One number to call
SWPPP, SMARTS, weekly inspections and rain-event response handled by one person who knows your site, not a rotating crew.
QSD · QSP · SMARTS filings · Compaction testing · Construction inspection · Bay Area
SWPPPs prepared by a certified QSD, inspections run by a QSP who inspects public works construction for Bay Area cities every week. Fixed-price quotes, clean SMARTS filings, and a site that is ready when the Regional Board shows up.
Who it's for
SWPPP, SMARTS, weekly inspections and rain-event response handled by one person who knows your site, not a rotating crew.
As Legally Responsible Person you certify in SMARTS. Every document is ready for signature with a one-page summary of what you are signing.
Water Pollution Control Programs, LUP Type 1–3 coverage and daily-report-quality records from someone who files IDRs for cities for a living.
Under an acre you usually skip the state permit but still owe the city a WPCP or erosion control plan. Drawn to the city's standard, fast.
Services, in permit order
Order 2022-0057-DWQ, in effect since September 2023. If a consultant still quotes you the 2009 permit, keep walking.
Before the grading permit
5–7 business days from complete plans
Weekly, through construction
As the site changes
At final stabilization
What you actually get
Every inspection emailed the same day with photos, findings and a corrective-action list with due dates.
A weatherproof BMP map for the job trailer, updated whenever phasing changes, so the crew builds what the SWPPP says.
The binder an inspector asks for first: SWPPP, amendments, inspection log, REAPs, training sign-ins and sampling data.
You get a text when NOAA calls 50% or more within 48 hours, with the REAP and what needs to happen on site before it rains.
NOI, PRDs, annual reports, change of information and NOT filed for you. You only log in to certify.
The person who wrote the SWPPP is the person inspecting it. Call or text, no dispatcher.
Beyond stormwater
The same person who runs your SWPPP can cover compaction testing and construction inspection, so one visit does two jobs and one report covers both.
Pricing
Most firms say "call for a quote." Here is what projects usually cost so you can budget before you call.
A template SWPPP with the wrong Risk Level fails the first Regional Board review and gets rewritten on your schedule. A missed REAP before a storm turns a $300 inspection into a Notice of Violation and a stop-work from the city. The permit is cheap. Violations and delays are not.
Deadlines that matter
No soil moves until coverage is active. Many cities will not issue the grading permit without the WDID.
Triggered when NOAA forecasts 50% or greater chance of rain. BMPs in place before the first drop.
Most Bay Area cities require winterization BMPs installed by October 1 or October 15. We walk the site in September.
Filed in SMARTS for every active site, covering the July 1 to June 30 reporting year.
70% of pre-project vegetative cover, or equivalent, documented with photos. Then the permit fees stop.
About
Bay Area SWPPP Services is run by Abdel Khalek, a civil and environmental engineer with nine-plus years in design, construction and inspection. He currently serves as Resident Engineer on a $20M+ municipal capital program and has inspected more than ten public works projects for the cities of San Carlos, South San Francisco, Cupertino, Millbrae and Burlingame. SWPPPs here are written to match how a site is actually built, and inspections catch what a city or Regional Board inspector would catch first.
QSD/QSP certification numbers available on request and shown on every SWPPP certification page.
San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Region 2) and the nine Bay Area counties.
FAQ
If your project disturbs one acre or more of soil, or disturbs less but is part of a larger common plan of development that totals an acre or more, you need coverage under California's Construction General Permit before any soil moves. Under an acre and standalone, the state permit does not apply, but most Bay Area cities require an erosion control plan or WPCP with the grading permit.
No. Coverage begins when the NOI is accepted and a WDID number is issued. Grading before that is a permit violation on day one, and cities check the WDID before releasing the grading permit.
The QSD (Qualified SWPPP Developer) writes and certifies the SWPPP and any amendments. The QSP (Qualified SWPPP Practitioner) implements it on site: inspections, REAPs, sampling and the records. Here both are the same person, which is why nothing gets lost between the plan and the field.
The QSD calculates it from the site's sediment risk (soil erodibility, slope length and rainfall) and the receiving water's sensitivity. Risk Level 1 means visual inspections. Levels 2 and 3 add storm-event sampling, numeric action levels and more reporting. The Risk Level sets your cost and inspection scope for the whole project, so it is worth getting right the first time.
Weekly, year-round, plus a Rain Event Action Plan 48 hours before any forecast of 50% or greater chance of rain, and pre-, during- and post-storm inspections for qualifying events. Risk Level 2 and 3 sites also sample discharges during qualifying storms.
Most SWPPPs are drafted within five to seven business days of receiving a complete grading and drainage set. Once the Legally Responsible Person certifies in SMARTS, the NOI is submitted the same day and the WDID typically follows within a few days.
Yes, and it is common when a project changes contractors. The existing SWPPP is reviewed against the site, amended where needed, the QSP of record is updated in SMARTS and inspections continue without a gap in your record.
Regional Water Board penalties accrue per day per violation and can reach tens of thousands of dollars quickly. Cities can also stop work until the site is corrected, which usually costs more than the fine. Third-party groups also file Clean Water Act notices against sites with missing SMARTS records. Weekly inspections exist so you find problems before anyone else does.
When the site reaches final stabilization: disturbed areas have 70% of pre-project vegetative cover or equivalent permanent stabilization, construction materials and temporary BMPs are removed, and post-construction stormwater measures are in place. It is documented with photos and filed in SMARTS, and the annual permit fee stops.
Site address, disturbed acreage, start date and expected duration, and the grading or site plan if you have it. If you already have a Risk Level or a WDID, send that too. You get a fixed price within one business day.
Get a quote
Call or text, or use the form. Serving the nine Bay Area counties from Pleasanton.
(925) 784-8320 Mon–Sat · Call or text · Pleasanton, CAWe will reply within one business day. Need it faster? Text us the details too.