Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

Periodically, as the work of construction or alteration progresses and whenever the enforcement agency requires, except as exempt under Section 16010, the inspector on the work and the contractor shall each make a report, duly verified by him or her, showing in his or her own per…

The State Architect shall do all of the following: (a) Observe the implementation and administration of this chapter. (b) Establish and adopt, in consultation with the League of Cities, County Supervisors Association, and California Building Officials, those regulations deemed ne…

Following completion of construction of a state-owned or state-occupied essential services building, the State Fire Marshal may conduct regular inspections of those buildings for compliance with building standards relating to fire and panic safety.

Any person who willfully violates this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor.

There is continued in existence in the Government Operations Agency a California Building Standards Commission consisting of the Secretary of Government Operations and 10 members appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the Senate.

(a) The appointed members of the commission shall be selected from, and represent the public, design professions, the building and construction industry, local government building officials, fire and safety officials, and labor in accordance with the following: (b) Four members s…

The Secretary of Government Operations or the secretary’s representative shall serve as the chair of the commission. The commission shall elect a vice chair annually from among its members.

(a) The term of office of members of the commission shall be four years and they shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of their successors, not to exceed 180 days after the term is expired. (b) The terms of members of the commission shall be staggered based on…

The members of the commission shall serve without compensation. Members of the commission who are not state officers shall be paid their actual necessary travel expenses.

The commission shall appoint an Executive Director of the California Building Standards Commission, who shall hold office at the pleasure of the commission. The executive director shall make public the processes of the commission. The executive director shall appoint, in accordan…

(a) There is, in the office of the executive director, a coordinating council. The membership of the council shall consist of the executive director, who shall serve as chairperson, and representatives appointed by the State Director of Public Health, the Director of the Office o…

The commission may appoint from the design professions, the building and construction industry, the affected general public, and interested governmental agencies, appropriate advisory panels to advise the commission and its staff with respect to building standards. The persons ap…

(a) Each state agency adopting or proposing adoption of a model code, national standard, or specification shall reference the most recent edition of applicable model codes, national standards, or specifications. (b) Each state agency adopting or proposing adoption of a model code…

Building standards adopted or approved by the commission shall incorporate the text of the model codes, applicable national specifications, or published standards, in whole or in part, only by reference, with appropriate additions or deletions therefrom. The commission may elect …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), administrative regulations adopted by state agencies that apply directly to the implementation or enforcement of building standards shall be forwarded to the California Building Standards Commission for approval. Each regulatio…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the commission shall receive proposed building standards from state agencies for consideration in an 18-month code adoption cycle. The commission shall develop regulations setting forth the procedures for the 18-month adoption cycle. The…

This chapter does not apply to any of the following buildings: (a) Any building not intended primarily for occupancy by human beings and located entirely outside the limits of a city or city and county. (b) Any building designed and constructed for use exclusively as a dwelling b…

Any city, city and county, or county may establish by ordinance construction standards higher than those established by this chapter. (Enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.)

The building department of every city and city and county shall enforce this chapter within the city or city and county. “Building department” means the department, bureau, or officer charged with the enforcement of laws or ordinances regulating the erection, construction, or alt…

The department, officer, or officers of a county who are charged with the enforcement of ordinances or laws regulating the erection, construction, or alteration of buildings shall enforce this chapter within the county but outside the territorial limits of any city. (Enacted by S…

Any city or county may, by ordinance, designate any department or officer, other than a department or officer mentioned in this chapter, to enforce all or any part of this chapter. (Enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.)

In any city where there is no department or officer charged with or designated for the enforcement of this chapter, the appropriate department, officer, or officers of the county in which such city is located shall enforce this chapter. In any county where there is no department …

The Division of Codes and Standards of the Department of Housing and Community Development may enforce any provision of this chapter or any building standards published in the State Building Standards Code which it finds is being violated in a building hereafter constructed, afte…

No person shall construct a building subject to this chapter unless he has obtained a written permit for that purpose from the appropriate enforcement agency.

Any person desiring a permit shall file an application therefor with the appropriate enforcement agency, which application shall contain: (a) The name and address of the applicant. (b) A detailed written statement of the work to be done.

The applicant shall file with his application: (a) A complete set of the plans of the work proposed. (b) A set of specifications describing the materials to be used in the work. (c) The fee prescribed for filing an application for a building permit.

