When a buyer’s inspector writes “recommend further evaluation” about the foundation, the next few days of escrow usually turn on one question: what does the seller have on paper? A folder with permits, reports, and repair records answers a lot of questions before they become renegotiations. An empty folder invites the buyer to assume the worst and price it in.
This checklist is for La Jolla and San Diego homeowners getting ready to sell. It covers which foundation and structural records to gather, where to find each one, and how they line up with the California disclosure forms you’ll be filling out. It’s practical prep, not legal advice. Your agent or a real estate attorney should guide what you disclose and how. If you’re weighing a pre-listing evaluation, our foundation inspection page explains how one is scoped.
Start gathering early. Some City records take an appointment to view, and copies of approved plans need permission from people you may have to track down.
Why the paperwork matters under California law
Sellers of most single-family homes in California complete a Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) under Civil Code §1102 and the sections after it. A few rules shape how documents help:
- Good faith. Civil Code §1102.7 requires every disclosure to be made in good faith, defined as “honesty in fact.”
- Delivery timing. Under §1102.3, the completed statement goes to the buyer “as soon as practicable before transfer of title.” If a disclosure or a material amendment arrives after the buyer’s offer, the buyer gets three days after delivery in person, or five days after delivery by mail or electronic record, to terminate. A late surprise hands the buyer a fresh way out.
- Expert reports. Under §1102.4, when a seller delivers a report from a licensed engineer, land surveyor, geologist, contractor, or other expert in response to a request, that can limit the seller’s liability for errors in that information, provided the statute’s conditions are met.
- Consequences. Section 1102.13 says a sale isn’t invalidated just because someone failed to comply, but a person who “willfully or negligently” fails a disclosure duty is liable for the buyer’s actual damages.
The TDS seller section asks whether you’re aware of unpermitted additions or structural repairs, work not in compliance with building codes, fill, “any settling from any cause, or slippage, sliding, or other soil problems,” flooding or drainage problems, major damage from earthquake or landslide, and any notices of abatement or citations. Every one of those lines is easier to answer accurately with records in hand.
The checklist
1. City permit history
La Jolla addresses are in the City of San Diego, so the Development Services Department (DSD) keeps the records. City Information Bulletin 110 (April 2026) lists how to search: by address, permit number, plan file number, approval number, or Assessor Parcel Number.
What the City says is available, and where:
- 2003 to present: searchable online through OpenDSD, Accela, the Permit Finder, and the Open Data Portal.
- Before 2003: most ministerial permits aren’t electronic. The City’s records guide says they can be searched in person at self-service stations.
- Before 1955: the City’s Records page directs owners of properties built before 1955 to the County Assessor’s Office.
- Subdivision Index Cards: historical permit details and discretionary-action summaries filed through the 1990s.
The City also notes that “not all types of property records may be available.” Some older homes have thin files. That’s normal, and it’s better to know before a buyer asks.
What to pull: every permit touching the foundation, retaining walls, grading, drainage, additions, and seismic retrofit, plus whether each one received a final inspection. Our San Diego permit basics post explains which foundation work needs a permit in the first place.
2. Approved plans, if any exist
This item trips people up.
Viewing is in person only. Under IB-110, building plans can only be viewed on-site with a scheduled appointment, and copying, tracing, or photographing them during viewing is prohibited.
Copies need permissions. California Health and Safety Code §19851 allows duplication of the City’s official plan copy only with written permission from the professional who signed the plans and from the original or current owner. The City’s plan-duplication procedure adds that plans signed by an architect or engineer are copyrighted material, and that the application process “typically takes up to six weeks.” If your title is held in a trust, the City asks for specific trust pages.
Plans may not exist at all. Health and Safety Code §19850 says building departments don’t have to keep plans on file for single or multiple dwellings of not more than two stories and basement. IB-110 likewise says the City’s official plan copies exclude “certain exempt buildings.” If the City has no plan set for your house, that may simply be the rule at work, not a red flag.
If you hold your own copies from a remodel or repair, put them in the folder now.
3. Prior repair records
For any foundation, drainage, retaining-wall, or crack repair:
- Contract and scope of work
- Invoices
- Permit number and final inspection record
- Engineering letter or plans tied to the repair
- Special inspection reports, if the work required them
- Before-and-after photos
Our post on underpinning explained for homeowners describes the paper trail a well-run repair leaves behind. The settlement repair timeline shows where each record comes from during a project.
4. Geotechnical and engineering reports
Hillside, canyon, and coastal-bluff lots in La Jolla often have soils history: a report from original construction, a later repair, or a neighboring project.
The City’s Guidelines for Geotechnical Reports include a consumer section worth keeping in mind before you hand a report to a buyer:
- Geotechnical services “are performed for specific purposes, persons, and projects.”
- “Subsurface conditions can change.”
- “The consumer must not edit the contents of the geotechnical report,” and regulators, designers, and contractors require a complete report.
