How to choose an ADU builder in Northern Virginia
Ask for the section of the ordinance behind every number a builder quotes you, and ask who pulls the permit. Both take a sentence to answer, neither can be bluffed, and together they separate the firms that have finished an ADU in your county from the firms that would like to.
What to ask any builder, including us
None of these need a second appointment to answer. A builder who has done this here will answer them in a sentence each.
Which section of my county’s ordinance sets that size limit?
A builder who has done this in your jurisdiction can name the section, or find it while you wait. Vagueness here — "the county usually allows about" — means the numbers came from somewhere other than the ordinance, and the number that matters is the one the zoning reviewer reads.
Have you finished one in my county, and can I see the permit?
Northern Virginia is not one jurisdiction. Alexandria City, Arlington, Fairfax County, Fairfax City and Loudoun each run their own review, and experience in one is not experience in the next. A finished permit number is checkable; a photograph is not.
Who pulls the permit — you or me?
If the answer is you, ask why. An owner-pulled permit moves the liability for the work onto the homeowner, and in Virginia it is also how an unlicensed or under-licensed contractor stays on a job they could not otherwise take.
What is your licence number, and what class is it?
Virginia classes contractor licences by project value, and a Class B or C licence caps what the holder may legally contract for. You can check both the number and the class yourself in the DPOR lookup in about a minute.
Is my property in an HOA, and have you read the covenants?
The state ADU law does not override a homeowners association’s covenants. A builder who treats your HOA as a formality has not read them, and that is the single most common way an otherwise buildable ADU stops.
What is not in this price?
Utility connections, a survey, stormwater management, an upgraded electrical service and the permit fees themselves are the usual omissions. Ask for them line by line — the gap between two quotes is more often scope than margin.
What happens if the county says no?
Ask before you sign, not after. You want to know what is refundable at the point a zoning reviewer rejects the plan, and a builder who has been there will have a straight answer ready.
What Citescape builds
We design and build accessory dwelling units in Northern Virginia — the whole job, from working out whether your lot allows one through to the final inspection. We pull the permits. The research published on this site is our own: the same people who read the ordinances write the drawings that go to the county.
- Adding an ADU onto your house
A middle path: cheaper per square foot than a separate building because it shares walls and services, but more freedom than working inside the footprint you already have. The constraint is that it has to work with the house you own — its structure, its roofline, and where it sits on the lot.
- Building a separate ADU in your backyard
Where you live decides this more than anything about your property. A detached unit is allowed by right in Alexandria, allowed in Arlington and Loudoun, and in Fairfax needs a special permit and a lot of at least two acres — which rules it out for most people there. It is also the most expensive route per square foot, because everything has to be built and every service run to it.
- Turning a basement into an ADU
Usually the cheapest and quickest route, and in Fairfax it is effectively the only one available on a normal lot. The space and the services are already there. What you are buying is a compliant exit, enough ceiling height, and keeping the water out.
- Turning a garage into an ADU
Often the cheapest way to get a separate-feeling space, because the shell already exists. The two things that decide whether it works are whether your jurisdiction lets a detached garage hold a dwelling at all, and what happens to the parking you are removing.
Citescape ADUs is a trading name of Citescape Construction LLC.
What we will not take on
Work outside Northern Virginia, and work outside our licence scope — if what you want is not something we are licensed to build, we will say so on the first call rather than after a site visit. If your covenants look likely to block the project, we will tell you that too, and what your options are, including the ones that do not involve us.
Questions people ask
Do I need to wait until July 2027 to build an ADU?
Not everywhere. Alexandria City, Arlington and Loudoun already permit a second dwelling on a residential lot under their own ordinances. July 1, 2027 is when Va. Code § 15.2-2292.4 takes effect statewide, which matters most in jurisdictions that are stricter today. Your county page has the current position and the date it was last checked at source.
Can my HOA stop me?
Often, yes. The state ADU law does not override recorded covenants, so an association that prohibits a second dwelling can still prohibit yours. Read your covenants before you spend anything on design — it is the cheapest step in the whole process and the one most likely to change the answer.
How do I check a contractor’s licence in Virginia?
Search the name or licence number in DPOR’s public licence lookup. It returns the class, the status and the expiry date. Do this for every builder you are considering, including us — it takes a minute and it is the only claim on any builder’s website you can verify without them.
What does an ADU cost in Northern Virginia?
It depends far more on the type than on the finish: converting space you already have is a different order of cost from putting up a separate building with its own foundation and utility connections. We publish ranges from our own completed projects rather than national averages, because national averages are not much use in a market where the permit alone varies by jurisdiction.
What you are allowed to build is a separate question from who builds it, and it is the one to settle first — the rules differ by jurisdiction. See what you can build, or read the rules for Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County or Loudoun County.
What does this mean for your lot?
Three questions. We’ll check the rules against your situation and tell you what you’re actually looking at — including if the answer is no.