Our San Jose and Santa Clara County Service Area
One shop, eight South Bay building departments
San Jose Custom Railing designs, welds and finishes every railing and gate in our own shop, then installs it anywhere from Alviso to the Almaden hills and west to the Saratoga foothills. The free on-site measure is the same in every city. The paperwork is not. San José files through SJPermits and SJePlans, Santa Clara through its Permitting Online Portal, Campbell through MGO Connect, Milpitas and Saratoga through eTRAKiT, Cupertino through an Accela portal, Sunnyvale through E-OneStop, and the Town of Los Gatos through its own permits site, which no longer takes paper plans.
The California guard and handrail numbers (42-inch guards, the 4-inch sphere, 34 to 38 inch handrails) hold everywhere. What changes is the handout, the historic overlay, the fire map and how a city wants SB 721 balcony reports. Each city page below covers those local details. For a quick number first, try the railing cost calculator.
Licensed & Insured Custom In-Shop Fabrication Free On-Site Estimates Permit & HOA Submittal HelpSouth Bay cities we serve
- San Jose: our home city and the biggest mix of work, from Victorian porches in the Hensley district and Willow Glen Eichlers to E3 balcony repairs under the Multiple Housing Program. About 60% of its 345,066 homes were built before 1980.
- Santa Clara: about half apartments (51.4% of units in buildings of three or more), plus Old Quad homes near the Mission, the Pomeroy Eichler townhomes and Rivermark. Every permit file goes in electronically.
- Campbell: the oldest stock of the central valley cities (69% built before 1980), historic porches on Alice Avenue, the area's highest share of duplexes and fourplexes, and a city SB 721 handout of its own.
- Milpitas: the newest homes we serve (median year built 1987), townhome stair upgrades, Milpitas Metro apartments by BART and gated hillside lots in Hayward fault country.
- Los Gatos: a Town since 1887 with design guidelines that weigh balcony privacy, hillside rules on deck depth and color, an 18-foot setback for driveway gates, and Very High fire areas in the hills.
- Saratoga: 85% single-family homes with a median build year of 1967, a 4-foot opaque wall rule for upper balconies facing a neighbor, and about 3,073 acres the city reports as Very High fire hazard.
- Cupertino: Eichlers in Rancho Rinconada, homes near De Anza College and Rancho San Antonio, and a draft safety update that discourages electric gates in Very High fire areas of the western foothills.
- Sunnyvale: a renter-majority city with 47.1% of units in buildings of three or more, Eichler neighborhoods, and cooler, damper bayside air that changes how we finish steel.
How far we travel
We stay inside Santa Clara County. If your property is in one of the eight cities above, or in an unincorporated pocket surrounded by them, we will come out to measure at no charge. Unincorporated addresses file with the County of Santa Clara rather than a city, and we handle that route too; our Santa Clara County permit guide explains it.
Not sure whether your street counts? Call (408) 409-8723 any day from 7am to 6pm, or send your address through our contact page and we will tell you which building department your project belongs to.
FAQ
Questions, Answered
Straight answers on cost, code, permits and materials. Still unsure? Call and ask.
My mailing address says San Jose or Campbell. How do I know which city issues my permit?
ZIP codes do not follow city limits here. ZIP 95008 covers Campbell and parts of San Jose, and Campbell annexed a large part of the old unincorporated Cambrian pocket in 2012. Some pockets are still unincorporated and file with the County. We check your parcel before we quote so the drawings go to the right office.
Which South Bay cities have fire hazard severity zones?
On the 2025 state maps, parts of San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga and Cupertino are mapped High or Very High, and parts of the Milpitas hills are mapped Moderate. Santa Clara, Campbell and Sunnyvale have no mapped zones. Check your own address at osfm.fire.ca.gov/fhsz. Steel, aluminum and tempered glass railings are noncombustible wherever you live.
Does every city handle SB 721 balcony reports the same way?
No. The state law is the same, but San Jose runs its own Exterior Elevated Elements (E3) intake through Code Enforcement, and Campbell publishes its own SB 721 handout that requires a permit for deck repairs and an architect or engineer for repairs over 8 feet. For other cities we confirm the reporting and permit steps with the building division before repair work starts.
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San Jose Custom Railing designs, fabricates and installs custom railings across San Jose, CA and the South Bay. Licensed and insured, drawings checked against California code, and permit and HOA paperwork handled for you.