Name the approval you actually have
“The kitchen is approved” can mean several things. You may have accepted a cabinet drawing, your designer may have finished a revision, or the city may have completed a review. Write the actual event beside the relevant document. A supplier's order confirmation answers a purchasing question; it does not establish the city's status for the work shown.
Start with one dated scope summary and the current plan revision. List the physical changes separately from the cabinet finish and accessory selections. This makes it easier to identify which buying decisions depend on a question still open with the responsible professional or authority.
Connect the City of Los Angeles stages
LADBS describes plan review and permit issuance as separate stages. Its guidance says documents and signatures are needed at issuance and calls for identifying who will sign and pay. Some eligible projects follow a route without plan review. Ask LADBS which route applies to your actual scope; the word “kitchen” alone does not answer that question.
This city guidance concerns property within Los Angeles. Confirm the proper authority for a Long Beach, Anaheim or other nearby address. Record the route and contact identified for your property rather than copying a previous project's process.
Assign the signer, payer and evidence holder
Ask the person handling the application who will supply outstanding documents, who is expected to sign, and how payment responsibility appears in your agreement. A quoted permit allowance should remain distinguishable from an actual invoice and payment. Resolve any unclear responsibility before treating it as arranged.
Keep an application or permit reference with the project file when one exists. Record where the current status can be checked and who will pass updates to the designer and installer. Share relevant documents through the provider's agreed process; nobody needs another person's account password to track a handoff.
Make a narrow order-release decision
Review each unresolved item against the cabinet schedule. A question about an opening may affect nearby units, fillers or dimensions while leaving a paint selection unchanged. Ask the responsible designer and supplier which items are dependent and what a later revision would change. Do not infer that splitting an order is available or cost-free.
Write the decision as “release these listed items against revision X” or “hold these items pending answer Y,” subject to the supplier's terms. Use the Los Angeles package responsibility guide for broader product and installation ownership; the worksheet here records approval evidence.
| Record | Evidence to keep | Unresolved owner |
|---|---|---|
| Product approval | Cabinet schedule and accepted revision | Who releases the order? |
| City review route | Applicable route and current response | Who answers corrections? |
| Permit issuance, if required | Issued record; outstanding documents | Who signs and pays? |
| Affected selections | Units or dimensions tied to open answers | Who confirms the final revision? |
Worked example: the wall opening remains unresolved
In a hypothetical kitchen, a homeowner accepts the cabinet color while a proposed wall opening is still under professional and city review. The supplier asks whether the whole order is ready. The worksheet shows product selections accepted, review unresolved, and no issuance evidence yet. The homeowner asks the designer to mark the units affected by the opening and the applicant to identify the next response. A cabinet drawing stamped “approved” by the purchaser is not used to close the city-review row.
Questions to settle before ordering
Does approving my cabinet drawing approve construction?
It records a product or design decision. Confirm the required construction approvals and their status with the responsible authority and project professionals.
Should the same person sign and pay for the permit?
Establish those responsibilities for your project and agreement. This worksheet does not determine who is legally eligible to sign.
