My project had to stop all work when the city intervened because we were building without a permit. From start to finish, Ian walked me through the process and kept me informed of what I could expect throughout the permit approval/issuance. First submission to final approval took about 2 months, which certainly exceeded my expectations, especially considering the bureaucracy that needs to be played with the city. Cannot recommend the Permit Pros enough. They got my project back on track and fully legal. I feel so relieved in getting past this ordeal that felt like such an uphill battle. read more

I have used Ian Scattergood and his team on a couple occasions to help with unpermitted work and he always came thru for us and saved us time and money dealing with the County. He worked as an building inspector and know his stuff ! read more

Ian Scattergood with The Permit Pro was incredibly helpful with a code enforcement violation involving an unpermitted addition to a property. He went above and beyond to investigate the situation, clearly explain the issue, and determine the best path forward. Ian was responsive, knowledgeable, and provided quick, practical, and sound advice when I needed it most. I highly recommend Ian to anyone dealing with permits, code enforcement, or unpermitted work. read more

So helpful! Ian has brought value with every phone call. He comes highly recommended by several real estate agents/colleagues, too, and that referral works for me! Looking forward to working with you on my upcoming project! read more

Ian Scattergood to the rescue! I had a nightmare experience that lasted about 1.5 years. Thank God I found Ian. What may have been my nightmare was just another day in Ian's life. This is what he does professionally--he helps people navigate the uncertainty of obtaining permits for things that were built without them--and he's damn good at it too! We had several unpermitted items in our backyard, and a neighbor reported us to the city. The code enforcement department came, issued violation fees, and gave us a notice requiring that we either get the items permitted or tear them down. I had no idea where to start, and with three kids (including a newborn) and a business to run, the whole situation felt overwhelming. I found Ian on Google and immediately reached out. He guided me through the process of getting the permits approved. He came out, measured everything, told me in advance what would likely be called out by the city inspector, advised me on what needed to be fixed, drew up all the plans, submitted the paperwork to the city, and even printed and dropped off the plans for approval. He also communicated directly with the code enforcement officer on my behalf. There was even a moment when the inspector asked for an update to the plans. Ian stepped back in and made the necessary revisions. Throughout the entire process--and even after--it was easy to reach him via phone, text, or email. I can't thank Ian enough for getting the ball rolling on this project for me. When it first happened I was so overwhelmed that I felt like I did not have it in me to take the first step... actually I had no clue what the first step even was.. so I probably would've been walking in the wrong direction (lol), but with Ian's help I got through it. It wasn't easy, but it was possible with him by my side. I highly recommend Ian to anyone going through a similar situation. Thank you so much, Ian; a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders thanks to you! read more

See all

Permit Pro Consultant is the real deal. I contacted them with some complicated permitting questions, and instead of rushing me through, they spent over 45 minutes walking me through every step. The level of detail and patience was impressive. With years of experience and a background working for the city, he has an insider's understanding of how the process actually works -- and it shows. He broke down the requirements, explained the likely scenarios, and gave me practical strategies to move forward confidently. It's rare to find someone who combines deep technical knowledge with genuine care for their clients. If you're navigating permitting, code questions, or city approvals, I wouldn't go anywhere else. Five stars without hesitation. read more

I called Ian the owner of Permit Pro consulting in an effort to find information regarding submittal for new residential construction. Ian went above and beyond in answering all my questions. He truly does know what he is talking about. I hung up the phone with a detailed plan for follow on steps. Ian is a wealth of knowledge and I highly recommend him for anyone's future projects. read more

Working with Permit Pro Consultant on our ADU permit was a fantastic experience. Ian's deep knowledge of the permitting process and his guidance made dealing with the city so much easier! read more

Like many other property owners, my wife and I had a partially unpermitted structure on our residential lot. Originally the second floor was permitted as a guest house, and the first floor was permitted for agricultural storage by the County. The first floor was subsequently converted into habitable space (kitchen, dining and living areas) without a permit and connected to the upstairs guest house creating a full apartment. This condition continued for 30+ years until the State of California passed laws recently promoting Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) for both the construction of new ADUs and the legalization of existing, unpermitted ADUs to increase available housing. To legalize our unpermitted ADU we engaged Ian Scattergood, owner of The Permit Pro Consultant, to guide us through the process. Ian immediately conducted a thorough site visit and then commenced drafting the required plans for submission to the County to obtain the permit. This endeavor was more complex than preparing plans for a new ADU as the original structure was fully permitted, but not in its current form. Ian saw to every detail including all interactions with the County until the new permit was issued. He kept us informed closely of his progress, and his total fee was declared up front with appropriate periodic payments based on his progress. Ian's outstanding work enabled us to engage a contractor to bring the structure into compliance with his plans, pass final inspection and receive a Certificate of Occupancy for the ADU from the County. In short, we could not have been more satisfied with Ian's performance on our project, and we heartily recommend his services to anyone who has, or who anticipates, a difficult permitting issue. read more

