CALCode Quarterly - Spring 2023

CBSC is extremely pleased to announce that it has a new Deputy Executive Director (DED) – Kevin Day! Many of you already know Kevin from his prior years here as a Staff Services Manager I (Specialist), and we’re sure you’ll agree that he is an excellent match for this role. Kevin has the experience and expertise to take on the DED’s duties of administering the Title 24* rulemaking process, including supervising the CBSC technical staff in their varied responsibilities. Other duties involve managing development of regulations for CBSC’s authority (specifically the CALGreen** program), technical review of other agencies’ rulemaking packages, codification and publication of Title 24, and overseeing the local amendments program. Additionally, Kevin will contribute to budget oversight and analysis of legislation that affects CBSC’s programs.

Regarding his new assignment, Kevin says, “I am honored to have been named Deputy Executive Director of CBSC and will continue to do my best to support our commissioners, stakeholders, and the public in my new role.”

During Kevin’s tenure with CBSC so far, he has coordinated amendments to the California Plumbing Code (Part 5, Title 24, California Code of Regulations), overseen the contract for, and codification and publication of, Title 24, aided the executive director with legislative analysis and budget change proposals, and managed various special projects.

Executive Director Mia Marvelli says, “Kevin is extremely dedicated to the Title 24 process and the commission. He has led many changes to streamline the process and continues to maintain excellent relationships with our state agency partners and interested parties. He will serve the commission well as deputy executive director.”

Staff reactions to the news were happily enthusiastic. Staff Services Manger I Katrina Benny says, Kevin “…is one of my best hires! And now he’s my boss!” Many CBSC co-workers noted that Kevin’s DEDication will help make him a great DED (funny, guys). Staff Services Analyst Pamela Maeda says, “I admire his professionalism while handling technical questions regarding the building codes,” and Associate Construction Analyst Beth Maynard shares that “he takes the time to teach or train…and makes me feel important.”

Many co-workers noted that Kevin is very knowledgeable about CBSC, Title 24 and rulemaking, and very generous with sharing his knowledge, either with staff or with constituents who call the office with Title 24 questions. This author (AGPA Laura Mills) also appreciates the lighthearted side of his personality that helps make staff meetings fun by sharing trivia questions and answers – after CBSC business is concluded, of course.

Kevin says he is looking forward to continued engagement with interested parties on the various initiatives that affect the built environment, emphasizing the importance of building and maintaining relationships with other state agencies, local jurisdictions, non-governmental organizations, and the regulated community.

Please join CBSC in congratulating Kevin on his new role.

*Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code, Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations.

** CALGreen is the California Green Building Standards Code, Part 11 of Title 24.

After serving the state of California for over 23 years, and CBSC since 2009, Katrina (Kat) Benny is retiring from her position as Staff Services Manager I (SSM I) effective July 31 of this year.

An SSM I is the person who acts as the glue that holds an office team together, and Katrina is SUPER at doing just that. Her direct-report staff is the administrative team, but everyone on CBSC’s staff works with her in some manner. A look at her duty statement shows that she is involved with just about every aspect of running this office—from A to Z—including:

• Administrative staff management
• Budgets and procurement
• Education and outreach
• Forms management
• Guides and publications
• Human resources
• Policies and procedures
• Resources
• Title 24 publication
• Website administration
• Zoom meetings and webinars … And that’s not all!

After all this, it’s safe to say that once she’s retired, Katrina’s days will be filled with relaxation, her love of paper crafting and quality family time (a granddaughter is on the way!).

Executive Director Mia Marvelli says, “During Katrina’s leadership, CBSC has successfully published Title 24 on time, she’s been an excellent steward of CBSC’s financial resources, expanded the education and outreach program, and overseen the SB 1473 program (the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund or Green fees, established in 2008). Behind the scenes and out of the limelight, Katrina had kept the lights on, paper in the copier, and kept this organization running. On a personal note, I will miss commiserating with her about life, finding humor in the chaos, and her unwavering support.”

When asked what they will miss about Katrina, staff had a lot of wonderful thoughts to share:

Office Technician Michael Novang says she makes “the office environment feel warm and welcoming,” and Architectural Associate Timothy O’Malley noted how she “has a way of being positive and encouraging when it appears that things aren’t going the way they ought to go.”

Deputy Executive Director Kevin Day thinks “Katrina’s best quality is her ability to consider both the global needs of the office and the individual needs of CBSC staff,” while Associate Governmental Program Analyst Carol Hagler states that “…her enthusiasm, friendliness, and breadth of experience will absolutely be missed.”

