work into two buckets. Small, simple jobs can qualify as regular grading, which carries a lighter documentation burden. Larger or more sensitive jobs are classified as engineered grading, which requires plans prepared and stamped by a licensed civil engineer, along with supporting reports from soils and geology professionals.
The key distinction is who is responsible for the design and inspection. Engineered grading means a credentialed professional has analyzed your site, designed the earthwork, stamped the plans, and will verify the work in the field. It is the higher standard—and for hillside lots, it is the only standard.
Why §91.7004 sweeps in nearly every Palisades lot
Here is the part that surprises most homeowners. LAMC §91.7004 classifies all grading within a designated Hillside Area as engineered grading—regardless of volume. There is no small-project exemption. It does not matter whether you are moving a few cubic yards to reset a pad or reshaping an entire slope. If the lot sits in a designated Hillside Area, the engineered grading rules apply.
And virtually all of Pacific Palisades is a designated Hillside Area. The terrain that makes the Palisades beautiful—the canyons, the slopes, the ocean-view ridgelines—is exactly what places it inside the Hillside Area designation.
Put those two facts together and the conclusion is unavoidable: essentially every Palisades rebuild that involves grading triggers the engineered grading requirement. If your project disturbs soil to rebuild a foundation, restore a driveway, level a pad, or stabilize a slope, you should plan for engineered grading from day one rather than discovering it mid-permit.
The documents engineered grading requires
Engineered grading is a package of coordinated deliverables, not a single form. For a typical Palisades rebuild, expect to assemble:
An engineered grading plan
A detailed plan, stamped by a licensed civil engineer, showing existing and proposed grades, cut and fill areas, drainage, slopes, and how the site will be brought to its final shape safely.
A soils (geotechnical) report
An analysis of what your ground is made of and how it will behave—bearing capacity, compaction, settlement, and how fill should be placed and tested.
A geology report
For hillside sites, an evaluation of slope stability, geologic hazards, and subsurface conditions. After a wildfire, with burned vegetation and altered soils across the corridor, this report is especially important to getting your site right.
Professional inspection
Engineered grading is verified in the field. Your engineer and the soils professional confirm that the work matches the approved plan and that fills are placed and compacted correctly before construction continues.
Together these documents give the City—and you—confidence that the ground under your new home is sound.
Where drone surveys fit in
This is where modern tools change the experience. A traditional grading plan starts with a topographic survey of your lot, and historically that meant a crew walking the slopes for days.
At Pacific Intelligence, we capture that topography with drone-based aerial surveys, flown by an FAA Part 107 certified remote pilot. From those flights we generate a precise topographic surface and cut/fill volumetrics—the exact quantities of earth to be removed or added across your site.
That data feeds directly into the engineered grading plan, which a licensed California civil engineer then designs and stamps. The result is a faster, safer, and more accurate survey on burned and unstable hillside terrain, with the engineering credentials the City requires built into the same firm. You are not stitching together a separate drone vendor, surveyor, and engineer—it is one accountable team, powered by DBAI.
Why getting this right now matters
The Palisades rebuild is accelerating. By January 2026, roughly 2,600 residential permits had been issued across the Palisades and Altadena, with 3,340 more under review, and a new-construction surge is expected in the second half of 2026.
What that means for you is simple: demand for qualified engineers, surveyors, and inspectors is climbing fast. The homeowners who scope their engineered grading early—who get the topography flown, the reports commissioned, and the plan stamped before the rush peaks—are the ones who keep their timelines intact. Treating §91.7004 as a known, planned-for step instead of a mid-project surprise is one of the most effective ways to protect your schedule.
Plan your grading the right way
Engineered grading is not a hurdle to fear—it is the standard that keeps your hillside home safe, and with the right team it is a smooth, well-charted process. Pacific Intelligence brings together drone topographic surveying and licensed California civil engineering under one roof, so your engineered grading plan, volumetrics, and supporting documentation are handled by professionals who understand both the technology and the LAMC §91.7004 requirements specific to the Palisades. If you are planning a rebuild and want to get your grading right from the start, call us at 310-453-5555 or email contact@pacificintelligence.com to talk through your site.