Fire Rebuild Guides
When your builder stops work on a Palisades rebuild, do five things in this order. Pull your permit record today and read the last inspection, any open correction and the expiration date; in Pacific Palisades that record sits with the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, in Malibu with the City of Malibu. Walk the house with someone who reads framing and write down what is built, what passed and what is missing, with photos. Lay the invoices you paid beside the work you can see, because a contractor may not collect ahead of work performed or materials delivered. Ask every subcontractor and supplier who sent you a preliminary notice whether they were paid, since an unpaid one can lien your house after the builder leaves. Then decide, with your attorney: a cure letter with dates, or a new builder under a new fixed-price agreement and a new permit. I do the written account for owners in this spot, and the first call is free.
I am Sebastian Moreno Rivera, the owner of Build And Decor Construction, and I wrote this on October 23, 2026. The license, CSLB #1113888 (Class B General Building and C-33 Painting and Decorating), is held by the corporation, Build And Decor Construction, and I am its qualifying individual on the State record.
The expiration date is the one thing you cannot get back. A permit that lapses can mean a new application and new fees, and the department does not call you first. Read the last inspection and its result, every open correction, and the date. If an extension is possible, it is requested in writing before expiration, by the permittee. If the permittee is your builder, that request is his to sign and yours to demand.
Walk it with someone who reads framing. Write what is built against the plans, what passed inspection, and what is missing. Photograph everything, dated. This record is what the next conversation with the builder rests on, what your insurer or lender will ask for, and what your attorney will build a case from if it comes to that.
Lay the invoices you paid beside the work you can see. California bars a contractor from requesting or accepting payment above the value of work performed and materials delivered on site, apart from the capped down payment, and the bar covers money released by your lender or financier. A gap here is your loss and may be his violation, and it belongs in the written account.
Subcontractors and suppliers who sent you a twenty-day preliminary notice can record a lien within ninety days of completion, and sixty continuous days without labor counts as completion. A stalled site is a clock that is already running. Ask each one whether they have been paid, and get unconditional releases for every payment you made.
Two roads. The builder finishes under a written cure letter with dates and a payment schedule tied to work in place. Or a new builder takes over under a new permit and a new fixed-price agreement, and the old builder's account is settled against the written record. Both roads are yours and your attorney's. My part is the account you decide from.
The written account first: what was built, what passed, what was paid, what is missing, and the options in front of you. If you keep your builder, I stay on your side as your owner's representative: the weekly permit read, the weekly walk, every invoice checked. If you want the house finished by my company, that is a rebuild takeover under a new fixed-price agreement. Book a free first call (opens in a new tab).