CHAPTER REPORT
Summer 2025
UPCOMING EVENTS
o CALBO’s Education Week North (Burlingame) – September 29-October 2, 2025
o CALBO’s Education Week South (Costa Mesa) – October 27-30, 2025
o CALBO’s Permit Technician Career Advancement Academy – October 1 and October 29, 2025
(Education Weeks North and South)
o IAMPO’s 95th Annual Education & Business Conference (Palm Springs) – September 14-18, 2025
o ICC’s Annual Conference (Cleveland, Ohio) – October 19-22, 2025
o CALBO’s 64th Annual Business Meeting (Santa Clara) – April 12-16 2026
CALBO GOVERNANCE
· CALBO elected its 2025-2026 Board of Directors at the 63rd Annual Business Meeting in Hollywood on April 15, 2025. We welcome the following leaders for a new membership year.
§ President: Raj Patel, City of Pico Rivera
§ Vice President: Mike Brinkman, City of Newman
§ Secretary/Treasurer: Sara Retmier, City of Beaumont
§ Past President: Jeff Janes, JAS Pacific
§ Director: Doug Hughes, Town of Windsor
§ Director: Ian Livingston, City of Guadalupe
§ Director: John Weight, City of Los Angeles
§ Advisory: Chris Ochoa, California Building Industry Association
§ Advisory: Addison Smith, JAS Pacific
· Each ICC California Chapter has been assigned a CALBO Board Member liaison. Board Member liaisons serve as the conduit between local chapters and the CALBO Board. Please look for your CALBO Board Member liaison to be in touch with your chapter.
- Central Coast – Ian Livingston
- Citrus Belt – Sara Retmier
- Coachella Valley – Sara Retmier
- County Building Officials – Mike Brinkman & Jeff Janes
- East Bay – Mike Brinkman
- Foothill – Sara Retmier & Addison Smith
- High Desert – Addison Smith
- Los Angeles Basin – Raj Patel & John Weight
- Monterey Bay – Mike Brinkman
- Napa/Solano – Doug Hughes & Chris Ochoa
- NorCal FPOs – Mike Brinkman
- Orange Empire – Raj Patel & Addison Smith
- Peninsula – Mike Brinkman
- Redwood Empire – Doug Hughes
- Sacramento Valley – Doug Hughes & Chris Ochoa
- San Diego – Addison Smith & Raj Patel
- San Joaquin Valley – Jeff Janes
- Shasta/Cascade – Doug Hughes
- SoCal FPOs – Raj Patel & John Weight
- Ventura – Ian Livingston
- Yosemite – Mike Brinkman
· The CALBO Professional Engagement Committee hosted its sixth Virtual Career Expo on April 30, 2025 with Diablo Valley College, an event that provides an opportunity for CALBO members to reach out to the next generation of building safety professionals. This annual event had its highest attendance with over one hundred and fifty attendees. The committee is planning to expand this event with other California Community Colleges.
· The CALBO Access Committee has created a new guidance document entitled Circulation Paths at Vehicular Traffic Areas based upon the 2022 California Building Code. CALBO thanks the committee for their efforts to provide informative guidance to our community.
· Future ABM plans are underway: Santa Clara – April 12-16, 2026 and Indian Wells – April 26-30, 2027.
· CALBO thanks the many contributors, presenters, and sponsors who came together to ensure the success of our 63rd Annual Business Meeting in Hollywood. The event was a tremendous success and we hope those who attended left professionally fulfilled.
· The Western Pacific League of Building Officials (WPLBO) will meet to make endorsements for the ICC Board of Directors in August. Any individuals seeking CALBO’s endorsement for the ICC Board should reach out to Matt Wheeler @ [email protected].
EDUCATION & TRAINING
· CALBO Education Weeks are open for registration. We will return to Burlingame (North) September 29-October 2 and Costa Mesa (South) October 27-30. In-person and virtual attendance is available at both venues.
· All courses at Education Weeks will be updated to reflect the significant changes to the codes that will become enforceable January 1, 2026.
· For those interested in volunteering at the Education Weeks, please contact the CALBO office at [email protected] for more information about serving as a moderator and/or facilitator. This is a great opportunity to get involved and attend a training for free!
