Southern Santa Clara County

Three front doors inside about twenty miles.

Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin and the unincorporated land around them. Inside that stretch, three different offices take a fire alarm submittal three different ways, and one of them changed hands in 2025.

Request a free estimate Call (831) 455-5858

Serving businesses throughout southern Santa Clara County, including Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Martin. After-hours service available.

What you came for

Three offices take the paperwork. One company does the work.

Whatever the building is doing, this is where it goes, in the order these calls come in.

The panel is in trouble now: Fire alarm service and repair
The system is due, or an inspector has asked for records: Fire alarm inspection and testing
Nobody is in the building when a signal comes in: Fire alarm monitoring
A building is going up, being fitted out, or is on its second system: Fire alarm installation and new construction

We service and repair systems other contractors installed, subject to manufacturer software, manufacturer training and access to the system. Send the panel make and what the display is reading, and we will tell you what can be done with it.

How far north we go

The southern end of the county, and not the rest of it.

Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Martin sit at the bottom of a county that runs north through San Jose and on to Palo Alto. We work in the southern end. The county outline is drawn so the difference is obvious.

No line is drawn across the county, because there is no published boundary to draw. The county is shown unfilled, and only the communities we actually serve are marked.

Southern Santa Clara County service area

We serve the southern communities marked here. San Jose and northern Santa Clara County are not in our service area.

Santa Clara County outline; southern portion served
Communities served
Neighbouring counties we also serve

The work happens at your building. If your address is not one of the communities marked, call (831) 455-5858 and we will tell you whether we cover it.

Where our coverage stops

Southern Santa Clara County means southern.

Moro Cojo covers Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, plus southern Santa Clara County. In this county that means the south end of it: Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin and the unincorporated land in and around them. It does not mean San Jose, and it does not mean the county as a whole.

That belongs at the top rather than in small print, because it decides whether we are any use to you. If the building is north of Morgan Hill, we would rather say so here than after a phone call.

Three intakes, compared

One afternoon’s drive, three different front doors.

A portal, an inbox and a county counter. Which one applies depends on the address rather than the size of the job.

Gilroy

Fire Prevention Division, Gilroy Fire Department

One portal, and everything goes through it

Gilroy runs construction and operational permits through a single online system, GO Permit. The city says the portal is where you “submit applications, seek permits and approvals, initiate and track plan review status, schedule inspections and view statuses and results, and pay for these services online”.

How it is taken: Online through GO Permit, or in person at 7351 Rosanna St.
Fire alarm specifics: None published on either prevention page we opened, so the itemized requirements come from the division rather than from a checklist.
Fees: In the City’s Comprehensive Fee Schedule.
Contact: 408-846-0451, Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The division’s own page for Fire Prevention Division, Gilroy Fire Department (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-15

Morgan Hill

Fire Division, City of Morgan Hill

Email, PDF only, and fire alarms named outright

Morgan Hill takes fire permit applications for fire-related construction activity by email, and fire alarms are named in the city’s own list of what that covers. That is rare here; most offices in this territory describe fire code work in general terms only. The office to address is the Fire Division; the page also uses Building & Fire Prevention. It is not a fire marshal’s office, and the wrong name is an easy way to have a message sit unanswered.

How it is taken: By email to permits@morganhill.ca.gov. “Non-PDF submittals will not be accepted.”
Inspections: Tuesdays through Fridays only, booked through the city’s eTRAKiT system.
Published times: None published for plan review.
Contact: 408-778-6480, 17575 Peak Avenue.

The city’s fire permits page for Fire Division, City of Morgan Hill (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-15

Unincorporated south county

Fire Prevention Division, Santa Clara County Fire Department

Out of the city, and into the county counter in San Jose

For unincorporated property, including San Martin and the unincorporated stretches around Gilroy and Morgan Hill, plans are submitted to 70 W. Hedding, 7th Floor, San Jose, which is the County of Santa Clara Department of Planning and Development. The counter is in San Jose; the property it serves is not. It is the most itemized of the three, and the only one that publishes a turnaround.

