California Building Code & Housing-Law Watch
Code Watch
California's housing rules shift mid-cycle — through building-code errata and through the state's enforcement of housing law on cities and counties. We read both and write up what actually changed and what it means for getting housing built.
Due in 2021, Still Not Compliant: Compton's Second Notice of Violation
Four years past deadline with no compliant housing element, Compton drew a second Notice of Violation — and, in HCD's view, exposure to the Builder's Remedy.
Accessible EV Chargers in Old Garages: The Proposed 80-Inch Rule
A proposed exception to CBC 11B-812.4 would let standard and ambulatory accessible EV charging stations drop from 98 to 80 inches of vertical clearance in existing multistory garages — but not van accessible EVCS, and not until it's adopted.
Triple-pane, six-foot gaps, coverage caps: extras a 66323 ADU doesn't owe
HCD's position across three 2026 letters: a qualifying ADU under Gov. Code 66323 can't be saddled with window specs, structure-separation gaps, coverage caps, or a prove-it-can't-be-a-regular-ADU gate.
Birth centers: a proposed 120-sq-ft birthing room, window optional
California's final express terms would shrink the OSHPD 3 birthing room to 120 square feet and make the outside window optional — if the Commission approves them for July 1, 2027.
The Train Isn't Built Yet, but the SB 79 Upzoning Might Already Count
If you're eyeing a parcel near a transit stop that's only been planned, HCD's position is it may already count for SB 79 upzoning — an adopted locally preferred alternative is enough, environmental review or not.
Public housing could lose its hillside slope tests under a DSA repeal
A proposed DSA rule would repeal the site-impracticality tests that let publicly funded walk-ups on steep or flood-zone sites cut adaptable ground-floor units to as little as 20 percent.
One Foot of Eave, Four Feet for Stairs: Oceanside's 26 ADU Findings
HCD's review of Oceanside's new ADU ordinance returned 26 findings — from a one-foot eave limit to a blanket four-foot stair setback.
CALGreen's HVAC sizing rule drops Manual J-2016 and Manual S-2014
California's 2027 CALGreen supplement replaces 4.507.2's Manual J-2016 and Manual S-2014 references with pointers to Energy Code 150.0(h) and deletes the 'alternate design temperatures' exception — but 150.0(h) already governs HVAC sizing today.
Three Hogs Don't Make a Farm: HCD Puts Sacramento's AR Zones Under SB 9
A county cap on hogs — with no cap on houses — is part of why HCD reads Sacramento's Agricultural-Residential zones as single-family and SB 9-eligible.
Proposed OSHPD 3 changes: fewer small-clinic toilets, no med-prep sink
Three proposed OSHPD 3 changes would reshape fixture count and layout on small licensed-clinic tenant improvements — if the Commission approves them for a July 1, 2027 effective date.
Is Your City's ADU Ordinance Outdated? HCD Is Asking Cities to Repeal
HCD has started asking cities with pre-2025 ADU ordinances to repeal or amend them — and where the local rule is noncompliant, state ADU standards apply instead.
Tile roofs in fire zones: rewriting the WUI's §504.2.1 airspace rule
California's proposed WUI rewrite collapses two tile-roof paths into one deck rule, drops 'bird stops where the profile fits,' and adds a tested-assembly valley option.
A Five-Unit Buffer: San Bernardino County's Sites Can't Get Water
A site your housing element credits for lower-income housing may not be able to connect to water — and HCD's position is a waterless site doesn't count toward the RHNA.
California's fire alarm zoning rewrite is on its way out of 907.6.4
California's final express terms repeal the seven-item 907.6.4 fire alarm zoning rewrite, restore the model zoning rule, and amend NFPA 72 in two places.
Tiburon's 1983 Resolution Isn't a Contract — AB 2097 Still Applies
HCD's position: a local resolution like a Precise Development Plan isn't a 'contractual agreement,' so AB 2097 still bars a parking minimum on a project near a major transit stop.
The ADU clock is for the person building the unit
The Court of Appeal held that ADU timing rules are designed to benefit the people building the units.
Is your project 'public housing'? Pell Grants, dorms and shelters
A proposed DSA-AC rewrite of the CBC §202 public-housing definition would pull Pell-funded dorms, fire-station housing and shelters into Chapter 11B — here's how to spot it at intake.
HCD: A County Can't Condition Funding on a RHNA Transfer
A county condition that makes you accept a RHNA transfer to get affordable-housing funding may not be authorized under Housing Element Law — and HCD says so.
The A2L Shaft Alternative Is in ASHRAE 15. Not in Printed CMC 1109.3
ASHRAE 15-2024 adds a shaft alternative for tested refrigerant piping, but printed CMC 1109.3 still requires the shaft — document the test and raise the conflict early.
Downey Told a Church to Rezone First; HCD Says SB 4 Doesn't
HCD's position: SB 4 lets St. Mark's Church keep operating as part of a by-right 60-unit affordable project, so Downey can't force a rezone first.