The governing body of any county or city, including a charter city, may adopt an ordinance prescribing fees for filing applications pursuant to this chapter, but the fees shall not exceed the amount reasonably required by the local enforcement agency to issue permits pursuant to …

Where work for which a permit is required by this chapter is started or proceeded with prior to the obtaining of such permit, the fees prescribed in Section 19132.3 shall be doubled. The payment of such double fee does not relieve any person from fully complying with the requirem…

The enforcement agency shall determine the cost of the work to be done for which the applicant desires a permit, and shall be guided by approved estimating practices. The enforcement agency shall keep a permanent account of all fees received under this chapter, the names of the p…

The United States, the State of California, school or other districts, counties and cities shall not be required to pay a fee for filing an application for a building permit pursuant to this chapter.

The enforcement agency shall examine the application, plans, and specifications filed with it by an applicant, and if it appears that the work to be done will not result in a violation of this chapter, shall approve them and issue a permit to the applicant.

The enforcement agency may approve changes in any application, plans, or specifications previously approved by it.

The enforcement agency may revoke any permit if the permittee refuses, fails, or neglects to comply with any provision of this chapter, or if it finds that any false statement or misrepresentation was made in the application, plans, or specifications filed by the permittee.

The work authorized by a permit shall be performed only in accordance with the application, plans, and specifications filed by the permittee.

The issuance of a permit does not constitute approval of any violation of any provision of this chapter.

In any case where a building subject to this chapter is also subject to any permit provisions of the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the provision of the State Housing Law, it shall not be necessary to make duplicate filings of plans and specifications hereunder, to…

Every building or structure and every portion thereof shall be designed and constructed to resist stresses produced by lateral forces as provided in the State Building Standards Code. In areas where the Division of Codes and Standards of the Department of Housing and Community De…

The Legislature finds and declares that: (a) Because of the generally acknowledged fact that California will experience moderate to severe earthquakes in the foreseeable future, increased efforts to reduce earthquake hazards should be encouraged and supported. (b) Tens of thousan…

(a) Each city, city and county, or county, may assess the earthquake hazard in its jurisdiction and identify buildings subject to its jurisdiction as being potentially hazardous to life in the event of an earthquake. Potentially hazardous buildings include the following: (1) Unre…

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 19100 or 19150 or any other provision of law, the governing body of any city, city and county, or county may, by ordinance, establish building seismic retrofit standards applicable to the seismic retrofit of any buildings identified p…

Any local ordinance adopted pursuant to Section 19162 shall require the following: (a) Any seismic retrofit of any building identified pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 19161 as being hazardous to life in the event of an earthquake shall provide for the reas…

Except as otherwise provided in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 129675) of Part 7 of Division 107, an ordinance adopted by a city, city and county, or county pursuant to Section 19163, may establish higher standards for the seismic retrofit of those structures or buildings whi…

Any city, city and county, or county may assign allowable working stresses to existing materials based on substantiating research data or engineering judgment. Such allowable working stresses shall be limited by a safety factor which is reasonably commensurate with the importance…

Any city, city and county, or county adopting an ordinance establishing building seismic retrofit standards for seismically hazardous buildings shall file for informational purposes with the Department of Housing and Community Development a copy of those standards and all subsequ…

Any building identified as being a seismic hazard to life and retrofitted in compliance with building seismic retrofit standards adopted pursuant to this article and properly maintained, shall not, within a period of 15 years, be identified as a seismic hazard to life pursuant to…

No city, city and county, or county, nor any employee of any such entity, shall be liable for damages for injury to persons or property, resulting from an earthquake or otherwise, on the basis of any assessment or evaluation performed, any ordinance adopted, or any other action t…

Nothing in this article shall apply to those buildings and structures governed by the provisions of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 15000) of Division 12.5 of this code or Article 3 (commencing with Section 39140) of Chapter 2 of Part 23 of the Education Code or Article 7 (com…

Any person who violates, or causes or permits another person to violate, any provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor.

The Legislature finds and declares that: (a) It is generally accepted that various areas of the state will experience moderate and severe earthquakes in the foreseeable future. (b) A serious threat to life and property resulting from these earthquakes is the threat of fire result…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the governing body of any city, county, or city and county may enact an ordinance requiring the installation of earthquake sensitive gas shutoff devices in buildings open to the public. Any ordinance adopted pursuant to this section sha…