· CALBO has again collaborated with ICC to offer publications for the upcoming code change year; 2025 California Building Code and 2025 California Residential Code. Both publications will be jointly produced. The publications will be available in late Summer at the ICC Bookstore.
· The CALBO Training Institute (CTI) is seeking new instructors and course developers. CTI will help you develop your speaking and listening skills, provide you an opportunity to co-teach with a seasoned instructor to gain hands-on experience in the classroom, learn how to create and implement a course plan, and utilize your knowledge to become a subject matter expert. Look for more information in the 2025-26 CALBO Training Catalog. Contact Lauren Valdez at [email protected] with questions.
· The Permit Technician Career Advancement Academy will launch its third year at the Education Weeks in both Burlingame and Costa Mesa. Academy registration will be available in June 2025. Contact the CALBO Office at [email protected] with questions and to be added to the waitlist.
· The next Building Officials Leadership Academy will take place in Spring 2026 in Sacramento. Contact the CALBO Office at [email protected] with questions and to be added to the waitlist.
· CALBO has laid significant groundwork to launch OnDemand training. Filming will take place in the months ahead with a launch in Q4 of this year. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting new offering.
· CALBO continues to host year-round live two-hour webinars covering topics of accessibility, permit technicians, energy, electrical, and much more! Registration is now open for webinar opportunities through August 2025 with more titles released soon.
· Ms. Susan Dowty continues to work with the CALBO team as a special consultant to our community. Susan is assisting with curriculum development, industry outreach, and CALBO’s efforts to launch on-demand training for our members. We are honored to continue to work with Susan and look forward to her many continued contributions to our community.
· Don’t forget to bookmark the CALBO Calendar (www.calbo.org/calendar) for up-to-date trainings and event dates, including monthly live webinars. Many courses have been released through April 2025.
CALBO PARTNERS
- CALBO is extremely grateful for the continued partnerships of our CALBO Partners. Their support is invaluable to us and plays a significant role in our ability to advance our goal in becoming a stronger California.
- CALBO would like to recognize the following companies for their participation in the 2024-205 CALBO Partner Program. Thank you for your continued support and collaboration!
· Gold Sponsors: 4LEAF, Inc., Bureau Veritas North America, CSG Consultants, Inc., Optimum Seismic, and Willdan Engineering
· Silver Sponsor: Clariti, Energy Code Ace, and JAS Pacific
· Bronze Sponsors: International Code Council, Interwest Consulting Group, Shums Coda Associates, Simpson Strong-Tie, and TRB + Associates.
- CALBO successfully launched the CALBO Partner Program in 2018 which offered annual packages granting special access to CALBO’s Education Weeks and Annual Business Meeting Sponsor and Exhibitor Program. Due to its popularity, CALBO is once again offering exclusive sponsorship opportunities to its members. Sponsors can make one payment and streamline their participation in these events for the remainder of the year. Sponsorships run with the membership year: April 1 – March 31. If you would like to receive information on our 2025-2026 program, please contact Anne Jungwirth ([email protected]).
- CALBO is looking forward in having over two dozen different industry partners join us at the 2025 Education Weeks this Fall. Registration will be available in June 2025. Please contact Anne Jungwirth ([email protected]) for more information.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
· CALBO is offering monthly On-Demand video legislative presentations, located on the CALBO website under Legislative Presentations. This is a great resource to share with all members highlighting key bills affecting the building safety industry.
· CALBO’s positions are available in real time on CALBO’s website.
· In May, CALBO hosted our annual Leadership and Advocacy Day. Over two dozen CALBO members met with 42 state legislative offices to discuss the building industry and current bills of interest. We look forward in hosting Leadership and Advocacy Day again in May 2026.
LEGISLATIVE REPORT/BILLS OF INTEREST
Full summaries of each bill are available in real time on CALBO’s website
Here is a listing and summation of all bills currently being tracked by CALBO:
AB 1 (Connolly – D): Residential property insurance: wildfire risk
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: Current Department of Insurance regulations prohibit an insurer from using a rating plan that does not take into account and reflect specified wildfire risk mitigation, including property-level building hardening measures. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, to consider whether or not to update its regulations to include additional building hardening measures for property-level mitigation efforts and communitywide wildfire mitigation programs. As part of this consideration, the bill would require the department to consult with specified agencies to identify additional building hardening measures to consider, as well as to develop and implement a public participation process during the evaluation. (Based on 12/02/2024 text).
