California Building Standards Commission Duties, Mission, Vision & Challenges

As provided in existing law and regulation, CBSC is charged with:

• Administering California's building code adoption process

• Coordinating and managing the model code adoption process for various state agencies

• Reviewing and approving building standards proposed and adopted by state agencies

• Codifying and publishing approved building standards in the California Building Standards Code (Cal. Code Regs., Title 24.)

• Resolving conflict, duplication and overlap in building standards

• Ensuring consistency in the nomenclature and format of the code

• Administering appeals and petitions regarding state building standards

• Reviewing to accept/reject for filing local code ordinances to the California Building Standards Code

• Proposing and adopting model codes and building standards for buildings owned by the state, including those constructed by the Trustees of the California State University and the Regents of the University of California

• Adopting and approving model codes for state agencies that fail to adopt these codes within one year of their publication

• Administering the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund

• Providing education and outreach to public and private stakeholders

CBSC's mission is to produce sensible and usable state building standards and administrative regulations that implement or enforce those standards.  Specifically, CBSC:

• Assists state agencies in producing high-quality amendments

• Works to repeal unnecessary building regulations and see that ambiguous regulations are more clearly written

• Assists various constituents and special interest groups in making their needs known to various code-writing departments

• Administers a public appeal process

• Educates the public about the state's building code, and helps them to understand and comply with it

• Ensures Title 24 is published with minimal errors

CBSC's vision is to ensure that the statewide building code development and adoption process is efficient and effective.

• To ensure that state building codes reflect California's interests, CBSC is committed to encouraging the participation of California's representatives in the development of model codes. The creation of such codes will result in:

• Fewer amendments by state agencies and local governments

• A California Building Standards Code that is understandable, simplified, and devoid of errors and conflicts

• More easily obtainable building permits

• Improved building performance

• Highly consistent building standards throughout California

CBSC is also committed to ensuring an efficient and effective regulatory process that protects all Californians. Aspects crucial to realizing this vision are:

• Dedicated funding for full participation of state agency staff in developing model codes

• Stable funding for all CBSC activities

• Complete cooperation and collaboration between CBSC staff and the staff of proposing and adopting state agencies

Areas of consumer and legislative interest are almost as diverse as the building code itself. Building regulations involve areas such as health, fire and panic safety, employee safety, energy conservation, and accessibility for persons with disabilities. These regulations impact various consumer and building industry groups, such as apartment owners, architects, engineers, and insurance companies.

California is a leader in the regulation of its building industry, particularly in the areas of accessibility for persons with disabilities and energy conservation. However, the current regulatory process is much more complex than in past years. Controversial and complex building standards and new emerging model codes and national standards present a challenge to CBSC in determining if such codes and standards are in the public interest. If CBSC were to approve and publish standards that were not in the public interest, it would cause confusion, create problems, and place an unreasonable burden on the public and the building industry.

Within CBSC, the Coordinating Council is responsible for:

• Ensuring coordination in the proposal of building standards;
• Assisting in the development of building standards;
• Resolving conflicting building standards.

Coordinating Council Meetings - for recent meeting dates, please access the Calendars  page.

Coordinating Council Charter (HS. Code, § 18926.):

There is, in the office of the executive director, a Coordinating Council.  The membership of the Council shall consist of the executive director, who shall serve as chairperson, and representatives appointed by the State Director of Public Health, the Director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, the Director of Housing and Community Development, the State Fire Marshal, the Executive Director of the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (California Energy Commission), and the Director of General Services.

Subject to the pleasure of the Commission:

• The Council or any member of the Council shall, when called and directed in writing by the executive director, work with and assist an agency proposing building standards or adopting building standards, or both, in the development of proposals for building standards.
• When a state agency contemplates the adoption of any building standard, it shall, prior to commencing any action to prepare a draft of the proposal, advise the executive director, in writing, of that intent and request the executive director to call the Council, or any member of the Council, as appropriate, for assistance.
• Whenever the Commission returns for amendment or rejects any proposed building standard, and one of the reasons for that action is that approval of the proposal would create a conflict with existing building standards of other adopting agencies, the executive director shall call the Council or any member of the Council, as appropriate, to assist in the elimination of the conflict.
• The Council shall draft proposed building standards which the Commission is authorized to adopt pursuant to Section 18933 for the consideration of the Commission and approval, utilizing the criteria of Section 18930.

Per Section 1-409 of the California Administrative Code (Cal. Code Regs., Title 24, Part 1), and prior to conducting any hearing or public comment period as part of the rulemaking proceeding required by the Administrative Procedure Act, the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) assigns the initial code change proposals to one or more of the six Code Advisory Committees (CACs) specifically knowledgeable in the proposed building standards. CACs provide special technical review of proposed building standards and provide recommendations to CBSC and state proposing agencies. Public meetings are noticed and scheduled to ensure adequate opportunity for public participation and technical review.

Code Advisory Committees

The California Building Standards Commission currently has two internal committees: the Code Adoption Committee and the Appeals Committee. Each committee is comprised of at least one and up to five commissioners. They meet on an as-needed basis.

The purpose and responsibilities of the Code Adoption Committee include selecting members for the Code Advisory Committees, identifying methods of improving the state’s building code adoption process, and participating in the development and adoption of model building codes.

The current members of the Code Adoption Committee are:

Rajesh Patel - Chair

Kent Sasaki

Peter Santillan

Erick Mikiten

Frank Ramirez

The Appeals Committee administers the process of handling appeals filed with CBSC pursuant to the California Administrative Code, Part 1 of Title 24, Chapter 1, Article 3.

The commission may accept appeals relating to actions and decisions by state and local agencies to enforce building standards, but may only make recommendations for reconsideration to those agencies. The commission has no authority to overturn a decision when the matter is within the jurisdiction of that state or local agency. For more information about appeals, visit the Appeals page.

The current members of the Appeals Committee are:

Kent Sasaki – Chair

Juvilyn Alegre

Elley Klausbruckner

Laura Rambin

James D. Haskin

The following webpages contain historical information related to the California Building Standards Commission and the California Building Standards Code (California Code of Regulations, Title 24). These historical documents help explain the development of the current processes by which building standards are adopted, approved, published, used as design and construction requirements, and enforced.

• History of the California Building Standards Commission
• History of the California Building Standards Code (Title 24)
• History of the California Building Code (Title 24, Part 2)
• History of the California Green Building Standards Code - CALGreen (Title 24, Part 11)

CBSC is charged by California Building Standards Law (HS Code, §§ 18901 - 18949.31.) to administer the processes related to the adoption, approval, publication and implementation of California's building codes. These building codes serve as the basis for the design and construction of buildings in California.

California Building Standards Law: Part 2.5 (commencing with Section 18901) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code