Building regulations: state building standards.

Assembly Members Schultz and Rivas have proposed a six-year pause on local modifications to residential building standards in California, aiming to address the state's housing crisis through increased regulatory consistency. The legislation would prohibit cities and counties from altering state-adopted building standards for residential units between October 2025 and June 2031, except under specific circumstances.

The bill allows local modifications only when deemed necessary by the California Building Standards Commission as emergency health and safety measures, when related to home hardening requirements, or when substantially equivalent to standards in effect before September 2025. Local governments may also modify standards to implement pre-approved general plans that permit mixed-fuel residential construction while incentivizing all-electric options as part of greenhouse gas reduction strategies.

During this period, the Commission must reject any proposed local modifications to residential building standards that do not meet these criteria. The legislation also expands the definition of "model code" to include the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code and exempts residential building standards from the standard 18-month code adoption cycle unless they qualify under the specified exceptions.

The bill maintains existing building standards for future residential units based on previously approved model home designs within the same jurisdiction, unless the design substantially changes or 10 years have passed since initial approval. Changes to the building code between triennial publications would be limited to editorial clarifications, emergency standards, and specific amendments by the State Fire Marshal related to wildland-urban interface requirements.