Pasadena: choosing windows and doors for a rebuild

Use the City’s rebuilding contacts

Pasadena identifies assigned planners for red-tagged, fire-damaged properties through its damaged-property map. Its rebuilding page also provides separate Building & Safety and Fire Department contacts.

Building & Safety: BuildingRecovery@cityofpasadena.net · (626) 744-4200. For fire-code and hardening questions, the City lists FireRecovery@cityofpasadena.net.

Find the assigned planner and current recovery contacts →

Check design constraints before narrowing the shortlist

For an existing historic property or a property within a landmark district, ask Planning whether the work needs historic-preservation review. Pasadena lists window replacement among the changes that can be reviewed in landmark districts.

Ask which features must be preserved or approved: framing material, visible profiles, operation, divided-light pattern, trim and opening proportions. For a fire rebuild, have the assigned planner confirm which requirements and recovery provisions apply to that site.

Then give suppliers a short written design brief and request suitable alternatives. A finish sample and a frame-section drawing can resolve a question that a catalog photograph cannot.

Match the product to the approved project

Before choosing a specific product, ask the design team to confirm the applicable code edition, energy documentation, wildfire-exposure requirements, safety glazing, emergency escape openings and any planning conditions for this parcel. These are separate checks. The local authority decides what applies to the permit.

Pasadena has a fire-rebuild fee waiver and refund program with eligibility conditions. Use the City’s current program page to check eligibility; do not assume another jurisdiction’s fee rules apply.

Prepare for a product review