# Knob and Tube Replacement in Pasadena, California

> Knob and tube replacement in Pasadena: city permits and fees, Pasadena Water & Power service charges, landmark districts and hot attics. Start with a map.

URL: https://laknobandtube.com/service-areas/pasadena/

Pasadena questions

Last Updated: October 25, 2026

**City of Pasadena** Jurisdiction

**[City of Pasadena Building & Safety](https://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/building-and-safety/)** Permits and inspections

**[Pasadena Water & Power](https://pwp.cityofpasadena.net/)** Electric utility

**91104, 91103, 91106, 91107** ZIP codes

## What starts a rewire in Pasadena

### A fused service and an old mast

The rewire needs more circuits than the old service can feed, so Pasadena Water & Power becomes part of the plan.

### A contributor in a landmark district

The interior work is clear, but the new meter location has to suit the district's design rules.

### Attic work in August

Pasadena's late-summer heat makes the attic the slowest part of the job, so the schedule matters.

### New insulation on the to-do list

The energy upgrade has to wait until the attic circuits are certified or replaced.

## Services in Pasadena

### Whole-house rewiring

Replace every old branch circuit, knob and tube or not, and add the circuits and protection a modern house needs.

### Panel upgrade

Replace a fuse box or undersized panel with capacity for the new circuits, coordinated with the utility and the rewire.

### Attic insulation

Certify the old wiring under California's exception, or replace the attic circuits first and insulate without conditions.

### Inspection

Find out which circuits are still live, what condition the reachable wiring is in, and what cannot be seen.

### Plaster-wall rewiring

Route new circuits through the attic and crawlspace, keep openings small and planned, and agree the patching before work starts.

Almost every office a Pasadena rewire deals with belongs to the city. Building & Safety issues the permit and inspects the work, Pasadena Water & Power supplies the electricity, and Pasadena’s own landmark district rules cover the outside of the house. [LA Knob and Tube](https://laknobandtube.com/) replaces knob and tube wiring in Pasadena, from the Craftsman blocks of Bungalow Heaven and Historic Highlands to Garfield Heights, Washington Square and Bellefontaine, and a knob and tube replacement in Pasadena is planned around those offices and the fees they publish.

The city also has a lot of the housing where this wiring survives. The Census Bureau counts 18,066 Pasadena homes built before 1940, 28.6% of the city’s housing, and 9,535 of them are owner-occupied single-family houses. In ZIP code 91104, the northwest Pasadena area around Bungalow Heaven, 51.6% of all homes predate 1940, the second-highest share of any ZIP code tested in the region.

## A different permit office and a different utility

LADBS has no role in Pasadena, and neither does LADWP. The City of Pasadena’s Building & Safety division issues the electrical permit and its inspectors check the work, while Pasadena Water & Power is a city-owned utility with its own service rules and its own published charges.

That matters most when knob and tube replacement grows into a service upgrade. Replacing branch circuits does not change the meter, and a new panel does not remove any old wiring by itself. Where a house still runs on a small fused service, though, the new circuits can outgrow it, and the meter, mast or service size changes. At that point Pasadena Water & Power is part of the schedule. Its requirements for residential upgrades were not something the research behind this page could retrieve, so they are confirmed with the utility for each address before the panel work is priced. The [panel upgrade page](https://laknobandtube.com/electrical-panel-upgrade/) explains how to tell whether the house needs one at all.

## What Pasadena publishes about fees

Pasadena is one of the few places where both halves of the paperwork cost are public. The [city’s fee schedule](https://www.cityofpasadena.net/finance/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/FY-2027-General-Fee-Schedule-Adopted.pdf) charges electrical permits by the item: a $78 processing fee, $28 for the first 10 outlets, switches or fixtures, $8 for each one after that, $21 for each breaker and $73 for a service or panel up to 200 amps.

