Santa Clara County Fire Department

Fire-Prevention / Fire-Code Operational Permit (SCCFD)

The Santa Clara County Fire Department (SCCFD) is a joint-powers fire-protection district that serves seven incorporated cities — Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga — plus the unincorporated area, including San Martin. The other eight incorporated cities in the county (San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Milpitas, Gilroy and Morgan Hill) each run their own independent fire department and are outside SCCFD's service area entirely. Within its service area, SCCFD's fire-prevention function issues permits for assembly occupancies (covering sprinklers, extinguishers, exits and occupancy limits) and reviews construction and tenant-improvement plans for fire-code compliance, reaching restaurants, coffee shops, fitness studios and other assembly uses, retail stores, childcare facilities, auto-repair shops handling hazardous materials, veterinary clinics, salons and contractors storing materials at a yard. A food-truck operator falls under this record only if its commissary is based within SCCFD's service area. SCCFD does not publish a flat fire-permit fee schedule; instead, its Permit Technician issues an invoice after reviewing a submitted plan for completeness, so the amount depends on the scope of review and inspection each project needs. Separately, County Planning's 'Fire Marshal's Office' performs fire-clearance and plan-review functions tied to Planning applications specifically in the unincorporated area (see the childcare fire-clearance record); this page describes each office's functions by geography.