Frequently Asked Questions

Getting started is simpler than you might think. We begin with a one-on-one conversation focused entirely on you — your vision for your next home, the features and details that matter most to you, and the budget you’re working with.
From there, we work alongside you and your insurance provider to make sure you’re getting the most out of your policy. Many homeowners don’t realize how much they may be leaving on the table, and we’re here to help you navigate that process with confidence.

You don’t need to have everything prepared before reaching out to Genesis Builders. Most homeowners come to us without surveys, soils reports, or architectural plans—and that’s completely okay. Our team manages the entire process for you, including obtaining the necessary reports, coordinating design, and guiding you through permitting and construction.

If you have information about your insurance coverage, settlement amount, or overall budget, that can be helpful as we begin planning. However, the most important step is simply starting the conversation. From there, Genesis Builders will guide you through each step and handle the details needed to move your rebuild forward.

Yes. Genesis Builders can work directly with your insurance adjuster to help streamline the rebuilding process. Our team is experienced in reviewing insurance scopes, estimates, and documentation, and we’re happy to collaborate with your adjuster to ensure everyone has the information needed to move your rebuild forward.

By coordinating directly, we can help align the construction plans with your coverage and reduce some of the back-and-forth that homeowners often face. Our goal is to make the process as clear and stress-free as possible while helping you move confidently toward rebuilding your home.

The experienced tradespeople who clear your lot bring the same expertise as those who build them — and that makes all the difference. With 26 years and thousands of homes behind us, we know exactly what needs to go before construction can begin.

Most cleanup crews and government programs miss things. We don’t. Hidden debris, leftover materials, compromised foundations – our team spots and removes it all, so your build starts on a clean, solid foundation.

Our plans meet the Chapter 7A and IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home standards guidelines. Genesis Builders incorporates modern building materials and design practices that are intended to improve a home’s resilience in wildfire-prone areas. This can include fire-resistant exterior materials, tempered glass windows, ember-resistant vents, and thoughtful site planning that reduces the risk of ignition around the home. Our goal is to build homes that meet or exceed current safety standards while helping homeowners feel more secure about the future.

Yes. Genesis Builders is familiar with the Los Angeles County permitting process for rebuilding in Altadena. In fact, Genesis Builders is listed on the Los Angeles County pre-approved plans website and was one of the first builders to create pre-approved home plans for the county’s rebuilding program. Because of this, our team understands the local requirements and can help guide homeowners through the permitting process as smoothly as possible.

Rebuilding requires far more than a single permit, and Genesis Builders handles all of it.

Our team manages every touchpoint across the full network of agencies and departments involved in your rebuild. That means direct coordination with Southern California Edison, your water provider, the school district, recycling and waste management, and the fire department – alongside processing through Planning, Public Works, and Building Safety.

For 26 years, we’ve built the relationships and institutional knowledge that make this process move. We know who to call, what each department requires, and how to keep your project from stalling in bureaucratic back-and-forth.

Homeowners shouldn’t have to learn the language of permits and agencies while they’re trying to rebuild their lives. We handle the correspondence, submissions, follow-ups, and approvals – so you can focus on what comes next.

Before a single permit can be approved, your property needs to tell its story – and Genesis Builders makes sure that story is complete.

We coordinate all required surveys and technical documentation, including soils reports and environmental reporting, ensuring everything is submitted in the right order and on time. While a soils report isn’t always legally required before a rebuild, that doesn’t mean you should skip it. Understanding what’s beneath your foundation protects your home for decades to come, and it’s the kind of detail that separates a house that’s simply rebuilt from one that’s built right.

There are no pre-construction inspections required before breaking ground, but the surveys and reports that are needed carry real weight. We help you understand what’s necessary, what’s optional but wise, and how to move through the process without cutting corners that could cost you later.

Because rebuilding isn’t just about getting back to where you were, it’s about building something better.

Each homeowner works with a dedicated team from your initial contact all the way until you walk into your new home. Our entire team will guide you through the process. We will coordinate communication between design, permitting, and construction so you always know who to reach out to with questions.

Communication is an important part of our process. Homeowners receive regular updates throughout construction and milestones. Our team is also available to answer questions along the way so you always understand where your project stands.

Yes. Our team maintains an active presence throughout the construction process. Project managers and construction professionals oversee the build and coordinate with trade partners to ensure the work is completed to the expected standards.

You can be as involved as you’d like. Some homeowners prefer a more guided experience where our team manages most decisions, while others want to be actively involved in selecting finishes or reviewing options. Our role is to provide guidance and make the process manageable while allowing you to participate at the level that feels right for you.

Rebuilding after a loss is deeply personal and often overwhelming. Genesis Builders approaches this work with empathy and a commitment to helping homeowners move forward. Our goal is not only to build high-quality homes, but also to guide families through the process with transparency, clear communication, and respect for the community they are rebuilding in.

Pre-approved plans can significantly simplify and speed up the rebuilding process. Because these plans are already designed and prepared for permitting, homeowners can often move through preconstruction more quickly than with a fully custom home. Pre-approved plans also help provide greater cost clarity while still allowing homeowners to personalize finishes and certain design elements.

A fully custom home offers complete design flexibility, but it can also add time and complexity to the rebuilding process. Custom homes typically require a longer design phase, additional engineering work, and multiple plan revisions before permitting. For homeowners who want to move forward more quickly, starting with a pre-approved plan can often be a more efficient option. The biggest question mark with custom is of course the price. While you have more flexibility with design, you have less flexibility of overall cost management and the increases in price can continue along the way of the build creating most families to go beyond their budget

Rebuilding is one of the most significant investments you’ll ever make and Genesis Builders treats it that way.

