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    • Soil Import and Export: How to Estimate Haul Costs
    • Soil Nail Wall vs. Retaining Wall: Choosing the Right System — Calichi Design Group
    • Specific Plan vs. General Plan — Calichi Design Group
    • Storm Drain Pipe Sizing Using Manning’s Equation
    • Bioretention Isn’t Always the Answer. But It’s Always the First Guess.
    • Stormwater Calculations: Rational Method vs. TR-55
    • How to Write a Stormwater Control Plan That Doesn’t Come Back with 47 Comments
    • Portland Stormwater Management: BES, SWMM, and Why Your Whole Site Counts
    • Stormwater Quality vs. Quantity: What Agencies Actually Require
    • Subgrade Preparation: What Inspectors Look For
    • Subsurface Detention Systems: StormTech, CDS, and Underground Vaults
    • How to Design a Drainage Swale
    • Switchgear Pads and Pull Boxes: The Equipment Nobody Draws Until Construction
    • SWPPP Requirements and Risk Level Determination
    • Tentative Map vs. Parcel Map vs. Lot Line Adjustment
    • Testing and Inspection Requirements During Grading
    • Tract Map vs. Parcel Map: Which Subdivision Map Do You Need? — Calichi Design Group
    • Transformer Pad Clearances: The 10 Feet Nobody Planned For
    • Trench Drain Selection and Sizing — Calichi Design Group
    • Truncated Domes: Placement Rules and Common Mistakes
    • Underground Service Alert (USA) and Potholing Requirements
    • Utility Potholing Before Construction — Calichi Design Group
    • Utility Trench Backfill and Compaction Requirements
    • V-Ditch vs. Swale: When to Use Each — Calichi Design Group
    • Value Engineering on Civil Projects: Where to Cut and Where Not To
    • Van Accessible Parking Stalls: Dimensions, Access Aisles, and the Mistakes That Fail Plan Check
    • Variance vs. Conditional Use Permit — Calichi Design Group
    • Half an Inch Across 200,000 Square Feet: Warehouse Grading Is Not for the Impatient
    • How Do You Size a Water Main for Fire Flow?
    • How to Size a Water Meter for Commercial Buildings
    • Water Main Pressure Testing Requirements
    • What Is a Will-Serve Letter and Why Your Project Can’t Move Without One
    • What Is C.3 Stormwater? A Plain-English Explanation for Developers
    • Accessible Parking: Schools vs. Commercial vs. Residential
    • Accessible Route Design for Campuses and Large Sites
    • How Flat Is Too Flat? The ADA-vs-Drainage Problem That Haunts Every Parking Lot
    • How to Calculate ADA Parking Requirements
    • ADA Path of Travel: Maximum Slopes, Landing Sizes, and the Numbers That Matter in California
    • Every Sidewalk, Every Ramp, Every Cross-Slope: ADA on a School Campus Is a Full-Time Job
    • 2% Cross-Slope: The Three Characters That Make Affordable Housing Projects Expensive
    • Affordable Housing Site Planning in California: TCAC, C.3, and Everything Between the Financing and the Dirt
    • Fitting a Bioretention Basin on a Half-Acre Lot Is Like Parking a Boat in a Studio Apartment
    • Appendix B vs. Appendix C Fire Flow: When Each Applies
    • As-Built Drawings: What They Need to Show and Who Prepares Them
    • When Is a Backflow Preventer Required?
    • Why Bay Area K-12 Projects Need Stormwater-First Site Planning
    • Bay Area Mixed-Use Projects: The Site Planning Challenges Nobody Warns You About
    • Bay Area Multifamily Site Planning: C.3 Compliance and Beyond
    • Bike Lockers vs. Bike Racks: What Your City Actually Requires
    • How to Set a Building Pad Elevation
    • Building Permit vs. Grading Permit: What Is the Difference? — Calichi Design Group
    • CALGreen EV Charging: EV Ready, EV Capable, and EVSE
    • CBC 11B on Schools: The Plan Check Comments That Follow You Home
    • What Is a CEQA Exemption and When Does It Apply?
    • Compaction Testing Requirements and Frequency — Calichi Design Group
    • Composite Utility Plans: The Drawing That Saves Your Project From Itself
    • Conditions of Approval: How to Read Them and What They Cost
    • Construction Staking: What the Surveyor Needs from Your Plans
    • Cost Estimating for Site Civil Work: Rules of Thumb
    • Curb and Gutter Types: Rolled, Barrier, and Mountable
    • Cut and Fill Earthwork Calculations Explained
    • Density Bonus: When the City Hands You 40 Extra Units and the Civil Plan Has to Catch Up
    • Detention vs. Retention: Which Your Project Needs
    • Does My Project Trigger C.3? It’s Not One Threshold Anymore
    • Why Dry Utility Coordination Takes Longer Than You Think (And How to Fix It)
    • Dry Utility Design for Multifamily Projects: Trenches, Transformers, and Tight Sites
    • How Long Does DSA Really Take? Grab a Chair.
    • Electrical Vaults: Sizing, Placement, and Why They Always End Up Where Your Landscaping Was
    • Encroachment Permits: What They Cover and Who Needs One
    • Environmental Impact Report Timeline and Process — Calichi Design Group
    • Erosion and Sediment Control BMPs During Construction
    • Fiber Optic Conduit Requirements for New Development
    • Fire Access Road Requirements: Width, Turning Radius, and the Dead-End Rule
    • Fire Department Turnarounds: Hammerhead vs. Cul-de-Sac and When You Need One
    • Fire Flow Calculations: What the Fire Code Actually Requires
    • Fire Hydrant Spacing Requirements by Building Type
    • Fire Sprinkler Demand vs. Fire Flow: Separate Calculations
    • Gas Main Extensions: Who Pays and How Long It Takes
    • Geogrid Soil Reinforcement: When and How to Use It — Calichi Design Group