AB 6 (Ward – D): Residential Developments: building standards: review
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: The California Building Standards Law establishes the California Building Standards Commission (commission) within the Department of General Services and sets forth its powers and duties, including approval and adoption of building standards and codification of those standards into the California Building Standards Code (code). Current law requires the commission to publish, or cause to be published, editions of the code in its entirety once every 3 years. Current law requires the building standards and rules and regulations to impose substantially the same requirements as are contained in the most recent editions of specified international or uniform industry codes, including the International Residential Code of the International Code Council. Current law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (department) in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and requires the department to submit an annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature on the operations and accomplishments during the previous fiscal year of the housing programs administered by the department. This bill would require the department to convene a working group no later than December 31, 2026, to research and consider identifying and recommending amendments to state building standards allowing residential developments to be built under the requirements of the California Residential Code, as specified. The bill would require the department, no later than December 31, 2027, 2028, to provide a one-time report of its findings to the Legislature in the annual report described above. The bill, if the report identifies and recommends amendments to building standards, would require the department to research, develop, and consider proposing the standards for adoption by the commission, as specified. (Based on 05/05/2025 text)
AB 39 (Zbur – D): Local Electrification Planning Act
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive general plan for the city’s or county’s physical development that includes various elements, including, among others, a land use element that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land in specified categories, and a circulation element that identifies the location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities, as specified. This bill, the Local Electrification Planning Act, would require each city, county, or city and county, on or after January 1, 2027, but no later than January 1, 2030, to prepare and adopt a specified plan, or integrate a plan in the next adoption or revision of the general plan, that includes locally based goals, objectives, policies, and feasible implementation measures that include, among other things, the identification of opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging and other zero-emission vehicle fueling infrastructure, as specified, and includes policies and implementation measures that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for equitable and prioritized investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups. (Based on 04/24/2025 text).
AB 226 (Calderon – D): California FAIR Plan Association
CALBO Position: Support
Status: Passed through Assembly, Referred to Senate Building, Professions, and Economic Development and Insurance
Summary: The California FAIR Plan Association is a joint reinsurance association in which all insurers licensed to write basic property insurance participate in administering a program for the equitable apportionment of basic property insurance for persons who are unable to obtain that coverage through normal channels. Current law requires the association’s plan of operation and any amendment to the plan to be approved by the Insurance Commissioner. Current law establishes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank and authorizes it to issue bonds to provide funds for the payment of costs of a project for a participating party or upon request by a state entity. This bill would authorize the association, if granted prior approval from the commissioner, to request the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank to issue bonds, and would authorize the bank to issue those bonds to finance the costs of claims, to increase liquidity and claims-paying capacity of the association, and to refund bonds previously issued for that purpose. The bill would specify that the association is a participating party and that financing all or any portion of the costs of claims or to increase liquidity and the claims-paying capacity of the association is a project for bond purposes. The bill would authorize the bank to loan the proceeds of issued bonds to the association, and would authorize the association to enter into a loan agreement with the bank and to enter into a line of credit agreement with an institutional lender or broker-dealer. (Based on 01/09/2025 text).
AB 253 (Ward – D): California Residential Private Permitting Review Act: residential building permits.
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Passed through Assembly, Referred to Senate Local Government and Housing
Summary: Current law authorizes a county’s or city’s governing body to prescribe fees for permits, certificates, or other forms or documents required or authorized under the State Housing Law. This bill, the California Residential Private Permitting Review Act, would require a county’s or city’s building department to prepare a residential building permit fee schedule and post the schedule on the county’s or city’s internet website, if the county or city prescribes residential building permit fees. (Based on 03/13/2025 text)
AB 261 (Quirk-Silva – D): Fire safety: fire hazard severity zones: State Fire Marshal.