Solar Carport Over an Existing Lot? Only Covered Stalls Owe EV Charging
The final express terms before the Building Standards Commission settle which stalls a solar canopy puts on the hook for EV charging — and restate the ALMS minimum in kilowatts.
SB 79 Alternative Plans: The Capacity Math HCD Won't Accept
HCD's early SB 79 alternative-plan reviews show three ways cities quietly shaved transit capacity, and why HCD flagged each.
Type X Gypsum Could Drop Off the WUI Wall Menu (§504.5)
A proposed WUI rewrite would restructure §504.5 into a build-it-or-cover-it choice and drop the prescriptive Type X gypsum method — so a wood-over-Type-X wall would need a tested or 1-hour-rated path instead.
HCD Said Yes to Greenfield's Sewer Moratorium — With Strings
HCD approved Greenfield's sewer-capacity building moratorium through 2030 — but conditioned it on affordable-first hookups and a RHNA rollover.
A proposed 75% trigger can turn a rehab into new-construction counts
Under a proposed rule, one number — 75% of replacement cost — decides whether a 15-unit-plus public-housing rehab owes new-construction accessible-unit counts, and the record shows builders and building officials still disagree on how to measure it.
Oakland Called Its Industrial Zones Off-Limits to SB 79. HCD Read the Code.
HCD's position: Oakland can't declare its industrial and open-space zones off-limits to SB 79 when its own Planning Code lets those zones host commercial use.
CALGreen embodied carbon moves to 5.409: the 2027 crosswalk
The 2025 Intervening Cycle's final express terms rename CALGreen §5.409 "Embodied Carbon Reduction," relocate the building-reuse option out of §5.105, and add a salvaged-materials path at zero GWP — here is the old-to-new crosswalk a designer needs.
Sacramento Wrote Its Historic ADU Rules by Resolution. HCD Says No.
Sacramento put its historic-district ADU standards in a council resolution and routed some ADUs through discretionary review — HCD's position is that both break State ADU Law.
Proposed CMC Table 4-C Cuts Clinic Exam Rooms From 4 to 2 Air Changes
Today a California clinic exam room is ventilated like a hospital room; HCAI's proposed Table 4-C would route primary-care, rehab, birthing, and behavioral-health clinics to lighter air-change rates if the Commission approves it for a July 1, 2027 effective date.
SB 79 Is Live. What HCD Told LA About Carving Out Sites
Los Angeles asked HCD how far it could carve sites out of SB 79's transit upzoning, and several of the state's answers favor the developer.
Your City's WUI Overlay May Stop Triggering the State WUI Code
The Marshal's final Part 7 text would stop the state WUI code from following a city's own WUI overlay — tying scope to fire hazard severity zones.
Built an Unpermitted ADU Before 2020? Your City May Have the Wrong Date
The cutoff to legalize an older unpermitted ADU is January 1, 2020 — and HCD has told city after city that a narrower local version is more restrictive than state law.
Public housing is set to lose five 11B accessibility exceptions
A proposed DSA-AC rule would move the HUD Deeming Notice into CBC 11B-233.2, stripping five accessibility exceptions from public housing of five or more units.
Rocklin Rezoned Mid-Application: HCD Says By-Right Now Applies
HCD's position: once Rocklin's housing element rezone took effect, the Sierra Wilds affordable project earned by-right review — even though it was filed under the old commercial zoning.
EPA Exempts California Heat Pumps From ENERGY STAR Sizing Limits
California's 2025 heat-pump sizing rule collided with ENERGY STAR's cooling-oversizing cap, so the EPA exempted those heat pumps from the cap.
Two ADU pathways stack: the state list isn't your ceiling
HCD's position across a run of 2026 ordinance letters: the units a city must ministerially approve under Gov. Code 66323 and at least one ADU under the local-standards pathway (66314) are cumulative — counting only the state list doesn't comply.
The WUI Code's 50-Foot Garage Escape Hatch Is Slated to Close
Today a detached garage of any size escapes the WUI Code at 50 feet from the house; a package before the Building Standards Commission would delete that exemption and harden anything over 120 square feet at any distance.
'May Be Required' Isn't a Requirement: What a Checklist Can and Can't Do
If a city's form only says a study 'may' be required and decides after you file, HCD's position is that item can't make your application incomplete — but anything actually on the checklist can.
AB 130 froze new local home codes. Menlo Park's reach code got approved.
AB 130's residential code freeze runs through 2031, but it has carve-outs — and on April 27, 2026 the Energy Commission approved Menlo Park's energy reach code, a new cooling rule for HVAC change-outs in existing single-family homes.
No Covenant Required: HCD Says Cities Can't Deed-Restrict Your ADU
If your city makes you record a covenant to get a standard ADU, HCD's recent findings say that requirement is a barred extra standard.
2.50 kg or 2.50 tons? The flat-glass unit error in CALGreen 5.409.3
CALGreen Table 5.409.3 lists flat glass at 2.50 kg CO2e/MT, but the footnote math and the Buy Clean limit show the real ceiling is 2.50 MT CO2e/MT — a thousand times higher.
