Cabinets and countertops Sunnyvale

Where Sunnyvale calls new cabinets cosmetic, and where a permit begins

Two Sunnyvale documents answer the cabinet question, and they do not say quite the same thing. The list of work needing no building permit counts cabinets mounted less than 5 feet 9 inches, and countertops, as cosmetic. The kitchen remodel handout is narrower: only a countertop replacement on its own, or a refacing on its own, with no electrical work, escapes a permit. In the Eichler tracts, the design guidelines leave the cabinets alone but steer the window over the sink.

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  • Rules on this page checked against 9 public sources, October 2026
Cosmetic cabinet line
Mounted below 5 ft 9 in, in homes, on the exempt-work list
Kitchen handout exemption
Countertop alone or refacing alone, with no electrical work
Sink swap in place
Existing sink and faucet replaced in the same spot: no permit
Eichlers built here
Over 1,000, between 1949 and 1972

The work

How Sunnyvale sorts four common cabinet jobs

  • Base cabinets and a new top, or new wall cabinets

    The exempt-work list, revised in January 2026, groups cabinets mounted lower than 5 feet 9 inches in residential installations and countertops with painting and floor coverings as cosmetic work. The kitchen remodel handout, revised in March 2026, is stricter about kitchens: it exempts only a countertop replacement, or only a refacing of the existing cabinets, each with no electrical work. Wall cabinets hung above 5 feet 9 inches fall outside the cosmetic wording altogether, so confirm a cabinet-only job with the Building Division before ordering.

  • A buffet run or pantry wall past the kitchen

    Cabinet runs often carry on into a dining area or a pantry. Sunnyvale's handout says any new receptacle added in a dining area, breakfast room, pantry or similar space must be on a 20-amp circuit, and the countertop circuits may serve it. Every outlet and device in the kitchen, the hood included, needs arc-fault protection and tamper-resistant receptacles, and a GFCI reset button may not end up hidden behind an appliance.

  • Lights built into the boxes

    Sunnyvale's handout gives cabinetry a carve-out: every installed light fixture must be high efficacy except integral device lighting, such as the lamp in a hood or the lights in the cabinets. Under-cabinet lighting still goes on a switch of its own, separate from every other light, and the kitchen as a whole needs readily accessible, wall-mounted dimming controls. A screw-base lamp anywhere in the room has to meet the state's JA8 rules.

  • The window behind the sink base in an Eichler

    Replacing the window over a new sink base is where Eichler rules reach a kitchen job. The guidelines discourage projecting garden windows, bay windows, double-hung and divided-light windows, and say to avoid them where visible from the street; operable windows should be sliders or casements with narrow frames, preferably anodized aluminum. The kitchen handout asks the plans to show each existing window's size and location and whether it will be replaced, and to discuss Eichler window requirements with city staff.

  • A range wall ready for induction

    The handout asks for a 240-volt circuit and reserved breaker space even behind a gas range. When the switch comes, Silicon Valley Clean Energy's rebates cover replacing a gas or an electric resistance cooktop or range in houses, ADUs, mobile homes and buildings of four units or fewer, one rebate per appliance type per unit. SVCE accepts the owner's own installation as well as a contractor's, but the rebate has to be reserved before the appliance goes in.

Free, no obligation. Next, add your details in the request form.

Historic Murphy Avenue in downtown Sunnyvale
Historic Murphy Avenue in downtown Sunnyvale. Photo: The Sands of Time 0, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

Eichler kitchen-family rooms among the tract houses

Sunnyvale's Eichler Design Guidelines, adopted on July 28, 2009, count more than 1,000 Eichlers built in the city between 1949 and 1972, and they credit those houses with setting a trend for the combined kitchen and family room. In a plan built that way, a new cabinet run is part of the living space rather than a closed-off room. The guidelines name flat roofs, slab-on-grade construction and open beam ceilings among the features that make renovation challenging, yet they cover only what the street and neighbors see; they say outright that they do not apply to interior improvements. In attached townhomes elsewhere in the city, the kitchen handout adds a rule of its own: a cabinet set against a fire-rated wall must leave that wall and its fire-blocking intact.

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Free to request, and you agree the scope and price with the person you hire before work starts. In California, a job over $1,000 in labor and materials, or one that needs a building permit, must be done by a contractor licensed by the CSLB in the right class. Ask for the license number and check it at cslb.ca.gov.

Permits and local rules

The Sunnyvale papers behind each cabinet answer

  • Work Not Requiring a Building Permit

    Applicable from January 1, 2026, the list exempts cosmetic work, including cabinets mounted below 5 feet 9 inches in homes and countertops, and repair or replacement of existing toilets, faucets and sinks in the same location. Swapping receptacles, switches and lights in existing boxes needs no permit when the type does not change. A concealed trap, drain or vent pipe that has to be removed and replaced counts as new work and takes a permit. The city adds that an exemption never authorizes work that breaks the codes.