The same schedule lists Pasadena Water & Power’s charges for small residential services: $1,238.19 for an overhead service of 200 amps or less, and $3,190.81 plus civil construction for an underground one. Whether a particular upgrade on an existing service triggers those charges is confirmed with the utility. The permit figures make one point clear: because Pasadena charges per device and per breaker, a whole-house rewire with dozens of outlets carries a larger permit than a partial job on a few circuits. The [cost guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-los-angeles/) shows how permits sit alongside labor, access and plaster restoration.

## Landmark districts and the outside of the house

Pasadena’s landmark district map shows 30 districts. Bungalow Heaven was the first, designated in 1989, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 with 522 contributing buildings. Garfield Heights, Historic Highlands, North Pasadena Heights, Washington Square, Rose Villa-Oakdale, Craftsman Heights, Bellefontaine and Governor Markham are among the others.

Pasadena’s district rules work separately from the HPOZ system in Los Angeles, and the research behind this page did not confirm how Pasadena treats interior electrical work. That is checked per address with the city before the permit. The likely friction is on the exterior. A rewire happens inside walls, floors and the attic, while a new meter, a taller mast or a relocated panel can land on a wall that faces the street. Planning the service location early keeps the interior work from waiting on a design question. The [historic homes guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/rewiring-historic-homes-los-angeles/) covers how preservation review and electrical work usually fit together.

## Heat, attics and when to schedule

Pasadena is hot by Los Angeles standards. NOAA’s climate normals put the average August high at 91.3°F, against 84.0°F in downtown Los Angeles, and Pasadena averages 74 days a year at 90°F or above, nearly three times downtown’s 25.5. An attic over a dark roof runs hotter than the air outside.

Attic routes are central to most knob and tube jobs, because second-floor and ceiling circuits are reached from above. In a Pasadena summer that work is slow, which makes the cooler months the easier time for attic-heavy jobs, when daytime highs at the same station sit in the high 60s. Heat also bears on insulation. California permits insulation around knob and tube only after a California-licensed electrical contractor surveys and certifies the wiring, which is why the [attic insulation page](https://laknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-attic-insulation/) usually points to replacing the attic circuits first.

## How a Pasadena job usually runs

The first visit maps the house: which outlets and lights still run on knob and tube, which old runs are dead, where later wiring was spliced into the original system, and how the panel, attic and crawlspace can be reached. A one-story bungalow with a raised floor is often reachable from both above and below. A two-story house on a hillside lot may need more openings in plaster, and the quote lists each opening and who patches it. The [knob and tube inspection](https://laknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-inspection/) is that same map, done before anyone commits to a scope.

The permit goes to Pasadena Building & Safety, and an inspector checks the new wiring before walls are closed and again at the end. Circuits are replaced in sequence so most of the house has power on most days, which the [guide to living at home during rewiring](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/living-at-home-during-rewiring/) describes room by room. Where plaster has to be opened, the [plaster wall rewiring page](https://laknobandtube.com/plaster-wall-rewiring/) explains how openings are placed at boxes and at framing crossings, and how much restoration follows.

## After the Eaton Fire

The Eaton Fire began on January 7, 2025, and CAL FIRE reports it destroyed 9,419 structures in Altadena and Pasadena. Houses rebuilt since then go through permitting under current code and will not have knob and tube. Pre-war houses that were not destroyed still have whatever wiring they had before, and the Census counts on this page were collected before the fire, so they overstate today’s older housing in the burned areas. Altadena itself is unincorporated and permitted by Los Angeles County, not by Pasadena.

## Insurance and home sales

Residential California FAIR Plan policies in 91104 nearly doubled between September 2021 and September 2025, from 215 to 415. The FAIR Plan does not publish reasons, and nothing ties that growth to wiring, but it shows how tight coverage has become for owners shopping for a policy. Carriers differ on knob and tube, so a written circuit map helps when an agent asks what is still live. Since January 1, 2026, sellers give buyers a state electrical advisory under Civil Code section 1102.6i, and the [buyer’s guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/buying-a-house-with-knob-and-tube/) covers what that means in escrow.