CALBO Position: Support
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: Current law requires the State Fire Marshal to periodically review designated and rated zones and, as necessary, revise zones or their ratings or repeal the designation of zones. Current law also requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state that are not state responsibility areas as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas, and to periodically review and make recommendations relative to very high fire hazard severity zones. This bill would, as applied to both state responsibility areas and lands that are not state responsibility areas, authorize the State Fire Marshal, in periods between the State Fire Marshal’s review of areas of the state for recommendations regarding an area’s fire hazard severity zone, to confer with entities, including, but not limited to, public agencies, tribes, nonprofit organizations, project applicants, and members of the public, on actions that may impact the degree of fire hazard in an area or the area’s recommended fire hazard severity zone designation. The bill would authorize the State Fire Marshal to provide a written response to an entity on actions that may impact the degree of fire hazard, and would require this written response to be posted on the State Fire Marshal’s internet website. (Based on 03/26/2025 text).
AB 306 (Schultz – D): Building regulations: state building standards.
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Passed through Assembly, Referred to Senate Housing & Local Government
Summary: Current law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (department) in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. The California Building Standards Law establishes the California Building Standards Commission (commission) within the Department of General Services. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code (code). The State Housing Law establishes statewide construction and occupancy standards for buildings used for human habitation. Current law requires, among other things, the building standards adopted and submitted by the department for approval by the commission, as specified, to be adopted by reference, with certain exceptions. Current law authorizes any city or county to make changes in those building standards that are published in the code, including to green building standards. Current law requires the governing body of a city or county, before making modifications or changes to those green building standards, to make an express finding that those modifications or changes are reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. This bill would, from June 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, prohibit a city or county from making changes that are applicable to residential units to the above-described building standards unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes or modifications necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety. (Based on 05/13/2025 text)
AB 368 (Ward – D): Building Standards, passive housing standards .
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: Current law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation, climate control system, and other building design and construction standards, and energy and water conservation design standards, for new residential and new nonresidential buildings to reduce the wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption of energy, as specified. This bill would require the commission to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of passive house energy efficiency standards by California climate zone, using commission-adopted metrics such as long-term system cost. The bill would require the commission to evaluate the use of the 2 passive house energy models currently required for passive house certification in its analysis and the cost-effectiveness of passive house construction compared to existing construction, as specified. (Based on 04/07/2025 text).
AB 389 (Wallis – R): Personal Income Tax: tax credits: Fire-resistant home improvements.
CALBO Position: Support
Status: Referred to Assembly Revenue and Tax
Summary: The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2025, and before January 1, 2030, to a qualified taxpayer, as defined, in an amount equal to 40% of the taxpayer’s qualified expenses, as defined, not to exceed $400 per taxable year, or $2,000 cumulatively. (Based on 04/07/2025 text)
AB 434 (DeMaio – R): Battery energy storage facilities.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Utilities & Energy
Summary: Current law authorizes a person proposing an eligible facility, including an energy storage system that is capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy, to file with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission an application for certification for the site and related facility, as provided. Current law provides that the certification issued by the commission is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by a state, local, or regional agency for the use of the site and related facility. This bill would exclude energy storage facilities that use batteries as a storage medium from the above-described provisions. This bill would prohibit, until January 1, 2028, a public agency from authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility, as defined. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt guidelines and minimum standards for the construction of a battery energy storage facility to prevent fires and protect nearby communities from any fire hazard posed by the facility. (Based on 04/02/2025 text).
