Welcome Friend of CALBO,
At CALBO, our goal is to be the premier resource for all California code officials and industry colleagues. We hope you will find this newsletter to be of value as you protect the build environment in the Golden State.
A Publication of California Building Officials
1022 G Street | Sacramento, CA | 95814
916-457-1103 | info@calbo.org
Dear CALBO Friends and Colleagues,
It was a pleasure to see and meet many of you at recent CALBO training events. With the large attendance at the Newport Beach and San Ramon Education Weeks, and registrations coming in for the upcoming Ontario and Burlingame Education Weeks, it is clear that training and education is a top priority for building departments and industry professionals statewide. Code changes and code adoption will continue to be a significant part of our schedules in the next several months. Thank you to the entire membership – whether you are a course attendee, instructor, course developer, or you are performing the code adoption – for all of your commitments, which demonstrate our membership’s dedication to the profession.
As the first legislative session under Governor Newsom comes to a close, CALBO, along with many other organizations, are looking at which bills he signs into law to set his policies and priorities. The Governor has until October 13 to sign or veto bills passed by the legislature. This will help us prepare for the second year since many bills that CALBO monitored this year have become two-year bills. This year, CALBO’s legislative priorities focused on seismic resiliency, accessory dwelling units, and disaster recovery. Through the CALBO Board, membership, and staff’s active efforts with state legislators and partnership organizations, like the League of California Cities, CALBO’s positions centered on the impact on building departments that include code implementation, administration, staffing, and funding.
One of CALBO’s focus this year is the seismic inventory bill, AB 429, by Assembly Member Nazarian. After CALBO opposed the bill in 2018, which identified local funds as a possible funding source for the program, this year CALBO collaborated with the Assembly Member on a bill that would require the Seismic Safety Commission to identify funding (that may include state funds and federal grants) and develop a process for a third party to create an inventory of potentially seismically vulnerable buildings. The bill was also amended to apply only to the most seismically vulnerable counties. Since the bill was moved to the Inactive File, it is now a two-year bill and will continue to be a focus for CALBO in 2020.
The state legislature put forth numerous housing bills this year ranging from housing production to tenant protection; among the housing bills is SB 13 (Wieckowski), a bill on Accessory Dwelling Units. CALBO closely monitored this bill and actively engaged with the author’s office throughout the year to address our concerns. To read about the details of CALBO’s legislative advocacy, please see the thorough legislative update from Katie Almand, CALBO’s Director of Public Affairs, in this CALBO Newsletter.
Several exciting opportunities to advance and promote our building-safety profession are just around the corner. At the League of California Cities Annual Conference and Expo in Long Beach this month, CALBO and the International Code Council (ICC) are partnering to host a speaker series on seismic safety and resiliency at an expanded booth in the Expo Hall. Right after this League Expo is the ICC Annual Conference, Expo, and Code Hearings in Las Vegas. For the Code Hearings, given that there are many regional or local ICC Chapter code committees actively working on code development, CALBO has created a webpage to post the Chapter committees’ coordination of code change proposals. We hope this will provide a valuable tool for those attending the Code Hearings. With the shorter travel distance to the League of California Cities Annual Conference and ICC Annual Conference, I encourage CALBO membership to have a strong presence at these events.
With so many educational and conference events ahead of us, I am looking forward to seeing and catching up with many of our members. See you soon!
Sincerely,
Sharon Goei, P.E., C.B.O
Director of Building and Housing
City of Milpitas
Implementation of the 2019 edition of
the California Building Codes (CBC) are upon
us. Building departments across California seem to
have differing opinions of when production model plans need to be
updated for the new code edition.
It is important to begin with what the law says about the effective date of the new codes. The California Health and Safety Code Section 18938.5 states the following:
“18938.5. (a) Only those building standards approved by the commission, and that are effective at the local level at the time an application for a building permitis submitted, shall apply to the plans and specifications for, and to the construction performed under, that building permit.”
So, what constitutes an “application for a building permit”? Some building departments believe that an application for production home plans for plan review is an application for a building permit. Therefore, the building code edition for all homes in the subdivision is locked in or vested at the time of this application. For example, if a production home plan was approved on 2018 or 2019, then all homes for this plan can be construction under the 2016 California Codes indefinitely until the subdivision is built out.
Have you visited the Legislation tab on the CALBO Website? Take
advantage of these great resources for your jurisdiction:
- Legislative
Outreach Alerts
- Legislative Bill
Reports
- Online Bill Search Tool
- Capitol Corner
Update
- Legislative Events
- Legislative Process
and much more!
If you have any questions please contact Katie Little, CALBO’s Director of Public Affairs.
The CALBO Media Packet is your main resource for:
- CALBO Partner Program
- CALBO Sponsor & Exhibitor Program
- Including all four Education Weeks and the Annual Business Meeting
- Advertising
- Including the CALBO News and the CALBO Job Board
A special thank you to Energy Code Ace for hosting the Lunch and Learn event at the 2019 CALBO Education Week: Newport Beach!
As a new training opportunity, the Lunch and Learn event offers industry leaders the opportunity to spotlight their knowledge and expertise of an important building-and-safety topic. As this event is offered during CALBO Education Weeks, attendees have the opportunity to take a break from their classes to eat lunch and learn up-to-date information on a topic that affects the future of our industry.
This year, Lunch and Learn attendees learn about how to quickly and effectively respond to customers’ most commonly asked energy code questions using Energy Code Ace tools and resources. Additionally, attendees learn how to best prioritize time with customers to yield the most energy savings.
Thank you to presenter Fiona Terreri with Energy Code Ace for her contributions and knowledge!
If you are attending the 2019 CALBO Education Week in Burlingame, don’t miss your opportunity to attend a Lunch and Learn event hosted by Energy Code Ace.
FREE for ALL CALBO Education Week: Burlingame Attendees.
Limited seating – first-come, first served for this special opportunity!
You’re invited to attend “Lunch and Learn,” a special lunch presentation on “Q&Ace: How to Ace Energy Code Questions.” Join us to learn how-to quickly and effectively respond to your customers’ top six most commonly asked energy code questions using Energy Code Acetools and resources. Additionally, we’ll discuss how to best prioritize time based on the requests that may yield the most energy savings.
You’ve gained code knowledge in the classroom – now learn what freetools, training, and resources are available for you and your building department! All aimed to help decrease the amount of time currently spent explaining energy code requirements and forms to customers, reviewing plans and forms, and performing inspections.
Are you knowledgeable about a certain topic or passionate about your industry? The CALBO Training Institute (CTI) is continually looking for new course developers and instructors for its training opportunities throughout the year. There are opportunities for every skill level. We welcome your contributions!