    Source: City of Sunnyvale Building Safety Division (sunnyvale.ca.gov)

  • Eichler Design Guidelines

    The guidelines apply to design review applications for exterior changes to homes Joseph Eichler built after 1950, and to non-Eichler homes inside the neighborhoods on their map. Design review is required for a new house, a floor-area increase of 20 percent or more, a second story, or any exterior modification that significantly changes the home's appearance. Utility elements such as solar panels and HVAC ducts should be worked into the roof forms to keep them out of view.

    Source: City of Sunnyvale Planning Division (sunnyvale.ca.gov)

  • Construction and demolition debris

    Contractors may order bins from Specialty Solid Waste & Recycling, the city's franchised hauler, haul their own materials, or use third-party recyclers. Self-hauling is limited to the licensed contractor holding the contract for the work, in vehicles that contractor owns or exclusively controls, with recyclables separated by type rather than carried as mixed debris. Third-party recyclers may not be paid for the service. The 65 percent diversion rule applies to residential projects removing 50 percent or more of an exterior wall.

    Source: City of Sunnyvale Building Safety Division (sunnyvale.ca.gov)

State license for this work: C-6 Cabinet, Millwork and Finish Carpentry, C-54 Ceramic and Mosaic Tile, C-61/D-12 Synthetic Products. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (cslb.ca.gov).

Part by part

Two Sunnyvale neighborhoods that judge the sink window differently

  • Fairbrae, Parmer Place and the other mapped Eichler tracts

    Here the advice runs toward sliders and casements with narrow frames, and away from double-hung, bay and projecting garden windows wherever the street can see them. The guidelines apply to non-Eichler houses inside the mapped tracts as well, so a house inside those boundaries that Eichler never built follows the same window advice.

  • Taaffe-Frances, on the 500 blocks of Taaffe and Frances streets

    The heritage guidelines for these blocks need no Planning review for interior changes that leave the exterior alone, but changing an existing window or adding a new one takes design review. They strongly discourage sliding windows in a house of double-hung windows and swinging doors, the opposite of the advice in the Eichler tracts.

Before you hire

Questions for a Sunnyvale cabinet installer

  • How high will the wall cabinets hang? Above 5 feet 9 inches they leave the city's cosmetic exemption.
  • If the bid pairs a new countertop with refacing, or adds any outlet, who confirms the permit with the Building Division first?
  • In an Eichler or on Taaffe or Frances street, does the window behind the sink change, and who checks the design guidelines before it is ordered?
  • Who hauls the old boxes away: Specialty's bins, or the contractor's own vehicle with wood kept apart from mixed debris?
  • Check the C-6 cabinet license, and a C-10 electrician for any new circuit, at cslb.ca.gov.

Free, no obligation. Next, add your details in the request form.

Questions

Sunnyvale owners ask about boxes, tops and Eichler windows

Do we need a permit to replace only the base cabinets in our Sunnyvale kitchen?

The two city documents point different ways. The exempt-work list calls cabinets mounted below 5 feet 9 inches cosmetic, while the kitchen remodel handout exempts only a countertop replacement on its own or a refacing on its own, with no electrical work. A full swap of the base boxes sits between them, so ask the Building Division at City Hall before demolition.

Can we put in a new sink and faucet when the Sunnyvale countertop is replaced?

Replacing an existing sink and faucet in the same location is on the city's list of work needing no permit. Two things change that: a concealed trap or drain that has to be removed and replaced counts as new work, and a new outlet for a disposal or dishwasher is electrical work, which takes the job out of the handout's countertop-only exemption.

Our Eichler's kitchen faces the street. Can we add a garden window over the sink?

Sunnyvale's Eichler guidelines discourage projecting garden windows in general and say they must be avoided where visible from the street. They suggest sliding or casement windows with narrow frames instead, and any exterior change that significantly alters the home's appearance needs design review. The kitchen handout also asks Eichler owners to discuss window requirements with city staff.

Will Silicon Valley Clean Energy pay its induction rebate on an owner-installed cooktop?

Its home rebate pages say you may use your own contractor or do the work yourself, but the rebate has to be reserved before the appliance is installed. It covers replacing a gas or an electric resistance cooktop or range in an existing home, not new construction, with one rebate per appliance type for each dwelling unit.

Do the Eichler guidelines limit which cabinets we choose?

No. The guidelines focus on what can be seen from the street and by neighbors and state that they do not apply to interior improvements. Cabinet style, color and layout are your choice; the permit questions come from the building codes and the city's kitchen handout, not from design review.

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and programs change: confirm permit requirements with the city before work starts, and a contractor's license on the CSLB website.

  • sunnyvale.ca.gov: 639107281821070000 (sunnyvale.ca.gov)
  • sunnyvale.ca.gov: 639092444101430000 (sunnyvale.ca.gov)
  • sunnyvale.ca.gov: 638273442749170000 (sunnyvale.ca.gov)
  • sunnyvale.ca.gov: 638273444043400000 (sunnyvale.ca.gov)
  • sunnyvale.ca.gov: 638694974471800000 (sunnyvale.ca.gov)
  • sunnyvale.ca.gov: electrify your home (sunnyvale.ca.gov)
  • svcleanenergy.org: home rebates
  • cslb.ca.gov: Licensing Classifications Detail (cslb.ca.gov)
  • en.wikipedia.org: Sunnyvale, California

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