Next door, [South Pasadena](https://laknobandtube.com/service-areas/south-pasadena/) has its own building division and is served by Southern California Edison, while [Eagle Rock](https://laknobandtube.com/service-areas/eagle-rock/) and [Highland Park](https://laknobandtube.com/service-areas/highland-park-mount-washington/) fall under LADBS and LADWP.

## Neighborhoods and coverage

- Bungalow Heaven
- Historic Highlands
- Garfield Heights
- Washington Square
- Bellefontaine

1. 1. Eagle Rock
2. 2. Glendale
3. 3. Hancock Park & Windsor Square
4. 4. Highland Park & Mount Washington
5. 5. Leimert Park & Hyde Park
6. 6. Mid-City, Miracle Mile & Carthay
7. 7. Pasadena
8. 8. Silver Lake & Echo Park
9. 9. West Adams & Jefferson Park
10. 10. Lincoln Heights & El Sereno
11. 11. Los Feliz & Atwater Village
12. 12. South Pasadena

## Pasadena questions

### What are Pasadena's permit and utility fees for a knob and tube rewire?

Pasadena's fee schedule lists a $78 permit processing fee, $28 for the first 10 outlets or fixtures, $8 for each one after that, $21 per breaker and $73 for a service or panel up to 200 amps. If Pasadena Water & Power has to provide a new 200-amp overhead service, its schedule lists $1,238.19; underground is $3,190.81 plus civil work.

### Is a Pasadena rewire permitted by LADBS?

No. Pasadena is its own city, so the electrical permit and inspections come from the City of Pasadena's Building & Safety division, not from the City of Los Angeles. Pasadena sets its own fees and inspection schedule.

### Does a rewire in Bungalow Heaven need landmark district approval?

Interior rewiring changes nothing on the outside, but Pasadena's exemption rules for landmark districts were not part of the research behind this page, so they are confirmed per address with the city. A new meter, mast or panel on a street-facing wall is the piece most likely to need design review.

### Can attic insulation go in over knob and tube in Pasadena?

California allows insulation around knob and tube only after a California-licensed electrical contractor surveys the wiring and certifies it is in good condition, with the form filed with the local building department. The other route is to replace the attic circuits first, and hot Pasadena attics are hard on old wire insulation either way.

### Do Pasadena houses rebuilt after the Eaton Fire have knob and tube?

Houses rebuilt after the January 2025 Eaton Fire are permitted and built under current code, so they will not have knob and tube. The pre-war houses that survived still carry whatever wiring they had, and Census counts of older Pasadena homes were taken before the fire.

## Related guides

- Learn [How do you rewire a historic home in Los Angeles without losing what makes it historic?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/rewiring-historic-homes-los-angeles/)Interior rewiring is usually outside preservation review in an HPOZ. The exterior, the finishes and the paperwork are where the care goes.
- Decision Guide [Panel upgrade vs rewiring: which one does an older house need, and when does it need both?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/panel-upgrade-vs-rewiring/)They are separate jobs on separate parts of the system. Here is how to tell which one your house needs, and how they fit together when it needs both.
- Cost Guide [How much does knob and tube replacement cost in Los Angeles?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-los-angeles/)The ranges, what moves a house within them, and the parts of the price that come from public figures.
- Learn [How long does rewiring take, and can you live at home while it happens?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/living-at-home-during-rewiring/)The schedule depends on circuits, access and inspections. Here is what decides it, and what an occupied house should plan for.

## Nearby service areas

- [South Pasadena](https://laknobandtube.com/service-areas/south-pasadena/)City of South Pasadena Building Division permits, Southern California Edison service
- [Eagle Rock](https://laknobandtube.com/service-areas/eagle-rock/)LADBS permits, LADWP service
- [Highland Park & Mount Washington](https://laknobandtube.com/service-areas/highland-park-mount-washington/)LADBS permits, LADWP service