A Stepback Is a Setback: HCD Holds Santa Monica to SB 684's 4-Foot Cap
HCD has told Santa Monica that upper-story stepbacks on SB 684 starter-home projects are setbacks — and the four-foot cap has no height exception.
DOAS + Water-Loop Heat Pump: A New Prescriptive Path Under 140.4(a)3
A March 2026 Executive Director determination lets a DOAS paired with a water-loop heat pump comply prescriptively under Section 140.4(a)3 — if the design meets the memo's installation conditions.
JADU Owner-Occupancy Now Turns on One Thing: The Bathroom
Since the 2025 ADU-law changes, HCD says a city can require owner-occupancy for a junior ADU only when it shares sanitation facilities with the main house.
There was no July 2026 Title 24 update. Here's the real calendar.
If you've been waiting for a mid-2026 Title 24 errata, you're waiting for something the state never scheduled — the next printed change lands July 1, 2027.
Your Backyard ADU Can Become the House on Its Own SB 9 Lot
HCD's position: an existing ADU doesn't make a lot ineligible for an SB 9 lot split, and the city must offer a way to convert it to a primary dwelling.
CALGreen 5.305 says 'Reserved.' The 2028 draft fills it with a rule
California's 5.305 water-reuse section is blank today; a September 2026 staff draft would turn it into a mandatory menu for new nonresidential buildings — and you can comment on it now.
Campbell Asked HCD Seven SB 684 Questions. Here Are the Answers.
Campbell put seven SB 684 starter-home questions to HCD — on vacancy timing, demolition permits, vesting, height, and half-stories — and got answers.
No cost estimate, no code change: the rule for the 2028 Title 24
Starting with the 2028 code, a state agency that can't price its Title 24 change can't get it adopted.
One Car, a 24-Hour Manager: HCD to Mission Viejo on Group Homes
Mission Viejo stacked permits, a one-car cap, and a 24-hour house manager onto group homes — and HCD has told the city to stop enforcing the parts that single them out.
Your printed WUI Code book is missing five 2026 amendments
Five State Fire Marshal amendments have been the enforceable text of the 2025 WUI Code since January 1, 2026 — but they live on blue supplement pages, not in the printed book.
Brisbane Missed the 3-Year Rezone Clock. Builder's Remedy Is Back.
Brisbane missed the three-year deadline to rezone its Baylands sites, so on June 30, 2026 HCD revoked the City's housing-element compliance — putting the Builder's Remedy back in play.
Does a mini-split need a MERV 13 filter? Two Title 24 codes disagree
Nonresidential CALGreen's MERV 13 rule carries no 10-ft duct qualifier, so some AHJs apply it to ductless mini-splits — a conflict with the Energy Code the state's 2028 pre-cycle draft proposes to fix.
HCD to Costa Mesa: A Federal Win Doesn't Clear a State-Law Denial
Costa Mesa won its federal fair-housing case and still denied a 14-year-old sober living home's accommodation — and HCD says that denial violates state law.
Zone 0 Was Adopted in August, Then Pulled From State Review
California's Board of Forestry adopted the Zone 0 ember-resistant rule in August 2026, but its emergency filing was withdrawn from state review on September 8 — so no approval, no Secretary of State filing, and no effective date exist yet.
Grover Beach's Measure F-26: HCD Warns a Yes Vote Could Be Void
HCD told Grover Beach before the November vote that a ballot measure trimming housing capacity is void unless the same measure adds capacity back.
The Single-90-Day Trick: Why HCD Keeps Striking It Down
HCD's Notice of Violation to Santa Clara County says the Permit Streamlining Act's 90-day redo clock resets after every incompleteness finding — not just the first.
When a Court Voids Your Zoning, No Net Loss Still Applies
After a court set aside Moreno Valley's 2040 General Plan, HCD opened a No Net Loss inquiry asking the City to prove its reverted zoning still holds enough sites for its remaining RHNA.
Colusa Ignored HCD's Corrective Action Letter — So HCD Decertified It
HCD gave Colusa 30 days to answer written findings that it never finished its Program H-2 rezones; the city stayed silent, and HCD revoked its housing-element compliance.
Chula Vista: A Maxed-Out Lot Can Still Earn Density-Bonus Homes
Chula Vista told a developer a built-out 12-unit lot couldn't get a density bonus; HCD's position is that deed-restricting two units unlocks six new bonus homes without demolition.
A 'Planned' Transit Stop Still Kills Parking Minimums Under AB 2097
If a major transit stop is listed in the regional transportation plan, HCD's position is that AB 2097 removes parking minimums within a half-mile even before it's built.
HCD to Pasadena: The Development Cap Violates the Housing Crisis Act
Pasadena's Development Cap set an absolute ceiling on housing approvals in eight plan areas — and HCD found it violates the Housing Crisis Act.