    • Geotechnical Report Basics: What Civil Engineers Need from It
    • Grading Permit Thresholds by Jurisdiction
    • How to Size a Grease Interceptor
    • Green Infrastructure vs. Gray Infrastructure for Stormwater
    • HECO vs. PG&E: Comparing Hawaii and California Utility Processes
    • How to Calculate ADA Parking Requirements (With the Table You Need at 11pm)
    • How to Calculate Bike Parking Requirements (Short-Term vs. Long-Term)
    • How to Calculate EV Parking Requirements in California (CALGreen 2022)
    • How to Read a Grading Plan: Contours, Spot Elevations, and Flow Arrows for Non-Engineers
    • How to Size a Bioretention Basin: The 4% Rule and When It Breaks Down
    • Hydromodification: The Word Your Client Can’t Pronounce but Their Permit Requires
    • Improvement Plan Requirements for New Development — Calichi Design Group
    • Industrial Dry Utility Design: When Your Power Demand Is the Whole Conversation
    • Your Fire Marshal Just Red-Lined Your Site Plan. Here’s Why They Were Right.
    • 40 Acres of Concrete and Nowhere for the Rain to Go
    • Your Entire Site Is Impervious. Your Stormwater Engineer Just Sighed.
    • Joint Trench Design: What Every Developer Needs to Know Before Calling PG&E
    • Joint Trench and Dry Utility Design in Portland: PGE, Pacific Power, and the Rest
    • K-12 School Site Planning in Honolulu: Drainage, Grading, and Coastal Challenges
    • K-12 Site Planning in the Pacific Northwest: Rain, Terrain, and Green Schoolyards
    • Knox Box and FDC Placement Requirements
    • LID (Low Impact Development) Principles Explained
    • Can a Playground Be a Stormwater Basin? Turns Out, Your Kids Don’t Mind.
    • Lot Merger vs. Lot Line Adjustment — Calichi Design Group
    • Mass Timber Buildings: Civil Engineering Considerations
    • Maximum Driveway Slopes in California: What the Code Says and What Actually Works
    • Mixed-Use Site Planning in Honolulu: Balancing Density with Island Infrastructure
    • Planning a Mixed-Use Project in Hood River? Start with the Site
    • MS4 Permit Compliance for Small Municipalities
    • Multifamily Site Planning in the Pacific Northwest: What Oregon and Washington Expect
    • Multifamily Site Planning in Walnut Creek: Parking, Grading, and City Standards
    • Oakland Mixed-Use Site Planning: Navigating Entitlements and Grading
    • What Oakland Developers Need to Know About Multifamily Site Plans
    • Parking Lot Grading and Drainage Design
    • When Does an Existing Building Trigger Path of Travel Upgrades?
    • Pavement Section Design: Asphalt vs. Concrete for Site Work
    • Peer Review: What to Look for When Reviewing Another Engineer’s Plans
    • Pervious Pavement: Types, Maintenance, and Limitations
    • The PG&E Green Book: A Civil Engineer's Translation Guide
    • PG&E’s New Joint Trench Process: Submit Your Building Permit Drawings and Wait 90 Days
    • Rule 16 vs. Rule 20 vs. Rule 21: PG&E Service Extensions Explained
    • How Long Does a PG&E Service Extension Actually Take?
    • Portland Multifamily Site Planning: Stormwater, Density, and BES Requirements
    • Who Maintains Private vs. Public Sewers?
    • Provision C.3: The Three Pages of Permit Language That Redesign Every Bay Area Project
    • Public Improvement Bond Requirements for Developers — Calichi Design Group
    • Rain Gardens vs. Bioretention: Is There a Difference?
    • How to Respond to Plan Check Comments Efficiently
    • Retaining Wall Types and When Each Is Appropriate
    • Rough Grading Certification Process — Calichi Design Group
    • How to Navigate Sacramento's Multifamily Site Planning Process
    • Sacramento Retail Site Planning: Utilities, Access, and City Review
    • Sanitary Sewer Design: Minimum Slopes and Pipe Sizing
    • SB 35 Streamlining: What It Actually Means for Your Civil Site Plan
    • Nobody Budgeted the Civil Scope: A School Modernization Horror Story
    • How to Evaluate Existing Sewer System Capacity
    • When Does a Sewer Lateral Need to Be Replaced?
    • Sidewalk Design: Width, Scoring, Ramps, and Common Mistakes
    • Silva Cells: When Your Stormwater Solution Grows a 50-Foot Tree — Calichi Design Group
    • Site Grading: Reading Contours and Setting Pad Elevations
    • What Are C.3 Stormwater Requirements? A Bay Area Project Guide
    • Small-Town School Site Planning: Lessons from Hood River, Oregon
    • What Is a Tentative Map? A California Subdivision Guide
    • Site Planning for Oakland Schools: DSA, Playgrounds, and ADA Paths
    • Building Better Schools in Portland: A Civil Engineer’s Guide to K-12 Site Planning
    • What Sacramento School Districts Need from a Civil Site Plan
    • How Does Site Planning for K-12 Schools Work in Walnut Creek?
    • Site Planning for Honolulu Multifamily Projects: Slopes, Storm Drains, and Setbacks
    • Multifamily Housing in Hood River: Site Planning for a Growing Mountain Town
    • Mixed-Use Site Planning Across the Pacific Northwest: Why Portland and Seattle Differ
    • How Portland’s Green Infrastructure Rules Shape Mixed-Use Site Plans
    • Retail and Mixed-Use Site Planning in Walnut Creek: What the City Expects
    • Slope Stability Considerations for Hillside Development
    • Stormwater Requirements for Small Projects: Yes, Your 5,000 Square Foot Addition Counts
  • SLBE-Certified Civil Engineer | CaliChi Design Group
    • SLBE Certified Civil Engineering in Oakland and Alameda County
    • Calichi SLBE Bid Package: One-Page Reference for Prime Contractors
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Reco Prianto, PE

