Yolo County · Valley floor
Pool removal in Davis, CA.
Davis publishes nothing specific to pool demolition, so the scope on a removal here is set against the city’s general demolition permit and whatever the building official asks to see on your property. That is the ordinary case across this service area, and it is not the part of a Davis job worth planning around.
Plate 01—Final Grade
Do you need a permit to remove a pool in Davis, CA?
Short answer
Davis is an incorporated Yolo County city, and pool removal permits go through City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Dept, Building Division at 530-757-5610. Davis’s Tree Preservation Ordinance engages once a permit is pulled, and on a backyard pool job it’s usually the access route — not the pool itself — that puts a protected tree in play.
What’s genuinely specific to Davis is the city’s Tree Preservation Ordinance, which protects private trees and engages once a permit is pulled — a demolition site plan has to identify trees on the property and show how they’re protected during the work. On a backyard pool removal, this is rarely about the pool itself; it’s almost always about the access route. The gap an excavator needs to reach the backyard is frequently the same gap a mature tree is standing next to, and root protection during equipment passage is a real planning question here in a way it isn’t in most nearby cities. Davis also applies debris diversion requirements alongside the tree ordinance, and sits on valley-floor soil — workable ground where moisture, not rock, is the practical concern.
Jurisdiction
Who issues a pool demolition permit in Davis, CA?
Davis is an incorporated city with its own building department. A pool demolition inside city limits is permitted by City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Department, Building Division, not by Yolo County.
Worth confirming rather than assuming: a mailing address is not the same thing as a jurisdiction, and unincorporated county ground in this region frequently sits directly against a city line.
the City of Davis does not publish a handout specific to swimming pool demolition. That is not a problem with your project — it means the scope is set against the general demolition permit and what the building official asks for on your lot, rather than against a printed checklist. Two jurisdictions in our service area do publish one, and we say which on the permits page.
In Davis, the tree by the gate matters more than the pool — plan the route before you plan the removal.
On File
Davis at a glance
- Permit authority
- City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability Department, Building Division
- Jurisdiction type
- Incorporated city in Yolo County
- County
- Yolo County
- Permit counter
- 530-757-5610
- Air district
- Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District
- Pool-specific guidance
- None published — general demolition permit applies
- Ground
- Valley floor
Source: City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability, Building Division (opens in a new tab)California Air Resources Board, Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District (opens in a new tab)Verified August 22, 2026. Permit requirements change — confirm with the department before relying on this for your property.
Local Overlays
What else applies here.
A demolition permit is rarely the only rule touching a backyard project. These are the ones published for Davis that genuinely affect how a pool removal runs.
The tree ordinance is triggered by the permit itself
Davis protects private trees under its Tree Preservation Ordinance, and the protections engage when a permit is pulled — a demolition site plan has to identify trees and show how they are protected. On a backyard pool this is rarely about the pool and almost always about the access route: the gap an excavator fits through is frequently the gap a mature tree is standing next to.
Source: City of Davis Urban Forestry, Tree Preservation (opens in a new tab)Verified August 22, 2026. Permit requirements change — confirm with the department before relying on this for your property.
Debris diversion
Davis applies construction and demolition diversion requirements to permitted work, on top of the statewide CALGreen baseline.
Source: City of Davis Community Development and Sustainability, Building Division (opens in a new tab)Verified August 22, 2026. Permit requirements change — confirm with the department before relying on this for your property.
Site Conditions
The ground, the gate and the truck.
Valley floor ground
This is Sacramento Valley floor — deep alluvial soils, generally fine-grained, and generally workable with standard tracked equipment. The thing that bites on valley lots is water, not rock: fine soils hold moisture, a pool void is the lowest point on the property, and fill that was placed loose in a wet season is exactly what settles two winters later. Actual soil conditions still vary lot to lot, which is what the site walk is for.
Access and equipment
Access planning in Davis starts with trees, not just gates. Because the city’s Tree Preservation Ordinance requires the demolition site plan to identify trees and show how they’re protected once a permit is pulled, we walk the route from street to pool specifically looking at what’s growing along it — not just gate width and fencing, which still matter, but root zones and canopy the equipment has to clear. A route that looks fine on a tape measure can still require a different-sized machine or a different approach path once tree protection is factored in. This is a planning conversation that happens before the permit application, not something to work around mid-job.