No CUP, No Setback Games: HCD Tells Oakland How SB 684 Works
HCD has told Oakland that an SB 684 starter-home project can't be forced through a CUP or shrunk to fit a setback or open-space rule.
You Can't Backdate Compliance: La Cañada Flintridge and 600 Foothill
HCD's position: a city can't self-declare or backdate its housing element into compliance to strip a qualifying affordable project of the Builder's Remedy.
Anaheim's ADU Ordinance: More Than a Dozen Ways It Blocked Backyard Homes
The zone ban, bedroom cap, or lot-coverage limit blocking your backyard ADU may be one HCD has already flagged as out of step with State ADU Law.
Rocklin's 968-Unit Gap: Decertified in June, Compliant by September
Rocklin missed its September 2024 rezone deadline with a roughly 968 lower-income-unit shortfall, lost its housing-element compliance in June 2025, then climbed back into compliance three months later.
Glendale Amended Its ADU Ordinance — HCD Still Found Three Bans
HCD's position: three of Glendale's ADU bans — detached units, the unit mix, and units above garages — don't comply, and the ordinance is null and void until fixed.
Richmond Denied a 25-Bed Shelter It May Have Had to Approve By Right
HCD found Richmond routed a 25-bed emergency shelter through a permit it may never have been allowed to require — then denied it without the findings state law demands.
The ADU You Can't See: Calipatria's Historic-Property Visibility Rule
One of the 15 numbered findings in HCD's review of Calipatria's ADU ordinance: a rule requiring backyard homes near historic properties to be hidden from public view.
Traffic Isn't an Emergency: Carlsbad's LOS Housing Moratorium
Carlsbad asked whether it could freeze housing permits until four streets meet traffic level-of-service D — HCD's opinion was no, because congestion is not the imminent health-and-safety threat the Housing Crisis Act requires.
Rohnert Park's ADU Ordinance: 10 Rules HCD Says Don't Comply
HCD reviewed Rohnert Park's ADU ordinance and found ten provisions out of step with State ADU Law — from a low height cap to subjective design review.
Beverly Hills Told 10 Builder's Remedy Projects to Rezone Themselves
Beverly Hills deemed ten Builder's Remedy applications incomplete until each developer applied to rezone its own site — HCD's position is the demand violates the HAA and the Permit Streamlining Act.
Aliso Viejo's ADU Window Rule: HCD Calls It a Hidden Setback
If a city says your ADU's windows can't face a neighbor, HCD's position is that you may be looking at a disguised setback state law doesn't allow.
HCD to Fountain Valley: Stop Enforcing the 650-Foot Sober-Living Rule
A 650-foot spacing rule keeps sober living homes out of Fountain Valley — and HCD has told the city to stop enforcing it.
Voters Passed It, but HCD Says a Growth Cap Can't Touch ADUs
Half Moon Bay's voters passed two growth-control measures to slow building — and HCD says neither can be applied to ADUs.
Dana Point's Base-Density Math Left Out 92 Homes, HCD Found
HCD found Dana Point pulled a project's base density from its zoning code instead of its higher general-plan figure — 262 units where HCD reads state law to point to 354.
Arvin Required a Discretionary Permit for a JADU. HCD Says No.
Arvin routed junior ADUs through a discretionary Administrative Permit; HCD found State ADU Law makes that approval ministerial.
Miss the 60-Day Window, Lose the Objection: Elk Grove & SB 35
Elk Grove raised its ground-floor objection after SB 35's 60-day deadline, so under HCD's reading the 67-unit project is deemed consistent.
17 Findings: HCD Faults L.A.'s ADU Ordinance, Line by Line
HCD's review found the City of L.A.'s ADU ordinance out of step with State ADU Law in 17 separate places.
Placer Denied a Density-Bonus Waiver on 240 Affordable Homes
HCD's position: denying a Density Bonus Law waiver — or the project — without the required written findings violates the HAA and SDBL on a by-right site.
Residents Turned In Port Hueneme: HCD's ADU Notice of Violation
In Port Hueneme, it wasn't a lawyer who flagged the city's ADU ordinance — resident complaints prompted an HCD Notice of Violation over rules HCD says conflict with State ADU Law.
Rezone to Commercial, Lose 61 Homes: Twentynine Palms
A city rezoned residential land for a resort and lost capacity for 61 homes — HCD's position is that projected buildout doesn't excuse a no-net-loss shortfall.
Braced wall panels have three hard numbers — 'looks centered' isn't one
Wall bracing gives you three numbers a tape measure can check — a 4-foot offset, a 10-foot end distance, and a 20-foot panel spacing — and in high-seismic California the end rule gets stricter still.
Cities Keep Banning ADUs in Fire Zones. HCD Keeps Pushing Back.
Across five California jurisdictions, HCD keeps telling cities that a fire-hazard-zone label alone can't justify banning an ADU.
A Pool Remodel Permit Quietly Requires a Suction-Outlet Upgrade
In California, a building permit to remodel an existing pool, toddler pool, or spa carries its own equipment mandate: the suction outlets must be upgraded to antientrapment grates meeting ANSI/APSP-16, whether or not the work touches the plumbing.
