Legal Question in Construction Law in California

That is usually covered by contract. If it's not, you need to be a lot more careful with your contracts. Technically the owner of the work of improvement is the one required to take out the permits, but almost always the contractors do it for remodels, and it can go either way for new construction. Whether the general does it all or delegates to the subs, is up to the general and the subs and usually depends on the scope of work of each.