Hauling and disposal
A pool shell generates concrete, gunite and rebar, and Davis applies construction and demolition debris diversion requirements alongside the statewide CALGreen 65% baseline that covers projects across California. Davis sits within the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District for dust and debris-related air quality oversight on a demolition site. Before any excavation, California Government Code Section 4216 requires an 811 utility notification, with a minimum two-working-day wait after notification before digging can legally start — and on a Davis lot, that notification and the tree protection plan often need to be coordinated together if the access route runs near a protected tree.
Next step
Get a site walk booked in Davis.
Send the address and the basics. We confirm the department that serves the property, walk the site, and put the scope in writing before anything moves.
Two Ways To Do It
Partial fill-in or full removal.
The mechanics are the same everywhere. What changes in Davis is the department reviewing it and what they want to see — which is why this decision is worth making before anyone files anything.
| Criterion | Partial fill-in | Full removal |
|---|---|---|
| What comes out | The upper portion of the shell — typically the walls and bond beam. | The entire shell, hauled off the property. |
| Drainage | Openings are cut through the remaining base so water passes rather than collecting. | No shell remains, so there is no bowl to drain. |
| Fill | Approved fill placed and compacted in lifts over the remaining base. | The open excavation backfilled and compacted in lifts. |
| Future structures | Generally not intended to carry a structure. Concrete stays in the ground. | Generally the option when a structure may go on the footprint later. |
| Disclosure on sale | Buried concrete is a known condition a seller generally discloses. | Fewer questions, because nothing was left behind. |
| Access and cost pressure | Less material to move, so tight access hurts less. | More material out and more fill in, so access matters more. |
How the project runs
Five stages. One written plan.
- 1
Plan
Walk the site, confirm the removal goal, access and visible constraints.
- 2
Permit
Prepare and coordinate paperwork with the department serving the property.
- 3
Remove
Demolish the shell to the approved scope and haul debris away.
- 4
Backfill & Compact
Place approved fill in lifts according to the project requirements.
- 5
Grade & Document
Finish the surface to the agreed grade and close out available project records.
Asked In Davis
Pool removal in Davis — common questions.
The ordinance protects private trees and engages once a permit is pulled, requiring the demolition site plan to identify trees on the property and show how they’ll be protected during the work. On a backyard pool job this is rarely about the pool itself — it’s almost always about the equipment access route, since the gap an excavator needs often runs close to a mature tree.
Next Door
Nearby areas we cover.
Jurisdiction lines around Davis do not follow the way the area actually reads on the ground. If your property sits near one of these, it is worth confirming which department your address falls under before anyone files anything.
- Pool removal in Woodland
Permits through the City of Woodland.
- Pool removal in West Sacramento
Permits through the City of West Sacramento.
- Pool removal in Sacramento
Permits through the City of Sacramento.
Next step
Still deciding what to do with the Davis backyard?
Send the address and the basics. The site walk confirms access, shell type and what the department serving the property needs to see.
Read Next
Before you decide.
What pool removal costs
The conditions that move the number, and why nobody quotes one from a map.
Permits by jurisdiction
How the City of Davis compares to the other departments in the region.
Backfill, compaction and grading
The half of the job that decides whether the ground behaves in five years.
Compare partial and full removal
The full side-by-side, including what each does to your options later.
How a removal runs
Site walk, plan, permits, demolition, backfill and grade — in order.
Removing a pool to build
What an ADU or addition over the old footprint actually requires.
Above-ground
A different job entirely: no shell to demolish, but a base and a footprint left behind.
Get On The Schedule
Start with a site walk in Davis.
We look at access, utilities, slope, depth and what is actually in the ground, then tell you which option fits what you are planning and put the scope in writing. No number gets quoted from a map.
If your property sits near a jurisdiction line, say so — settling which department covers your address is the first thing worth getting right, and it is free to check.
No obligation, no pressure
Request a site estimate.
Start with the property and what you want the ground to do afterwards. We will follow up to arrange the site walk and confirm the scope.