SF Cut a Density-Bonus Project to 5 Stories. HCD Called It a Violation.
A forced redesign from six stories to five, with no specific-adverse-impact findings, was an effective denial of a density-bonus waiver, HCD found.
Repave a Multifamily Lot With a Permit, and Altered Spaces Owe EV Access
A permitted parking alteration at an existing multifamily building, hotel, or motel can require Level 2 EV access at every added or altered space under CALGreen 4.106.4.3 — unless it's infeasible or the work is limited to 120-volt Level 1 receptacles.
Calabasas Wanted Your ADU to Match the House. HCD Said No.
Calabasas told homeowners their ADU had to 'conform in general' to the main house — a subjective rule HCD says state law doesn't allow.
The 2027 Title 24 supplement is thin by law — except in CALGreen
California's next Title 24 supplement arrives July 1, 2027, but AB 130 limits it to cleanup — and the one change worth tracking is CALGreen's embodied-carbon rules consolidating under a renamed Section 5.409.
A Density Bonus Can't Require a Rezone: Ojai's Error
Ojai's completeness letters told a 49-unit affordable project it needed a general-plan and zoning amendment for its state density bonus — HCD says state law forbids conditioning a density bonus on a rezone.
A detached garage within 3 feet of the house still needs gypsum
Table R302.6's overlooked <3-foot row is triggered by proximity, not attachment — a detached garage close to the house still owes 1/2-inch gypsum on the interior side of the walls in that zone.
Why Your ADU Only Needs Four-Foot Side and Rear Setbacks
City after city has written the same line — an ADU must meet the underlying zone's setbacks — that HCD reads as more restrictive than the four-foot floor state law sets.
Cross 50% of the building area, and Chapter 9 comes with it
In the 2025 CEBC, a work area of 50% or less of the building area is a Level 2 alteration; the instant it exceeds 50% it becomes a Level 3, and Chapter 9's heavier package layers on top.
Five Hearings, Then You're Done: The 65905.5 Cap
Once a compliant housing project has been heard five times, HCD's position is that a sixth hearing effectively counts as a disapproval under the Housing Accountability Act.
CALGreen Wants Two Words on Your Panel — Not Just an EV Raceway
CALGreen 4.106.4.1 requires new one- and two-family homes and townhouses with attached garages to run a trade-size-1 EV raceway and reserve 40-amp capacity — but 4.106.4.1.1 makes the two-word 'EV CAPABLE' label its own correctable requirement.
One ADU or one JADU? State law lets you build both
If your city's code offers 'an ADU or a JADU,' that little word 'or' is a barrier HCD keeps flagging — state ADU law points to both.
Dead-End Corridors: 20 Feet or 50 — Sprinklers Buy the Extra 30
That 38-foot back-of-house dead end in your office TI is illegal at 20 feet unless the building's sprinkler coverage actually earns you the extra 30 under CBC 1020.5, Exception 2.
Manhattan Beach Denied a 79-Unit Project With No Findings
Manhattan Beach's own staff and Planning Commission approved the 79-unit Highrose project; the City Council killed it without a single supporting finding.
California Redrew the Fire Hazard Maps. Has Your City Adopted Them?
California's Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps have been redrawn, but they only bind your project once your city adopts them by ordinance — so verify the parcel, not your memory.
Cities Keep Forcing ADUs Onto Separate Utility Hookups. State Law Bans It
If your ADU fits inside your house or garage, state ADU law bars a second water or sewer line — or a connection fee or capacity charge for one.
Your Dryer Duct Gets 14 Feet — and Every Extra Elbow Costs 2
California's dryer duct rule gives you 14 feet of combined run with two elbows built in — and quietly subtracts 2 feet for every elbow after that.
Norwalk's Round Trip: Shelter Moratorium, Decertification, Then Recovery
A moratorium targeting shelters and supportive housing pulled Norwalk's housing element out of compliance — and it took a lawsuit and a court judgment to put it back.
Your Title 24 energy model may have run on expired software
An energy model built on an expired compliance-software version can be rejected at the counter even when every number in it is right.
Menifee Demanded Free Land for an ADU Permit. HCD Says That's Illegal.
If your ADU permit comes with a demand to hand the city a strip of your land, HCD's stated position is that the condition doesn't belong there.
The deck ledger table sets your fastener spacing — don't eyeball it
CRC R507.9.1 pins deck ledger fastener spacing to a load-and-span table and makes the ledger flashing a structural requirement — not trim you can value-engineer away.
Redondo Beach, AB 2011, and a Parking Concession HCD Says You Can't Deny
HCD told Redondo Beach that a Density Bonus Law parking concession can't be the basis for finding an AB 2011 coastal project inconsistent with its LCP.
In California's CRC, R310 Is Smoke Alarms — Not Egress Windows
Cite R310 for an emergency escape window in California and you've just quoted the smoke alarm section — the CRC numbers its Chapter 3 differently from the model IRC.