Many other adjectives were used by Katrina’s CBSC friends as they realized how much they are going to miss her after her retirement: Collectively, they say:

Katrina is compassionate, kind, creative, witty and funny. Plus, she has excellent organization skills, a vibrant personality, an infectious laugh that cracks me up, and is a wiz at Scrabble. As you can see, Katrina is a SUPER SSM I, and we hope you will join everyone at CBSC in wishing her a wonderful retirement.

The California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) is currently administering the 2022 Intervening Code Adoption Cycle. The rulemakings completed during this cycle will result in supplements (blue pages) to the 2022 edition of the California Building Standards Code, Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations (Title 24). An intervening cycle presents an opportunity to improve the codes by meeting the requirements of new laws, introducing new—and expanding existing—regulations to address areas of concern in California, and correcting errors that may have been published in the triennial edition of Title 24.

During the intervening cycle, model codes are not adopted like in a triennial cycle. However, there are up to 14 state agencies that can propose regulations, and they all have different authorities and mandates. As a result, CBSC may need to administer multiple code packages. This code cycle, 30 different code packages are being processed. To find out more, watch CBSC’s video About the Rulemaking Process or read our Public Guide to the Building Standards Adoption Process.

So far during this cycle, there have been multiple workshops and five Code Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings. The public CAC meetings are for the technical review of the feasibility, practicability and viability of proposed regulations that are written and submitted by the various state agencies for their areas of authority. As a guide, Code Advisory Committee members utilize the nine-point criteria in Health and Safety Code Section 18930(a) and any recommendation other than “approve” must cite which criteria is not met. Notices for virtual meetings are sent out at least 15 days in advance, and past meetings can be viewed on CBSC’s YouTube channel. See our Calendar webpage for upcoming meetings, and the Rulemaking page for all code adoption cycle information.

As detailed in our guide and video linked above, after each CAC meeting is complete, the proposing state agency must address each CAC recommendation that was other than “approve” and explain their response. Then, the proposed regulations and supporting documents are submitted to CBSC for a 45-day public comment period. The notice, rulemaking documents and instructions for submitting comments will be posted to our website. During this cycle, there will be four public comment periods starting in March and going through early June, some of which will run concurrently. Additional public comment periods may be held if necessary. Again, a public notice will be issued to our subscribed interested parties for every comment period. Sign up for the mailing list on our Rulemaking or Contact web pages.

We encourage our interested parties to watch for these notices and to submit comments on proposed regulations of interest. Support comments, as well as suggestions for improvements, are appreciated.

Once the comment periods conclude, the state agencies submit a final rulemaking package to CBSC for review, approval and adoption by the commission. CBSC will hold two commission meetings this summer, June 27-29 and August 1-3, at which action will be taken on all the rulemaking packages. The meeting agendas and materials will be posted on the cycle’s Commission Meetings webpage at least 15 days prior to the meeting.

For those of you who took the quiz last edition, GREAT JOB! Most of you answered the questions correctly. There were a couple of misunderstandings, though, that we’d like to address.

One of the questions dealt with when public input can have the most impact on code language development, and some thought it was during the 45-day public comment period. While agencies are required to address and respond to all input received during a public comment period, at this point in the code adoption cycle, substantive changes to the code language are often not possible because complex proposals are required to be vetted by stakeholders during a public (precycle) workshop pursuant to public participation requirements in the Administrative Procedure Act and California Administrative Code.

The “ground floor” for code language development is actually during the pre-cycle workshops, when state agencies perform research, meet with interested parties and subject matter experts, and draft proposed code language. If you want to participate at this level, be sure to sign up for the mailing lists of the state agencies that are responsible for regulations of interest to you. You can find a list of the state agencies and their areas of authority in the preface of each part of Title 24 and on the Resources tab of CBSC’s website. The next pre-cycle activities will begin later this year for the 2024 Triennial Code Adoption Cycle.

Another misunderstanding has to do with local amendments to Title 24. It is important for local government to go through their own public process of making amendments to the code with every new edition of Title 24, because prior filings with the state become inoperative when a previous edition is no longer in effect. Visit CBSC’s Ordinances webpage for more information, including links to a video produced by the International Code Council and CBSC, and the Guide for Local Amendments of Building Standards, that provide details about the local code adoption process.