What is asked for: An application, three sets of plans at a minimum of 24 by 36 inches, two device cut sheets, two battery calculations, two voltage drop calculations, two California State Fire Marshal listing documents, a building permit copy where one applies, a business license and the fee.
Published times: “Original submittals will be turned around in ten business days or fewer.”
Revisions: Resubmittals, revisions and as-builts in five business days or fewer, with no fee for those.
Contact: (408) 299-5700 or e-permits@pln.sccgov.org.

The department’s plan submittals page for Fire Prevention Division, Santa Clara County Fire Department (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-15

Recent change

The south county district no longer exists.

In the department’s own words: “Effective July 1, 2025, Santa Clara County Fire Department is the fire and emergency medical service provider to the areas previously covered by South Santa Clara County Fire District.” That covers San Martin and portions of unincorporated Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Anything written before that date naming the old district as the authority is out of date.

One thing the change does not alter: who responds to a call and who reviews a plan are separate questions here. For unincorporated property the submittal still routes to County Planning and Development in San Jose.

Checked, with sources

The offices we have checked in the part of the county we cover.

Four rows, because two are the same department: one for who responds, one for how plans are taken. Nothing here implies that any authority approves of, recommends or works with Moro Cojo.

City of Gilroy

Fire Prevention Division, Gilroy Fire Department

Fire construction and operational permits and inspections, annual State-mandated inspections, weed abatement and fire prevention code enforcement, taken through the GO Permit portal or in person at 7351 Rosanna St. Pricing sits in the City’s Comprehensive Fee Schedule. 408-846-0451.

Their page for Fire Prevention Division, Gilroy Fire Department (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-15

City of Morgan Hill

Fire Division, City of Morgan Hill (the page also uses “Building & Fire Prevention”)

Fire Permit Applications in PDF for fire-related construction activity, with fire alarms named in that list, by email to permits@morganhill.ca.gov. “Non-PDF submittals will not be accepted.” Inspections Tuesdays through Fridays only, through eTRAKiT. 408-778-6480, 17575 Peak Avenue.

Their page for Fire Division, City of Morgan Hill (the page also uses “Building & Fire Prevention”) (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-15

San Martin and portions of unincorporated Gilroy and Morgan Hill

Santa Clara County Fire Department

“Effective July 1, 2025, Santa Clara County Fire Department is the fire and emergency medical service provider to the areas previously covered by South Santa Clara County Fire District (SSCCFD).” Crews respond from the Treehaven and Masten stations.

Their page for Santa Clara County Fire Department (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-15

Plan submittal for unincorporated Santa Clara County, including the south county

Fire Prevention Division, Santa Clara County Fire Department

Plans for unincorporated property go to the County of Santa Clara Department of Planning and Development, 70 W. Hedding, 7th Floor, San Jose, on (408) 299-5700 or e-permits@pln.sccgov.org. The itemized fire alarm submittal and both turnaround times are set out above.

Their page for Fire Prevention Division, Santa Clara County Fire Department (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-09-15

We have not researched the fire authorities north of the area we serve, because we do not work there. The County of Santa Clara Fire Marshal’s Office pages could not be opened on this check, so nothing above is attributed to that office. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and occupancy, and the local fire prevention office is the place to confirm them.

What we do here

The paperwork differs. The work does not.

All three intakes above exist for the same reason: a building is going up, being fitted out or being changed. That work iscommercial fire alarm installation, on non-proprietary equipment, which keeps your options open aboutwho can service the system later.

We work directly with general contractors, and we handle and coordinate the plan submittal, the permit and the acceptance test with whichever of the three offices above has jurisdiction. What each one asks for differs by address, and none of them runs it quite the same way. Assembling it does not have to be your job. Whether it is approved, and when, belongs to that office.

Free estimates, in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin and the unincorporated south county. After-hours service available.

Interior of a commercial space at rough-in, with bare framing and conduit run overhead — Tenant improvement at rough-in

Southern Santa Clara County

Tell us where the building is, and we will tell you straight.

Send the city, the building type and what the job is. You get a plain answer, including if the building sits outside the part of the county we cover.

Prefer to talk?

(831) 455-5858

After-hours service available. For an active fire or an unsafe condition, call 911.