Licensed General Contractor
Design • Engineering • Permits • Construction
Full-Service Construction Management Across Los Angeles & Ventura Counties
Soils reports, grading permits, and discretionary review — Pure Builders manages the full LA County sequence, from site due diligence through Certificate of Occupancy.
We are a contractor — we do not sell, list, or broker property.
Pure Builders is a licensed general contractor and design-build firm under CSLB 757470, providing construction management from design and engineering through permitting and construction. We are a contractor — we do not sell, list, or broker property.
Ground-Up Construction & Project Management — The Full Process
Building a ground-up build in Calabasas is a ground-up process that starts with the land, not the design.
It isn't a single permit and a build schedule. It moves through site investigation, soils engineering, grading authorization, architectural plans, LA County plan check, permit issuance, and a phased construction and inspection sequence — all before a certificate of occupancy. Each stage depends on what the previous one found.
Calabasas parcels carry variables that don't appear on a site-plan sketch: biological resource overlays in the Santa Monica Mountains, decades-old fill that behaves unpredictably under load, recorded Williamson Act contracts, and utility or access easements that limit where a driveway can connect. None of those are visible by looking at the property — they appear in the title report, the assessor record, and the LA County permit history.
Pure Builders Inc has completed ground-up residential builds across Westside LA, Malibu, and the Conejo Valley under CSLB License 757470 since 1998. To maintain dedicated project management and rigorous structural execution, Pure Builders operates with a strict $200,000 project minimum, exclusively managing large-scale architectural projects — not minor repairs or room-specific cosmetic remodels. A 30-person crew is structured to run multi-phase, multi-trade projects across active job sites simultaneously.
Licensed by the CSLB under CSLB 757470 — a Class B General Building Contractor license, active & publicly verifiable at cslb.ca.gov.
Managing Large-Scale Construction Across Los Angeles Since 1998
The office at 23966 Craftsman Road sits inside the 91302 and 91372 zip codes where most Calabasas ground-up build sites are located. Malibu Canyon Road connects directly to hillside parcels above the 101, and Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and Agoura Hills are reachable without extended mobilization.
That proximity matters: a project moving through plan-check corrections, soils review, or grading coordination needs a contractor who can appear at the parcel, meet the engineer, and attend a county pre-submittal on short notice.
The hillside areas north of the 101 often carry a Seismic Design Category that elevates structural engineering requirements above a flat-lot project — affecting foundation design, shear-wall layout, and engineering cost. Malibu Canyon parcels carry CalFire jurisdiction, meaning Chapter 7A fire-resistive standards for walls, roofing, vents, and decks, integrated from the design phase forward.
What Site Investigation Reveals Before Design Is Commissioned
"I've walked parcels where an owner had already spent significant money on architectural design before anyone pulled the title report. What they found in that report changed the project in ways no site visit alone would have shown."
Prior grading & fill
A lot that looks flat may have been cut-and-filled decades ago with no compaction records. The soils report then determines whether it supports a foundation — sometimes requiring caisson or drilled-pier systems into stable strata below the fill, which cost more and take longer to permit.
Recorded access easements
Some hillside parcels carry easements governing exactly where a driveway can connect to Las Virgenes Road, Malibu Canyon Road, or a shared private road. An architect who doesn't know places the motor court where the easement prohibits it — a full site-plan redesign at plan check.
Discretionary Review (DRP)
A biological overlay or a setback variance can trigger the LA County Discretionary Review Process — public notice, a neighbor comment period, and a commission hearing. It adds months to the front end and demands different documentation than a ministerial plan check.
— Eli Kaspi, Founder & CEO, Pure Builders Inc
Title Conditions & Recorded Easements — Reviewed Before Any Architect Is Engaged
Owners ask why we request the title report and permit history before any design scope is set. The answer is direct: those conditions determine what the architect can design. If they're unknown, the architect may draw a home that can't be permitted as drawn.
We review three document sets before a design engagement begins — the title report (recorded easements, Williamson Act contracts, deed restrictions), the LA County Assessor record (permitted structures, parcel dimensions, zoning), and the permit history (prior grading permits, compaction reports, unpermitted structures).
That review isn't a same-day deliverable, but it produces a factual baseline the architect receives at the start of the commission — a design process built around the actual parcel, not a generic hillside lot. If it identifies a condition requiring discretionary review, a variance, or a biological assessment, that shapes timeline and budget before fees are committed to design.
