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. We read both and write up what actually changed and what it means for getting housing built.
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.
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.