While we understand the urgency to get back into your home, we take the time to get the design right. That means slowing down at the right moments to ask the right questions, about your layout, your lifestyle, your materials, and your future. The decisions made early in the design process are the ones that will shape how your home feels, functions, and holds up for decades.

We guide our clients through choices in energy efficiency, durability, materials, and design details with one goal in mind: making sure the home you rebuild is better, and more thoughtfully suited to your family, than the one you lost.

Rebuilding fast is easy. Rebuilding smart takes a partner who’s willing to invest the time with you. That’s what Genesis Builders is here for.

It’s Not Too Late! But Here’s What You Need to Know

If you’ve been in conversations with another builder but haven’t broken ground, there’s a good chance you still have options, and Genesis Builders is happy to sit down with you and walk through them.

What many homeowners don’t realize is that fire rebuilds are governed by specific consumer protection legislation. Under SB 517 and SB 1191, contracts for fire rebuilds must conform to state-mandated requirements designed specifically to protect you. Our contracts are written to comply fully with this legislation and if you’re working with another builder, you’ll want to make sure theirs does too.

One of the most important protections that law provides: builders can only collect a $1,000 deposit before construction begins. If anyone is asking for more than that upfront, that’s a serious red flag.

Once permits are pulled and construction starts, switching builders becomes significantly more complicated. So if you have any hesitation, now is the time to ask questions.

Whether you ultimately build with us or not, we want you to move forward protected, informed, and confident. That’s why we’re happy to be a resource, even if it’s just to help you ask the right questions of whoever you choose.

Possibly, If you already have a recent survey of your property, our team can review it and determine if it can be used for your rebuild.

Using an existing survey can often save time in the early stages of planning, however it must include the necessary information such as accurate property boundaries, easements from your title report, and detailed topography of your property and at least five feet beyond it.

If the survey meets the requirements for design and permitting, we will incorporate it into the process. It’s best to share your survey as early as possible so we can confirm whether it can be used.

Pre-approved plans can save a significant amount of time in the rebuilding process—often 4 to 6 months. Because these plans have already been designed and reviewed to meet local building requirements, all of the architectural and engineering work has already been completed for the home.

With a custom or design-build home, the process usually starts from scratch. Designing, revising, engineering, and submitting plans for approval can take several months and thousand of dollars, along with the countless decisions homeowners need to make in the process.

Pre-approved plans streamline this step by allowing homeowners to start with a thoughtfully designed home that is already prepared for permitting, which can help move the projects into construction months earlier.

At Genesis Builders, homeowners can still personalize finishes and certain elements of the home, so you benefit from both a faster timeline and while still creating a space that feels uniquely yours.

At Genesis Builders, we provide a guaranteed price by starting with a clearly defined home plan and detailed specifications before construction begins. Because our homes are based on thoughtfully designed plans with established materials and building methods, we are able to accurately calculate the full cost of construction upfront through our preconstruction scope of services.

Once the scope of the site conditions and selected finishes are confirmed, we provide a fixed price for the build. This means homeowners know the cost of their home before construction starts, helping avoid unexpected increases during the process.

If your site has special conditions such as retaining walls, significant slope, etc., we review those items with you in advance so they can be addressed transparently. Our goal is to give homeowners confidence and clarity about their investment from the very beginning of the rebuilding process.

The guaranteed price from Genesis Builders covers the construction of your home based on the selected plan, standard finishes, home features, our appliance package, a two-car detached garage, and an allocation for specific site improvement costs.

Since each site is not the same, those specific site costs will vary from property to property.. These may include extensive grading, retaining walls, import or export soil, environmental remediation, additional landscaping or fencing, or unusual foundation requirements, that are identified once the lot is fully evaluated during our pre-construction phase.

During our pre-construction phase , our team carefully reviews your property and project scope with our consultants and engineers so that any potential additional costs are identified and discussed upfront. Our goal is to keep the process transparent and ensure there are no surprises as your rebuild moves forward and that you have a guaranteed rebuild cost in your contract.

The preconstruction phase typically takes 3 to 4 months, depending on the condition of the lot. Having an accurate survey that meets the required specifications can shorten this timeline by 4 to 6 weeks.

During preconstruction, we complete the necessary reports and planning work, including the property survey, geotechnical soils study, environmental testing, grading and landscape plans, and preparation of the site-specific architectural plans. Our team coordinates these steps to keep the process organized and moving forward.

Throughout this phase, we also finalize your site plan, tailor the layout to your property and preferences, and prepare the full set of documents required to submit your home for permitting.

Because our homes are based on thoughtfully designed plans, much of the architectural work is already completed, which helps streamline preconstruction and move your project into the building phase as efficiently as possible.

Once your rebuild contract is executed, Genesis Builders is committed to completing your home within a 12-month construction timeline. Our homes are built using efficient construction methods and established plans, allowing us to carefully manage scheduling, materials, and trade partners to keep projects moving forward on schedule.

Throughout the build, our team actively oversees each phase of construction to minimize delays. If unexpected circumstances arise that could impact the timeline, we communicate promptly and work quickly to resolve the issue and keep your project progressing.

We also stand behind our timeline with accountability. If we do not meet the agreed-upon schedule, Genesis Builders compensates the homeowner by paying back a portion of the build cost for each month the project extends beyond the 12-month timeline.

Our goal is to provide both transparency and peace of mind—so you can feel confident that your rebuild will be completed efficiently and that we stand behind our commitments.