AB 507 (Haney – D): Adaptive reuse: streamlining : incentives
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the development of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. That law allows a development proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a specified streamlined, ministerial approval process not subject to a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies certain objective planning standards, including that the development is a multifamily housing development that contains two or more residential units. This bill would deem an adaptive reuse project a use by right in all zones, regardless of the zoning of the site, and subject to a streamlined, ministerial review process if the project meets specified requirements, subject to specified exceptions. In this regard, an adaptive reuse project, in order to qualify for the streamlined, ministerial review process, would be required to be proposed for an existing building that is less than 50 years old or meets certain requirements regarding the preservation of historic resources, including the signing of an affidavit declaring that the project will comply with the United States Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation for, among other things, the preservation of exterior facades of a building that face a street, or receive federal or state historic rehabilitation tax credits, as specified. The bill would require an adaptive reuse project to meet specified affordability criteria. In this regard, the bill would require an adaptive reuse project for rental housing to include either 8% of the unit for very low income households and 5% of the units for extremely low income households or 15% of the units for lower income households. (Based on 02/10/2025 text)
AB 557 (McKinnor – D): California Factory-Built Housing Law
CALBO Position: Neutral
Status: Referred to Assembly Local Government
Summary: The California Factory-Built Housing Law requires all factory-built housing after a specified date that is sold or offered for sale to first users within the state to bear insignia of approval issued by the department, deems that housing to comply with the requirements of all ordinances or regulations enacted by any city, city and county, county, or district that may be applicable to the construction of housing, as specified, and prohibits a city, city and county, county, and district from requiring submittal of plans for any factory-built housing manufactured, or to be manufactured pursuant to these provisions, as specified. Current law requires the department to provide by regulation for the qualification and disqualification of design approval agencies to perform approval of factory-built housing plans and specifications and makes approval by these agencies the equivalent of department approval. The law provides that any person who violates any of these provisions and other specified law is guilty of a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill would require plans or specifications of factory-built housing approved pursuant to these provisions to be approved by unit serial number and would authorize the approved plans or specifications to be used in subsequent development projects unless building standards relating to factory-built housing are modified, as specified. The bill would require the department and the design approval agencies to limit their review to the portions of a plan or specification that has not already received approval, as specified. (Based on 04/24/2025 text)
AB 632 (Hart – D): Local ordinance: administrative fines or penalties.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee
Summary: Current law authorizes the legislative body of a local agency, as defined, to, by ordinance, make any violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty. Current law requires a local agency to set forth, by ordinance, the administrative procedures that govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative review of those administrative fines or penalties, as specified. This bill would, for specified administrative fines or penalties, authorize a local agency to file a certified copy of a final administrative order or decision that directs payment of the administrative fine or penalty with the clerk of the superior court of any county, as specified, and require the clerk to enter judgment immediately in conformity with the decision or order. The bill would also authorize a local agency to, by ordinance, establish a procedure to collect administrative fines or penalties by lien upon the parcel of land on which the violation occurred if the ordinance requires service of a specified notice. (Based on 05/07/2025 text)
AB 660 (Wilson – D): Planning and Zone Law: postenitlement phase permits.
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: The Planning and Zoning Law requires a local agency, as defined, to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the information required from any applicant for a postentitlement phase permit, as defined. Current law also establishes time limits for completing reviews regarding whether an application for a postentitlement phase permit is complete and compliant, and whether to approve or deny an application. If a local agency finds that a complete application is noncompliant, existing law requires the local agency to provide the applicant with a list of items that are noncompliant and a description of how the application can be remedied by the applicant within specified time limits. Current law requires the time limits to be tolled, if the local agency requires review of the application by an outside entity, until the outside entity completes the review and returns the application to the local agency, as specified. This bill would prohibit the local agency from requiring or requesting more than 2 plan check and specification reviews in connection with an application for a building permit, as part of its review, except as specified. The bill, if a local agency finds that a complete application is noncompliant, would prohibit a local agency from requesting or requiring any action or inaction as a result of a building inspection undertaken to assess compliance with the applicable building permit standards that would represent a deviation from a previously approved building plan or similar approval for the building permit, except as specified. (Based on 04/24/2025 text)