The 60-Day ADU Clock: Why 'Acted Upon' Isn't 'Approved or Denied'
HCD keeps flagging one word: an ADU application must be approved or denied within 60 days — 'acted upon' isn't the same thing.
HCD: Fontana's 'Unit Bank' Doesn't Count — No-Net-Loss Needs Real Parcels
A city offered to 'bank' downzoned housing capacity and reassign it later — HCD's read is that no-net-loss offsets have to land on real, identified parcels at the same meeting.
A straight water heater swap still needs two seismic straps
California's water heater strapping rule is Health & Safety Code, not plumbing-code fine print — and it survives a like-for-like swap.
Touch one wall in a TI, and you may owe an accessible path to the door
In a commercial TI, the alteration itself — not whether the restroom sits in your work area — triggers a duty to upgrade the accessible path of travel, capped at 20% of the adjusted construction cost.
Converting a Garage to an ADU? Cities Can't Require Replacement Parking
When you convert a garage, carport, or uncovered space into an ADU, state law says the city can't make you rebuild the lost parking — and HCD keeps enforcing it.
Zone 0 Missed Its Deadlines — What Applies in Fire Zones Now
Zone 0 has missed two deadlines and is still a draft — here's the defensible-space law and WUI building code that actually govern fire-zone work today.
La Cañada Denied 30 Townhomes Over Vague Wildfire-Evacuation Fears
La Cañada's Planning Commission denied a 30-home project over wildfire-evacuation worries — and HCD's position is those findings don't meet the HAA.
Coronado's ADU Code Set a 6-Month Rental Floor. HCD Says 30 Days.
Coronado's ADU code quietly banned month-to-month tenants — and HCD says that six-month floor is one of 31 things the ordinance gets wrong under state law.
Los Gatos Said You Get One 90-Day Window. HCD Said No.
When a town keeps finding your application “incomplete,” HCD's position is that the 90-day resubmittal clock restarts after each determination — not just once.
Can a City Require Your ADU to Match Your House? HCD Says No
A planner demanding your ADU ‘match’ the main house is enforcing the kind of subjective design rule HCD keeps striking.
Roseville Picked a Buyer Before Offering Its Land for Housing
Before a California agency sells surplus public land, it must offer the land for affordable housing first — HCD found Roseville skipped that step.
Cities Keep Banning Separate ADU Sales — State Law Requires an Exception
A flat 'ADUs can't be sold separately' line omits an exception state law requires — and HCD keeps catching cities that leave it out.
Density Bonus Waivers vs. San Diego's 30-Foot Coastal Height Limit
HCD's position: a 30-foot coastal height cap that would physically preclude a qualifying affordable project can be waived under Density Bonus Law.
Dana Point's Second Strike: HCD Voids Its ADU Ordinance Again
HCD's position: Dana Point's re-adopted ADU ordinance is null and void, and the city must apply State ADU Law to your project in the meantime.
Glendale Refused an SB 9 Duplex Because the Lot Already Had an ADU
HCD's position: an existing ADU can't be counted against SB 9's two-unit cap unless you're also splitting the lot.
SFM 12-7A or ASTM? The Two Test Tracks Behind Nearly Every WUI Product
Read Part 7 closely and nearly every WUI component offers two ways to prove it qualifies — a national ASTM test or California's SFM 12-7A test — and either one still needs a State Fire Marshal listing or an approved-agency report to count.
The 6 Situations Where Your City Can't Require Parking for Your ADU
Government Code § 66322 lists six situations where no ADU parking can be required — and HCD keeps catching cities whose codes leave some of them out.
Does Your Shed or Patio Cover Need Fire-Rated Construction? WUI §504.11
In a fire zone, whether your shed, patio cover, or gazebo needs noncombustible or ignition-resistant construction turns almost entirely on how big it is and how far it sits from the house.
You Can't Vote No on a Ministerial Project: Burbank & SB 35
Once a project qualifies for SB 35's streamlined ministerial process, HCD's position is that the city loses the discretionary vote it would otherwise use to say no.
How to Read a Matrix Adoption Table — Does This Rule Even Apply?
The grid of Xs most code users skip is the fastest way to tell whether a code section was ever adopted for your building type and agency.
Detached ADU Height: Why 16 Feet Isn't Always the Limit
HCD keeps flagging cities whose flat 16-foot or one-story ADU cap sits below the height floors state law sets for transit-adjacent, multistory, and attached units.
Every opening the WUI Code polices: windows, doors, and garage gaps
The WUI Code writes a compliance rule for every window, door, and skylight in a fire zone — plus two easy-to-miss ones for the garage: a battery-backup opener and an ember gap capped at 1/8 inch.
Deny 200 Homes, Risk $50K-a-Unit Fines: HCD Warns Beverly Hills
HCD's position: deny this 200-unit Builder's Remedy project unlawfully and, under new AB 712, an applicant's suit could bring court fines up to $50,000 a unit.