Reco Prianto, PE is the founder and principal engineer at Calichi Design Group. Licensed in 9 states (CA, OR, HI, WA, NV, AZ, CO, NM, TX), he has delivered 400+ projects across site civil engineering, dry utility design, stormwater, and fire protection engineering since founding the firm in 2009. His project portfolio includes schools, affordable housing, mixed-use developments, and transit facilities for clients including Oakland Unified School District, JPMorgan Chase, Gensler, McCarthy Building Companies, and the Port of Oakland. Reco holds a California QSD/QSP certification and is SLBE-certified by Alameda County and OUSD. He writes about civil engineering practice, permitting, and California infrastructure.

Can Water and Electric Lines Share a Trench?

October 7, 2026 by Reco Prianto, PE

In PG&E territory, a water line does not go in the joint trench. What PG&E, EBMUD, California drinking water rules and the plumbing code say about water, electric and sewer separation.

Categories Civil Engineering

When Is a Fire Flow Analysis Required?

November 3, 2026May 29, 2026 by Reco Prianto, PE

When Is a Fire Flow Analysis Required? — answered by Reco Prianto, PE. CaliChi Design Group: civil engineering experts in California, Oregon, and Hawaii.

Categories Fire & Life Safety

Civil Engineer vs. Land Surveyor: Who Do You Need?

November 3, 2026May 22, 2026 by Reco Prianto, PE

Civil Engineer vs. Land Surveyor: Who Do You Need? — answered by Reco Prianto, PE. CaliChi Design Group: civil engineering experts in California, Oregon, a

Categories Professional Services

QSD vs. QSP: Which Do You Need for Your SWPPP?

November 3, 2026May 20, 2026 by Reco Prianto, PE

QSD vs. QSP: Which Do You Need for Your SWPPP? — answered by Reco Prianto, PE. CaliChi Design Group: civil engineering experts in California, Oregon, and H

Categories Stormwater

How to Get a Grading Permit in California

November 3, 2026May 13, 2026 by Reco Prianto, PE

How to Get a Grading Permit in California — answered by Reco Prianto, PE. CaliChi Design Group: civil engineering experts in California, Oregon, and Hawaii

Categories Permits

Electrical Vault Requirements for Commercial Projects in California

November 3, 2026May 8, 2026 by Reco Prianto, PE

Learn the California electrical code (Title 24 and NEC) requirements for electrical vaults, transformer locations, pad-mounted enclosures, and metering boxes on commercial projects.

Categories Specialized Projects
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