Putting up a shop in CA - fire department being a pain

building anything to code is always a ball ache. then you get the inspectors that just straight up don't care because they were [insert contractor profession] in their previous life and [blank] is their special topic and they want that done in a specific way no matter what the book says.

when i did my shop i had to jump thru all the hoops: can't be taller than this, has to be this far from existing structure, this far from property line, doors can't face this way, you need this dumb thing, you can't have this, that or the other thing otherwise it's defined as [blank] and now we tax it as something other than a garage, so now your permit is another 5K or whatever. so many stupid little things; but i know they were all there for one reason or another.

the best advice i can give you is go thru formal plan check and get blue prints, it'll cost a little more money but down the line if they try and cheeze you on something you can fall back on your paperwork that was already okayed. also, don't be afraid to go upchain! inspector is being difficult? ask for a senior or managing inspector. same with the fire code stuff, somebody mentioned upthread: go directly to the source and see what their requirements and and get that in writing.

and i cannot stress this enough: get.it.in.writing. signed and dated, on official letterhead. paperwork is *king* when dealing with wannabe tyrants.