Can a city make Title 24 stricter? How local amendments work
A California city or county can adopt building standards stricter than Title 24 — but only through express climatic, geological, or topographical findings filed with the state, and 2025's AB 130 just closed most of that door for homes.
No, Your HOA Can't Veto Your ADU: What California Law Actually Says
Whether it's a city demanding HOA sign-off or a covenant that bans second units, the barrier standing between you and your ADU may not be enforceable.
Building a Deck in a California Fire Zone? WUI Code §504.7.3
In a Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the WUI Code regulates the deck walking surface itself — seven material paths, a 6-inch deck-to-wall flashing, and burn tests ordinary pressure-treated lumber doesn't pass.
Build the $17.9M Basin First: Patterson's Impossible Permit Condition
Patterson barred every permit until a builder funded a $17.9M water basin — HCD found the condition may be an unlawful housing restriction and the denial skipped the required findings.
Does the WUI code apply to you? Zones, buildings, remodels
California pulled its wildfire-hardening rules into a standalone Title 24 code this year — here's how to tell in five minutes whether your address and your project are even in scope.
ADUs 750 Sq Ft or Less Owe Zero Impact Fees. Cities Keep Charging.
State law exempts every ADU of 750 square feet or less from impact fees — yet HCD keeps catching codes that bill the exactly-750 unit.
Is Vinyl Siding Legal in a California Fire Zone? WUI Code 504.5's 9 Walls
The WUI Code lists nine ways to build a compliant exterior wall in a fire zone — stucco, fiber-cement, and masonry pass as noncombustible; ordinary vinyl and untreated wood don't.
Glendale Denied 682 Homes With No Findings — HCD Calls It an HAA Breach
A city can't deny a compliant, affordable-inclusive housing project without evidence-backed written findings — and HCD says Glendale made none.
Which Title 24 edition applies? Your permit application date decides
In California, the code edition that governs your project is the one in effect the day you file a complete permit application — not the day the permit issues or the day you build.
La Puente Decertified: What Unlocks When HCD Pulls Compliance
HCD revoked La Puente's housing-element compliance for missing its February 12, 2025 rezone deadline — and the letter itemizes exactly what a city loses when it falls out of compliance.
Your City Can't Cap Your ADU Below 850 Square Feet
City after city has written an 800-square-foot or percent-of-the-main-house ADU cap that HCD says sits below the state's own size floor.
Defensible Space Is Now a Building-Permit Condition in Fire Zones
In a Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the new Wildland-Urban Interface Code makes defensible-space compliance a gate on your building permit's final sign-off — before Zone 0's separate rule even lands.
"We'll Hear It Later" Can Be an Illegal Moratorium — Just Ask Simi Valley
Indefinitely continuing a housing project's hearings is treated as a moratorium, which the Housing Crisis Act flatly bars.
Your Height Limit Isn't the Ceiling: How Density-Bonus Waivers Beat a City's "Better Design"
A city can't deny the waivers a density-bonus project needs by imagining a different project that wouldn't.
The 90-Day Trap: Why "Your Application Expired" Usually Doesn't Hold Up
A city can't run out your project's vesting by finding your application "incomplete" over and over — the 90-day resubmittal window restarts after each determination.
Who Owns Which Part of Title 24? The Agency Map Nobody Hands You
Title 24 is one code on the cover but thirteen books underneath, published by the Building Standards Commission and written by a rotating cast of state agencies — the January 2026 errata corrected ten of those documents.
No, Your City Can't Make You Live There: The ADU Rule That's Been Illegal Since 2024
The owner-occupancy line in your city's ADU ordinance may still be printed — but the state has told city after city it can't be enforced against a standard ADU.
Errata or supplement? How to actually read a Title 24 change
The January 2026 batch put a formal ten-book errata next to a separate Part 7 emergency supplement — two instruments, one effective date — and here's how to read either one in your codebook.
The plywood barrier recipe that skips the engineer (EBC 1504.1.4.1)
California's Existing Building Code gives contractors a prescriptive plywood-barrier recipe that skips the engineered design — and the January 2026 errata fixed a panel thickness that made one line of it impossible to build.
0.35, not 35: reading CALGreen's WS-2 water-use worksheet
CALGreen's WS-2 water-use worksheet carried a 35 gpm flow rate where it meant 0.35 — here's how the reduction credit and its lavatory rates actually work.
The zone crosswalk behind unvented-attic insulation (Table 1202.3.1)
The January 2026 errata added California Energy Code Zone 7 to Table 1202.3.1's IECC 3 (marine) row, fixing the lookup that tells a coastal unvented-attic designer which condensation-control percentage applies.
A2L machinery rooms: which Table 1102.3 column trips which detector
California's January 2026 Mechanical Code errata corrected the Table 1102.3 RCL and LFL values that drive A2L machinery-room detector setpoints and the 25%-of-LFL de-energize trip.
When 39,000 should be 390,000: the Table 5003.11.2 flammable-gas fix
California's January 2026 Fire Code errata corrected Table 5003.11.2's sprinklered flammable-gas limit from 39,000 to 390,000 cubic feet — and the 2:1 sprinkler math proves the fix is right.