Ian was great. I had emailed him because I wanted to hire him on a fence job to double check some code compliance stuff. He called me back promptly, and he had already found and reviewed my property online including some permit history stuff to assess my question. All within a 5-minute conversation he clearly and confidently delivered the information I needed and refused to accept any payment. I was thoroughly impressed and appreciative. Kudos to Ian and Permit Pro. Good people! I will definitely use again and highly recommend! read more

Ian is amazing and KNOWS HIS STUFF. Whenever my clients are having permitting issues I always go to him and he is so helpful. He knows everything there is to know about permitting and architectural aspects of a property. Highly recommend! read more

Ian has been instrumental to saving my attached ADU!! I bought the house without knowledge that the garage conversion was unpermitted, his delivery of service went above and beyond with a personal touch that I can only describe as overtly caring and kind. So grateful for his excellent work! read more

I used Ian at Permit Pro some years ago to get some as built work permitted. He was super knowledgeable, fair and competent. He is also a problem solver. I highly recommend Ian to anyone looking for a knowledgeable professional. read more

Ian was recommended by a friend for a consult on obtaining a building permit. He kindly responded to my call and gave me great info on the steps to take in obtaining a permit. He told me the proper set backs and measurements for the project to make the process for me as easy as possible. He is very knowledgeable on county codes and I learned so much just talking to him. I really appreciate his expertise and kindness. read more

I needed Ian to get the process started with no idea if we could successfully get the addition permitted. Overall I am very dissapointed that some one like this is even still in business considering his lack of business ethics and complete disregard for our aggreement. Save yourself time and money and find someone else. It does not take 2 months to get the job done you can easily get this done your self. Its not a hard process as he exaggerates it would be. read more

The Permit Pro Consultant - General Contractors Near Me - El Cajon, California

I recently had a project scoping call with Ian. He was knowledgeable and generous with his time...I learned a lot in the first call. Look forward to possibly working with him! read more

I am in the Army and recently got assigned to San Diego. I hired Ian to complete a project at my residence. Hire Ian if you want someone who is SOMEWHAT knowledgeable but works at a VERY SLOW pace. He misguided my project and almost got me stuck in a commercial PDP plan that would have cost me 20K IN EXTRA FEES. He comes off as very informed and sells himself as well as Jared very well however, do not be fooled. I had to fire them, pick up my documents and go through the permit process myself! I received the permit in one day. Ian and Jared sat on my paperwork for over TWO MONTHS and always had excuses about why we couldn't progress forward (trying to create extra work for his business). Also Ian now thinks that its okay to snoop around my residence acting like an appraiser!! A restraining order will soon follow! Don't be mad because I took you to court. Just accept the fact that your a lousy worker, you have your best interest in mind and not that of your customers. read more

Thought we would save some money by building an un-permitted addition. After dealing with amateurs, spending thousands on fixing their shoddy work, we decided to get permitted and get things done right. We would have never even known where to start if not for Ian Scattergood. Not only did he guide us through the process, but he also took care of physically going everywhere that was required by the city. There are several places involved. School district. City. County. All we did was sit at home and everything that needed correcting got fixed, and everything that needed signing by San Diego inspectors got signed. I strongly recommend using Ian as he is professional, honest, and will get done for you what would seem almost impossible otherwise. If you're not a licensed contractor, call Ian so that things are done swiftly and correctly. read more

I was hesitant to get this inspection while we were in Escrow, but afterwards I can say that Ian was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. He was on time, thorough and answered all our questions. I would recommend Ian to my friends and family. read more

Ian took time to give me a quick call and set me in the right direction with my ADU project. I'm too far in to change Architects, but kinda wished I'd started with him to begin with as he obviously knows the business really well. Give him a try! read more