AB 671 (Wicks – D): Accelerated restaurant building plan approval
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: The California Building Standards Law establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Department of General Services. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code. Current law authorizes local governments to enact ordinances or regulations that make building standards amendments to the California Building Standards Code, as specified. This bill would establish a streamlined approval process for a local permit for a tenant improvement, as defined, relating to a restaurant. In this regard, the bill would require a local building or permitting department, upon the request and at the expense of the permit applicant, to allow a qualified professional certifier, defined as a licensed architect or engineer who meets certain requirements, to certify that the plans and specifications of the tenant improvement comply with applicable building, health, and safety codes, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (Based on 04/24/2025 text)
AB 738 (Tangipa – R): Energy: building standards: photovoltaic requirements
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: Current law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation, climate control system, and other building design and construction standards that increase efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings, and energy and water conservation design standards for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. Pursuant to this authority, the commission has adopted regulations requiring solar-ready buildings and for the installation of photovoltaic systems meeting certain requirements for low-rise residential buildings built on or after January 1, 2020. This bill would, until January 1, 2028, require residential construction intended to repair, restore, or replace a residential building damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in an area in which a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor to comply only with the requirements regarding photovoltaic systems pursuant to those regulations, if any, that were in effect at the time the damaged or destroyed building was originally constructed and would prohibit that construction from being required to comply with any additional or conflicting photovoltaic system requirements in effect at the time of repair, restoration, or replacement. (Based on 04/09/2025 text)
AB 750 (Qurik-Silva – D): Homeless shelters: safety regulations
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: The State Housing Law, among other things, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations for the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare of the occupant and the public relating to specified residential structures, as provided, which apply throughout the state. Current law requires a city or county that receives a complaint from an occupant of a homeless shelter, as defined, or an agent of an occupant, alleging that a homeless shelter is substandard to inspect the homeless shelter, as specified. Current law requires a city or county that determines a homeless shelter is substandard to issue a notice to correct the violation to the owner or operator of the homeless shelter, as specified. Current law makes the owner or operator of a homeless shelter responsible for correcting any violation cited pursuant to these provisions. This bill would require a city or county to additionally perform an annual inspection of every homeless shelter located in its jurisdiction. The bill would authorize the above-described inspection or annual inspection to be announced or unannounced. The bill would require homeless shelters to prominently display notice of an occupant’s rights, the process for reporting a complaint alleging a homeless shelter is substandard, and prescribed information, including specified contact information. The bill would require the homeless shelter to provide the same notice in writing to new occupants upon intake. (Based on 04/09/2025 text)
AB 920 (Caloza – D): Permit Streamlining Act: housing development projects: centralized application portal.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Local Government
Summary: The Permit Streamlining Act requires a public agency that is the lead agency for a development project to approve or disapprove that project within specified time periods. Current law requires a city or county that has an internet website to, among other things, make a fee estimate tool that the public can use to calculate an estimate of fees and exactions for a proposed housing development project available on its internet website. This bill would require a city or county with a population of 150,000 or more persons that has an internet website to make a centralized application portal available on its internet website to applicants for housing development projects, as prescribed. The bill would, notwithstanding that provision, authorize a city or county described above to make a centralized application portal available on its internet website no later than January 1, 2030, if the legislative body of the city or county, on or before January 1, 2028, takes certain action, including initiating a procurement process to make a centralized application portal available on its internet website. The bill would require the centralized application portal to allow for tracking of the status of an application. (Based on 04/24/2025 text)
AB 1143 (Bennett – D): State Fire Marshal: home hardening certification program.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Appropriations
Summary: Would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee to develop a home hardening certification program that identifies home hardening measures, including defensible space, that can be implemented during renovation or property improvement projects, or both, to substantially reduce the risk of loss during a fire and bring existing building stock into alignment with state building standards for wildland-urban interface areas. The bill would authorize the Office of the State Fire Marshal to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of developing the home hardening certification program. (Based on 04/23/2025 text)
AB 1206 (Harabedian – R): Single-Family and multifamily housing units: preapproved plans.
