Symbium launches instant permitting in California
Property Data
By synthesizing a number of data sources and creating a platform that is easily navigable, Symbium’s Citizen’s Dashboard offers its users a wide variety of property information. All of our information is sourced from official government resources including FEMA, county tax assessor data, and local jurisdiction databases. Property data can help you learn a lot about your home, such as environmental risks, what work has been constructed with and without permits, the square footage of the structures on your property, your zoning designation, assessed property value, transit options, environmental risks, and more. We strive to empower you to understand what is possible on your property . Start exploring by typing in your address here.
Permit History and Assessor Data
The building permit history on a property can tell you a lot about the construction history of a home. To ensure that the minimum safety requirements of the California Building Codes are met, most construction activities, including alterations, replacements, and repair work in homes require permits and inspections. Access to the permit record on a property can provide insight such as previous renovation work or allow you to check for any outstanding fees that have yet to be paid. In addition to building permit records, the Appliance Center on Symbium provides additional information on permits, associated fees, and applicable rebates if this information is available. Tax assessor data presents publicly available information that has been collected by county tax assessor offices. This data includes property identification, addresses, property features, and assessment values. Much of the property data available on Symbium is sourced from county assessor data.
Environmental Hazards and Concerns
Real estate assets are at increased risk of damage from extreme weather hazards due to climate change. These weather hazards may include flood zones, wildfire risks, liquefaction zones (soils which are susceptible to earthquakes), and landslides. Property owners, contractors, insurers, and realtors may have an urgent need to understand how environmental hazards can impact housing vulnerability and homeowners insurance. Environmental hazards could also warrant extra regulations on use and development standards. Learn about the environmental risks that a property might be vulnerable to on Symbium.
Zoning and General Plan
Local zoning designations regulate the types of uses and development standards that a property can be used for. Zoning within a city helps to preserve historically significant buildings and sites, preserve unique natural resources, and incentivize community structural needs such as transportation options and affordable housing. Zoning designations often relate to the general plan, which is the long term plan for a community’s physical development. Typically these plans are a vision of what the city might look like in the next 10 to 20 years, implementing objectives, goals, and policies to achieve the plan. Symbium makes it possible to learn what zoning designations are applicable to each parcel and how the general plan affects your community.
Building Footprint versus Gross Floor Area
The amount of space that buildings and structures take up on a parcel of land constitutes its building footprint. The building footprint includes all structures, habitable or not, such as car ports, covered porches, and garages. A parcel’s building footprint can help homeowners understand how much building unoccupied space is available on their property, providing insight on how much room there might be for additional construction projects, such as an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). Gross floor area differs from the building footprint because it constitutes the total floor area of a building including all stories, except the basement. The gross floor area does not include enclosed spaces, such ascarports or covered porches. Gross floor area information is sourced from county assessor databases. In many jurisdictions, there is lag time between when property improvements are done which impact the property’s data (e.g. if a room is added to a home, the square footage increases) and when the county updates their records. Often cities send updated data records to counties on a fixed schedule and counties update the records according to their own schedules. Therefore, discrepancies between city and county data can arise. If you notice this on your property, you can contact your local city and county assessor on Symbium by entering your property address and clicking on your property’s city or county link. You may request that the jurisdiction update your property’s information.