I spoke with Ian around 3 years ago when my sister in law was being black mailed by her crazy neighbor. For 10 years she allowed her neighbor to bully her or she would turn my sister in law in to the county for her unpermitted garage conversion. She lives in the beach area and this is as common as hell to make garages in extra rooms. Well her crazy neighbor figured it out and told my sister in law that she would be taking all the parking spots including my sister in law's!!! After 10 years of this I looked up Ian and this guy gave me two hours of free advice on the phone!!!!! Who does that!!!! He was positive and gave me a peace of mind that my sister in law would be able to go legit. It would NOT be a walk in the park and at times tricky but it was doable. I told my sister in law all the things Ian told me and she began to cry. When the crazy neighbor came over to yell at her for parking in front of her own house for the first time in her life, my sister in law told her to "go fuck herself !!" Apparently family members state my sister in law began to just blow up 10 years of pent up fear and anger onto that woman hahahhaha!!! The crazy old lady has not bothered her since and it's been 3 years!! read more

Ian is very knowledgeable about permit issues, and helped us resolve a discrepancy with the square footage of our home. Ian reviewed the site as well as the relevant government records and identified the problem. He was able to get the Accessor's records corrected to reflect the accurate square footage of our house, which will be a huge benefit when we sell the house. We are very glad we retained his services! read more

I have hired Ian in the past regarding a project that needed to be retroactively permitted and have spoken with him about multiple other projects since. I highly recommend him and would definitely use him again. His extensive knowledge of the building codes, the process, and the overall workings at the building department is impressive. Thanks Ian! read more

I called Ian on the recommendation of an inspector I use often. Ian was busy but took the time to listen to my questions, look up my property, give me a lot of info on the phone, tell me how to save myself some money by giving me incredibly detailed advice about dealing with the city and helped me understand what was and wasn't wise to ask for. He turned down my offer of a fee for all his phone help and asked me to keep him in mind for the job. I just don't run into such helpful and knowledgeable people who are so free with their time and expertise anymore. I was really impressed. read more

I needed some information about permits for a new construction project I was thinking about doing. I saw this business on yelp so I gave them a call, and I talked to the owner. He was near by at the time that i called him, and was able to come and talk to me in person about my property. He gave me a lot of new ideas and he even put me in touch with one of his surveyors. He is very knowledgeable about the new California Laws that allows you to put an extra unit in your property. I highly recommend him to anyone thinking of doing new construction, or doing an addition to their property. read more

Ian was was very helpful and responsive regarding some un-permitted square footage in a home that's preparing for sale. My clients were very impressed with the information they received and we all learned some good information about the home. Thank you for your expertise! read more

I used Ian to help me through a difficult experience with the city. After purchasing my home, I was notified by the city that there was unpermitted space that was added on. Ian was extremely helpful and helped me get everything permitted and approved by the city, with minimal extra costs. The previous reviewer complains about an estimate of $10,000-$15,000 and mentions the estimate shouldn't have a $5k spread. After working with the city, I can say from experience that there is no way to provide an estimate without this type of spread because there is no telling what the city will make you fix. I would recommend Ian for anyone that needs help with the permitting process. read more

I called Ian on behalf of a client who purchased a home that had some non-permitted add-ons. He went above an beyond to investigate and offer solutions that corrected the situation and gave the buyers piece of mind going forward. Ian is extremely knowledgeable regarding codes and permits and quick to respond to inquiries. He was stellar and I would recommend him to anyone who needs this kind of help. read more

A year after we bought our bank-owned home, SD County informed us that our pool and retaining wall were not permitted. The only options were to get the permits or cover up the pool with dirt and remove the retaining wall. Ian Scattergood at Permit Pro came to our rescue and got the job done! His extensive experience in all permit services made the permit processing run smoothly and expediently. He and his team of contractors were very professional, honest, thorough, and efficient, resulting in us saving thousands of dollars. They kept us informed throughout each phase of the permitting process. Our pool and retaining wall are now permitted and we are very pleased with the service that Ian Scattergood and team provided. -Joe & Alice Contogenis read more

Ian was very helpful to our family in a crisis situation. He answered many questions before we even hired him. THAT is customer service!

I am happy to write a top review for the help I received about permitting a studio granny flat. Their experience and knowledge base helped me make important decisions about an investment property I purchased where there were unknown aspects to a third unit. If you need anything related to permitting, these consultants are the ones to reach for answers saving both time, money and headaches. Many thanks to Ian in particular. read more

talked to Ian about drawing plans and getting permits for a small project, he told me, on two separate phone conversations, that he would check zoning/building codes when he got back to his office, and call me back with a price and details for the project. Never heard from him again. If he doesn't want to do the project at least have the courtesy to let me know so i don't waste a week, read more