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Referred to Assembly Local Government
Summary: Would require each local agency, as defined and by July 1, 2026, to develop a program for the preapproval of single-family and multifamily residential housing plans, whereby the local agency accepts single-family and multifamily plan submissions for preapproval and approves or denies the preapproval applications, as specified. The bill would authorize a local agency to charge a fee to an applicant for the preapproval of a single-family or multifamily residential housing plan, as specified. The bill would require the local agency to post preapproved single-family or multifamily residential housing plans and the contact information of the applicant on the local agency’s internet website. The bill would require a local agency to either approve or deny an application for a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit, both as defined, within 30 days if the lot meets certain conditions and the application utilizes either a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit plan preapproved within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle or a plan that is identical to a plan used in an application for a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit approved by the local agency within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle. The bill would also provide that its provisions do not prevent a local agency from voluntarily accepting or admitting additional plans at higher densities in additional zoning districts into the preapproved housing plan program, at the local agency’s discretion. (Based on 03/27/2025 text)
AB 1238 (DeMaio – R): California Energy Consumer Freedom Act.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Assembly Utilities & Energy
Summary: Current law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement motor vehicle emission standards, in-use performance standards, and motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants and sources of air pollution that the state board has found necessary, cost effective, and technologically feasible, as specified. Pursuant to its authority, the state board has adopted regulations, known as Advanced Clean Cars II, which reduce emissions from passenger cars, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles sold in California, including a requirement that 100% of new vehicle sales be zero emission by 2035. This bill, the California Energy Consumer Freedom Act, would prohibit state agencies and local governments from adopting or enforcing a rule, regulation, resolution, or ordinance that directly or indirectly results in prohibiting the use of gas appliances in residential or nonresidential buildings, and the buying, selling, or use of gasoline-powered vehicles or equipment. (Based on 03/27/25 text).
SB 9 (Arreguin – D): Accessory Dwelling Units: owner-occupant requirements.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Senate Housing Committee
Summary: The Planning and Zoning Law provides for the creation of an accessory dwelling unit by local ordinance, or, if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval, in accordance with specified standards. The law requires a local agency to submit an accessory dwelling unit ordinance to the Department of Housing and Community Development within 60 days after adoption. The law authorizes the department to submit written findings to a local agency as to whether the ordinance complies with the standards. If the department finds that the ordinance does not comply with the standards, the law requires the department to provide a local agency reasonable time, no longer than 30 days, to respond to its findings. If the local agency does not amend its ordinance in response to those findings or does not adopt a resolution with findings explaining the reason the ordinance complies with the standards and addressing the department’s findings, the law requires the department to notify the local agency and authorizes the department to notify the Attorney General that the local agency is in violation of state law. This bill would invalidate the ordinance if the local agency fails to submit a copy of the ordinance to the department within 60 days of adoption or fails to respond to the department’s findings that the ordinance does not comply with the standards within 30 days, as described above. (Based on 05/08/25 text).
SB 79 (Wiener – D): Planning and zoning: housing development: transit-oriented development.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Senate Appropriations
Summary: Current law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency. Current law defines “surplus land” for these purposes to mean land owned in fee simple by any local agency for which the local agency’s governing body takes formal action declaring that the land is surplus and is not necessary for the agency’s use. Current law defines “agency’s use” for these purposes to include land that is being used for agency work or operations, as provided. Current law exempts from this definition of “agency’s use” certain commercial or industrial uses, except that in the case of a local agency that is a district, except a local agency whose primary purpose or mission is to supply the public with a transportation system, “agency’s use” may include commercial or industrial uses or activities, as specified. This bill would additionally include land leased to support public transit operations in the definition of “agency’s use,” as described above. (Based on 05/13/2025 text).
SB 282 (Wiener – D): Residential heat pump systems: water heaters and HVAC:: installations.
CALBO Position: Oppose
Status: Referred to Senate Appropriations
Summary: Current law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, on or before January 1, 2019, in consultation with the Contractors State License Board, local building officials, and other stakeholders, to approve a plan that promotes compliance with specified regulations relating to building energy efficiency standards in the installation of central air-conditioning and heat pumps, as specified. Current law authorizes the commission to adopt regulations to increase compliance with permitting and inspection requirements for central air-conditioning and heat pumps, and associated sales and installations, consistent with the above-described plan. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to adopt and offer asynchronous inspections for installations of residential heat pump water heater or heat pump HVAC systems, as defined, that do not require a licensed contractor and building inspector to be simultaneously present during the inspection. The bill would authorize a building inspector to contact the licensed contractor who performed the installation by telephone call or real-time video conferencing during their inspection, and, if the building inspector determines during an asynchronous inspection that there is an issue with an installation of the heat pump water heater or heat pump HVAC system and that the licensed contractor who performed the installation must be present to perform tests or cure the installation, to require the licensed contractor who performed the installation to schedule an additional inspection in which the building inspector and the licensed contractor who performed the installation are required to be simultaneously present during the additional inspection. (Based on 4/29/2025 text)
SB 517 (Niello – R): Home improvement contract requirements: subcontractors
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Senate Appropriations
Summary: The Contractors State License Law, defines and regulates the activities of contractors and provides for their licensure, regulation, and discipline by the Contractors State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Current law requires specific provisions and requirements for home improvement contracts, as defined. Current law governing home improvement contracts specifies that the failure of a licensee, their agent or salesperson, or a person subject to the Contractors State License Law to provide certain information, notices, and disclosures in the contract, or to otherwise fail to comply with those provisions is cause for discipline. This bill would also specify that, for purposes of administrative discipline under the Contractors State License Law, the prime or direct contractor is responsible for completion of the project in accordance with the home improvement contract, plans, and specifications. The bill would also provide that this prime or direct contractor responsibility does not preclude administrative discipline against any subcontractor or home improvement salesperson on a home improvement contract for a violation of that law. (Based upon 5/1/25 text).