Washington's housing bill won't change your Monday — but the money might
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act bundles roughly 50 provisions — but for California builders and cities, two are worth acting on now: competitive grant money for jurisdictions that streamline permitting, and a cheaper path for factory-built homes.
Which ASCE 41 edition applies to your California retrofit?
The January 2026 errata put three editions of ASCE/SEI 41 side by side in the Existing Building Code's Chapter 16 — here's which one your retrofit actually has to use.
Designing in Wood? The 2025 CRC Runs on NDS-2024
The January 2026 errata change-barred CRC Chapter 44's wood-design reference, confirming the 2025 code runs on NDS-2024 with its 2024 Supplement — the edition your reference values and connection calcs must come from.
Which edition am I designing to? The errata edited the standards chapters
The January 2026 errata reworked the referenced-standards chapters in three Title 24 books — the chapter where a bare standard name becomes the edition you're legally bound to.
Ember-resistant vents and eaves: the wildfire tests the code just edited
The January 2026 California Residential Code errata quietly amended the two ASTM wildfire test methods that decide whether your attic vents and eaves are legal in a Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
Solar roof-load rules moved: CBC 1607.22 (was 1607.14.3)
California's rooftop-PV live-load provisions moved from CBC 1607.14.3 to 1607.22 in the January 2026 errata — the load values didn't change, only the citation.
Stucco on the California coast: which counties now owe a rainscreen
The January 2026 errata rewrote R703.7.3 so a hard list of coastal counties — not a fuzzy climate label — decides whether your stucco job needs a 3/16-inch rainscreen behind the lath.
Group I-2 Is Risk Category IV: the 'Condition 2' Table Fix
California's Group I-2 occupancies have no 'Conditions,' so the January 2026 errata deleted the stray 'Condition 2' from the Risk Category IV table — leaving the whole class squarely in Risk Category IV.
Can an ADU's front door have a deadbolt? What CBC 1010.2.4 says
California's egress code bans manual bolts on doors in the path of travel — except on a dwelling or sleeping unit's single exit door, where a thumb-turn deadbolt is fine but a key-both-sides lock is not.
Door or glazed door? The 25% line that flips your Title 24 rules
The Energy Code splits openings at a hard line — under 25% glazed it's a door, 25% or more and it's a glazed door held to fenestration product requirements — and the January 2026 errata corrected that definition.
The A2L numbers California just fixed — and your heat-pump plan check
California's January 2026 Mechanical Code errata corrected the Table 1102.3 RCL and LFL values for A2L refrigerant blends — the same numbers that size a charge and set a detector's trip point.
Electric-Ready Wiring Is Code: What CEC 422.3 Means for New Homes
California's Electrical Code now requires new single-family and multifamily homes to be wired electric-ready — and the January 2026 errata fixed the Energy Code section numbers you design and plan-check against.
California has no Group I-2 'Condition' — the 2026 errata says so
In California the smoke compartment — not a model-code I-2 'Condition' — governs hospital design, and the January 2026 errata scrubbed the leftover Condition tags out of the Building and Fire Codes.
Reroofing in a fire hazard zone? CBC 705A no longer exists
The wildfire roofing rules didn't change this cycle — they moved out of the Building Code into the standalone WUI Code, so a permit citing CBC 705A now points at nothing.
Stop citing Government Code 65852.2 on ADU plans — it's 66313 now
California moved its entire ADU statute out of Government Code §65852.2, and the January 2026 errata corrected the stale definition cross-reference to §66313 in six Title 24 code books at once.
The above-ground pool "exemption" that doesn't exist in California
A widely repeated pool-industry belief — that a tall-walled above-ground pool with a removable ladder is its own barrier — has no basis in California's Swimming Pool Safety Act.
Every change in the January 2026 Title 24 errata — all 118, in one place
The complete, section-by-section list of the January 2026 errata to the 2025 California Building Standards Code — every change in all 10 affected books, with the items that move real review logic flagged.
June 2026: no new Title 24 errata — you're current
CrossBeam re-checked all 10 ICC-hosted Title 24 books. No new errata integrated since the January 2026 batch — your reviews are running against current code.
The code book had a typo that was off by 100x
California's 2025 codes shipped with bugs — including a CALGreen water-flow value off by 100x — and the state has now patched them mid-cycle with buff-colored replacement pages.
Your title block is citing sections that moved
The January 2026 Title 24 errata moved and re-pointed code sections that show up in general notes, PV details, and reroof notes — here's what to find and fix.
What landed in the January 2026 Title 24 errata
A field guide to the January 2026 batch: which books changed, what’s a harmless rename, and the handful of items that actually change how a plan gets reviewed.
The ADU sprinkler exemption is now written into the code itself
For years the ADU fire-sprinkler exemption lived only in the Government Code. The January 2026 errata restates it directly in the Residential Code — closing a common plan-check foot-fault.