So share complete reports, appendices included, and don’t excerpt the reassuring pages. For permit purposes the same guidelines treat a report as valid for three years unless the consultant set a shorter date. An older report is still useful history. A buyer’s professional will decide what it means today.
5. Monitoring data and dated photos
If anyone set survey points or crack monitors, gather the readings. If you’ve been photographing a crack once a season, those dated photos are records too. Our retaining wall monitoring checklist and uneven floors measurement posts show what useful records look like.
Readings that show a crack holding steady over a long record give a buyer’s professional something concrete to work with. Data that shows movement is something you’d want to know about before a buyer’s inspector finds it.
6. Earthquake retrofit records (homes built before 1960)
Government Code §8897.1 requires sellers of homes built before January 1, 1960, with one to four units of conventional light-frame construction, to deliver the state’s Homeowner’s Guide to Earthquake Safety and complete an earthquake hazards disclosure. Section 8897.2 lists the weaknesses to disclose if you actually know of them: missing anchor bolts, unbraced perimeter cripple walls, unbraced first-story walls, unreinforced masonry foundations or walls, a habitable room above a garage, and an unanchored water heater.
Section 8897.2(b) also asks you to disclose material information you know about “any corrective measures or improvements taken” to address those items. That’s where retrofit permits, invoices, and photos earn their place in the folder.
The 2020 edition of the guide is direct about what sellers are not required to do: remove siding, drywall, or plaster to complete the disclosures; hire someone to evaluate the home; or fix the risks before selling. It also advises keeping a copy of all documentation the buyer signs. For background on the retrofit items, see cripple wall bracing basics and our seismic retrofit page.
7. Natural hazard disclosure context
The Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement under Civil Code §1103.2 reports mapped zones, including an Earthquake Fault Zone and a Seismic Hazard Zone for landslide or liquefaction. The form itself says the maps “are not definitive indicators” of whether a property will be affected. If your property is in a mapped zone and you have a geotechnical report that addresses it, keep that report next to the NHD.
8. Notices, citations, and disputes
The TDS asks about notices of abatement or citations, and about lawsuits alleging a defect. If any involved foundation, drainage, or a retaining wall, gather the notice, the resolution, and any sign-off.
Should you get a pre-listing evaluation?
Sometimes. A pre-listing foundation evaluation can tell you what a buyer’s inspector is likely to flag and give you time to decide whether to repair, monitor, or simply disclose with documents attached. It isn’t required, and the earthquake guide says plainly that sellers don’t have to hire anyone to complete those disclosures.
If you do get one, keep the full report, and talk with your agent about how it fits your disclosures. Our foundation inspection page explains how evaluations are scoped, and structural inspection covers framing and load-path questions beyond the foundation.
For the other side of the transaction, our companion buyer’s foundation inspection guide lists the documents buyers are told to request. Matching that list is a good way to check your folder.
A one-page summary to put on top
A cover sheet helps buyers and their inspectors find things. Keep it factual:
- Year built and any additions, with permit numbers
- Foundation or structural work: what, when, who, permit and final status
- Reports available, with author, date, and purpose
- Monitoring data available, with date range
- Known open items you’ve already disclosed
Don’t characterize the condition of the house on the summary. Point to the documents and let them speak.
Cost factors, not prices
We don’t publish prices. What a pre-listing evaluation involves depends on access, lot slope, whether a level survey is useful, how much existing documentation there is to review, and whether engineering or geotechnical input is needed. Gathering records from the City mainly takes time and appointments.
Next step
If you’re planning to sell and want to know what the foundation will look like to a buyer’s inspector, we can help you get ahead of it. La Jolla Structural evaluates homes anywhere in La Jolla, and we coordinate with licensed engineers as needed when a question calls for engineering or geotechnical work. Request a Free Quote, or call (650) 739-6537. If repair turns out to make sense before listing, see our foundation repair page.
This post is general information, not legal advice. Ask your real estate agent or a California real estate attorney about your specific disclosure obligations.
Sources (accessed October 11, 2026)
- California Civil Code §1102, §1102.3, §1102.4, §1102.7, §1102.13, and the Transfer Disclosure Statement form (§1102.6, as reproduced by the California Department of Real Estate in Disclosures in Real Property Transactions and form RE 640)
- California Civil Code §1103.2 (Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement)
- California Government Code §8897.1–§8897.5
- California Seismic Safety Commission, Homeowner’s Guide to Earthquake Safety, 2020 edition
- California Health and Safety Code §19850, §19851
- City of San Diego Information Bulletin 110, Permit Records and Mapping Information (April 2026)
- City of San Diego Development Services: Records page, Public Records Act request guide, and Procedure for Requesting Duplication of Architectural Building Plans
- City of San Diego, Guidelines for Geotechnical Reports (2008): §1.6, §2.4