I was referred to Ian while looking at a house with unpermitted space. Before making an offer, I needed to know more about how much risk was involved and how, if at all, it could potentially be cleared up. Ian spent a significant amount of time on the phone with my talking through what it all means and what is worrisome and what isn't. He provided me a proposal for ways in which he could help bring more clarity to the issue. More impressively he talked me through the steps I can take myself to do the leg work. His concern was that I got a good answer not that he sold some work. Throughout our interactions, he was quick to respond, detail oriented, proactive in brining me new ideas and information, and extremely knowledgeable. Ian gave me the tools I needed to get to an answer. If you run across permit issues I highly recommend calling Ian. read more

This review comes solely from a value stand point. I needed to use a permit expert in determining what additions of the house were permitted and which were not. I had all the permits pulled from both the city and the county assessor's office. I had the tax records and a rough blue print of the house. I needed help reading the information, understanding which areas were permitted, and a quote for getting the non-permitted areas to an "as is" permit. The cost of this service was $500. Here is what I got. 1. "research" on the property (tax records and mls listings on the house) a. keep in mind I had all permits pulled, the tax records, and mls already that I paid for. 2. site walk through (1 hr) 3. verbal quote 10,000-15,000 (seriously? after being in business for that many years 5k spread? I received a referral from a friend and I felt I got burned. (Always get more than one quote!) Ian was really nice and very knowledgeable on permits but what I got for $500 dollars was a total rip off. When I asked for something in writing in regards to the service, a printed layout of the house (which the seller agent provided) with non-permitted sections and a quote, they said no, that Ian would tell me the next steps to take in regards to my permit needs. After getting charged $500 for that service, there was no way I was going with the same company. Again...this review is from a value stand point. The business contacts were very friendly and well informed about permit issues. read more

Ian Scattergood was amazing to work with!!! We did a remodel 17 years ago and were told at that time that permits weren't necessary for the type of work we were doing, Fast forward to now, when we are selling the house. A potential buyer was concerned that the remodel wasn't permitted. Enter Ian who took charge and handled everything for us. The process was simple, painless, reasonable cost and very fast!! Ian handled everything very professionally and we are now fully permitted. I would highly recommend Ian and his company. read more

I have consulted with Ian from Permit Pros on a couple occasions. First time was over 20 years ago when a neighbor complained to building dept about an unpermitted building on a previous property. He told us what to do to get them off our back. Recently, we used him to do some research on a property we are considering buying. His knowledge about building codes and his contacts within the building industry and building dept is invaluable when it comes to planning a project and avoiding costly mistakes and aggravation down the road. read more

Four years ago we had an extensive deck remodel done at our home. The outdoor living space has been an enjoyment for our entire family. Thanks to a disgruntled neighbor who didn't like our trees getting leaves in his yard, we had to get a as built permit. After contacting a couple architects / draftsmen we were pretty disillusioned. I had Ian's name scratched on a tab of paper someone had recommended and gave him a call, as a last resort and I'm so happy I did. His honest demearnor and his personal knowledge of who I will be dealing with at the city sold me . It was a pleasure to have both him and his structural engineer at our home. They completed the work in the time frame given and met me down at the city plans department ( where it seemed like he knew everyone ) to walk me thru the process. The inspector just left after signing our permit. My wife and I are toasting a couple margarita's. Thanks Ian Scattergood and Permit Pros. We highly would recommend them. Ken and Cleda read more

Ian was very helpful at getting the County Assessor's office to show our correct permitted square footage on the Assessor's website instead of the very wrong figure they have been using for years. Having an expert at getting city hall to act was just what we needed. Only problem was how slow the Assessor's office was to act after being convinced that a change needed to be made. read more

Ian is the real deal! We contacted Permit Pros regarding our dream home purchase that came with some issues. Ian spent time researching the issues and was a valuable resource in making our decision to buy the house. Ian clearly cares about his customers interests. read more

Lets start by saying that this company Permit Pro also know as Momenta Design Group is awesome!! I had an existing structure that I needed to get permitted. I was really stressed out due to my nasty neighbors who turned it in and the city now on my back. I am a single mom with two kids and didn't really know where to start. Do I hire a real estate attorney? Do I try to go to the city myself? Am I going to possibly have to tear a structure in my backyard thats been standing for 12 years!! These and many other questions were all racing through my mind. A Realtor referred me to Permit Pro or really Ian Scattergood. What a complete blessing!! From the moment I talked to him on the phone for the first time all the way through the end of the project he was spot on. Honest and up front. Not only did Ian and his team MDG get me through all the city planning, blueprints etc my structure is all permitted and done professionally and in a quick time frame. I would definitely highly recommend them!! read more