Site Review, Soils Coordination & Permit Plan Set — In Sequence
Every ground-up build moves through the same documented pre-design sequence before a design dollar is spent — not preferences, but the sequence that produces a permit-ready plan set on first submission.
The Design-Build Construction Sequence — Seven Phases
Each phase depends on what the previous one produced. Total duration from parcel review to C of O typically runs 18–36 months.
Parcel Due Diligence
Title report, assessor record, and permit history reviewed before any design — identifying easements, prior grading, overlays, and zoning conditions. 2–4 weeks
Soils & Engineering
A geotechnical report characterizes bearing capacity, expansion index, groundwater, and Seismic Design Category; the structural engineer is engaged concurrently. 3–6 weeks
Design & Structural Coordination
The home is designed to the parcel's actual conditions; structural calculations are integrated into the documents; Title 24 is commissioned alongside. 8–16 weeks
Plan Check & Corrections
The full architectural/structural/MEP/energy set goes to LA County (or City of Calabasas). First review runs 8–14 weeks; corrections re-enter the queue. A DRP extends this phase. 3–6 months
Permit Issuance & Grading
Building and grading permits issue; grading runs under LA County Public Works with compaction tested per lift, and a rough-grading inspection before the pad is accepted. 4–10 weeks
Foundation → MEP Rough-In
Foundation, framing, MEP rough-in, insulation, and drywall-nail inspections — each passing before the next. Reinforcement and shear-wall layout follow the Seismic Design Category. 16–28 weeks
Finishes, Final & C of O
Interior and exterior finishes, a final inspection of all systems, then the Certificate of Occupancy once inspections pass and corrections resolve. 8–16 wks + 2–6 wks
Areas We Serve
Pure Builders manages large-scale residential construction across three regulatory markets in Los Angeles and Ventura counties — each with its own permit pathway, engineering requirements, and inspection cadence.
Westside Los Angeles
Malibu
Conejo Valley
Calabasas, CA
23966 Craftsman Rd, Calabasas, CA 91302 — our office and yard, within direct site-visit range of all three regions.
Large-Scale Construction & Design-Build — FAQ
Where does a ground-up build project actually start?
With the land. We review the title report, assessor record, and permit history before an architect is commissioned, because those recorded conditions — easements, prior grading, overlays, zoning — define what can be designed and permitted on the parcel.
What is your minimum project size?
To ensure extreme quality and dedicated project management, Pure Builders enforces a strict $200,000 project minimum. We exclusively focus on high-ticket custom builds, major structural additions, and comprehensive whole-home renovations.
Why do I need a soils report?
LA County requires a geotechnical investigation before a grading permit on hillside and ground-up build sites. It determines bearing capacity, expansion index, and Seismic Design Category — which drive the foundation type, such as a conventional spread footing versus a caisson or drilled-pier system on unreliable fill.
What is a Discretionary Review Process, and will my parcel trigger one?
The DRP is LA County planning review for projects that don't qualify for ministerial approval — for example, a biological overlay or a setback variance. It adds public notice, a comment period, and a commission hearing, extending the front-end timeline. We confirm DRP exposure before design is commissioned.
How long does a ground-up build take in Calabasas?
Typically 18 to 36 months from parcel review to Certificate of Occupancy. Clean parcels with complete first submissions and no DRP requirement land at the lower end; legacy fill conditions, biological overlays, or multiple correction cycles land toward the higher end.
Do you handle grading permits?
Yes. Where earthwork exceeds de minimis thresholds, an LA County grading permit (Chapter 70) is obtained separately from the building permit, with compaction testing and inspection coordinated through LA County Public Works and cut-and-fill quantities documented in the grading plan.
What extra rules apply to Malibu and Santa Monica Mountains parcels?
A Coastal Development Permit under the Malibu Local Coastal Program, ESHA biological review, and CalFire Chapter 7A fire-resistive construction — integrated from the design phase forward rather than addressed as plan-check corrections.
CSLB 757470 — Class B General Building Contractor, active and verifiable at cslb.ca.gov.
We build on property our clients already own. We do not sell homes, list property, or act as a real-estate brokerage.
A 30-person in-house crew delivering permitted, engineered residential construction across Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Planning a Large-Scale Build? Here's Where the Conversation Starts
If you own property in our service area or the surrounding area and are planning to build, the starting point is a site assessment — not a phone consultation about budget. We review the parcel's physical conditions, pull the permit history and assessor record, and identify constraints that will affect the design and permit pathway. No drawings required — the parcel address is enough.