SB 606 (Becker – D): Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program: reporting requirements: functional zero unsheltered.
CALBO Position: Support
Status: Referred to Senate Appropriations
Summary: Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. This bill would enact the Functional Zero Unsheltered Act, which, beginning with round 6 of the HHAP program, would require an applicant to provide information relating to its efforts to address homelessness in its jurisdiction, including an assessment of what would be required for the applicant to achieve functional zero unsheltered, which the bill would define as sufficient housing options of all types to accommodate a jurisdiction’s unsheltered, chronically homeless population based on its most recent homeless point-in-time count, and information regarding the applicant’s implementation of local homeless housing incentives, as provided. The bill would require, as part of the assessment of progress toward functional zero unsheltered, applicants to include a financial model assessing the needs for investment in prescribed areas and further analysis of, among other things, funding programs that provide housing or services to persons experiencing homelessness. The bill would also require an applicant to demonstrate its efforts to include small cities, as defined, in its Regionally Coordinated Homeless Action Plan, as specified, and provide the most recent homeless point-in-time counts of small cities in the applicant’s jurisdiction. (Based upon 4/23/25 text).
SB 655 (Stern – D): Residential building standards: indoor temperature.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Senate Housing
Summary: Current law requires all state agencies that adopt or propose to adopt a building standard to submit the building standard to the commission for approval and adoption. Current law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. Current law, the State Housing Law, requires the department to propose the adoption, amendment, or repeal of building standards to the California Building Standards Commission and to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations for the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare of the occupant and the public relating to specified residential structures, as provided, which apply throughout the state. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to research, develop, and propose for adoption by the California Building Standards Commission for the next triennial update of the California Building Standards Code that occurs on or after January 1, 2026, standards that may include, among other things, the use of mechanical ventilation, to achieve a maximum safe indoor air temperature of 82 degrees Fahrenheit for newly constructed residential dwelling units. (Based upon 4/21/25 text).
SB 698 (McNerney – D): Residential building standards: indoor temperature.
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Senate Appropriations – Suspense File
Summary: Current law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, local publicly owned electric utilities, and interested members of the public, to establish eligibility criteria for solar energy systems receiving ratepayer-funded incentives, as specified. Current law requires the Energy Commission to adopt guidelines for solar energy systems receiving ratepayer-funded incentives, as provided. This bill would authorize the Energy Commission to establish distributed energy resource equipment lists with rating standards for equipment and components for solar energy systems, distributed energy storage systems, and electric vehicle service equipment, as specified. (Based upon 4/9/25 text).
SB 757 (Richardson – D): Local government: nuisance abatement
CALBO Position: Watch
Status: Referred to Senate Judiciary
Summary: Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to establish a procedure to use a nuisance abatement lien or a special assessment to collect abatement costs and related administrative costs. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2035, the legislative body of a city or county to also collect fines for specified violations related to the nuisance abatement using a nuisance abatement lien or a special assessment. The bill would require any fines or penalties related to nuisance abatement that are recovered pursuant to these provisions to be used for specified purposes relating to supporting local enforcement of state and local building and fire code standards. This bill contains other related provisions. (Based upon 5/8/25 text.)
