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
1111 16th Street | Sacramento, CA | 95814
916-457-1103 | info@calbo.org
Greetings CALBO Community,
It definitely sounds cliché, but time really does fly by. It seems like just yesterday that I was contemplating what a run for the CALBO Board could do for the organization, and the next moment, I find myself nearing the halfway point of serving as your President. This year is no exception and is certainly going by quickly. During these past several months, I’m proud to say that CALBO has been hard at work on many fronts especially as we fight the fight on legislation that would impact our industry and work to create professional development opportunities so you can continue to excel in your careers. I hope you have taken note of how busy your Board and staff have been and at the same time, you continue to see the value in CALBO’s day-to-day work.
Our efforts with legislation have been vigilant as we’ve worked to represent your voice, the voice of building departments, in Sacramento. CALBO flagged over 30 bills we deemed high priority at the beginning of this legislative session and now only ten remain. This significant reduction speaks volumes to the work the Legislative Team has been completing on your behalf. Two high-priority bills that remain are AB 42, which would prohibit local enforcement agencies from requiring fire sprinklers in transitional housing for homeless or at-risk homeless individuals, and AB 468, which would allow local enforcement agencies to enforce building code requirements in substandard housing regardless of zoning designation or approved use of a building. CALBO continues to advocate for public safety in the built environment and is very concerned about AB 42 but is supportive of efforts like AB 468 to further increase compliance with the necessary fire-life-safety measures in residential housing. Admittedly, and as many of you know, I’m a legislative junkie so I enjoy sharing these details with you. For the most up-to-date information about CALBO’s high-priority bills, please click here.
On the professional development front I’m proud to tell you that this May, the CALBO Training Institute (CTI) hosted the Building Officials Leadership Academy (BOLA) class of 2023-2024 in Costa Mesa. Twenty students participated in the week-long core curriculum courses and engaged in the discussion-based format with a variety of instructors and lunch speakers. Each student will complete their BOLA electives at the Education Weeks making them eligible to graduate at our upcoming 2024 annual business meeting in Indian Wells. Thank you to the instructors, guest speakers and mentors for your contributions for the BOLA core curriculum week.
We hope you can join us virtually or in person at one of our upcoming 2023 CTI Education Weeks. Courses include the latest code updates on accessibility, building, energy, ADUs, and much more at two NEW training venues.
A special thanks to our instructors and subject matter experts for developing and instructing upcoming courses. We look forward in seeing you soon!
Burlingame – NEW Education Week Venue
Monday, August 28 – Thursday, August 31
Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
1333 Old Bayshore Hwy | Burlingame, CA 94010
*Registration Deadline: Thursday, August 17 at 5:00pm
Costa Mesa - NEW Education Week Venue
Monday, October 23 – Thursday, October 26
Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa
23050 Bristol St. | Costa Mesa, CA 92626
*Registration Deadline: Thursday, October 12 at 5:00pm
We are sure you have heard the news; CALBO is moving to new locations for both Education Weeks North and South. For some, this will be a welcomed move. Most likely the new location is closer to your home jurisdiction or has better traffic routes for you. For others, this is an unwelcomed move as “why change?” Although CALBO is very excited about our new venues, perhaps we can shed some light on the reason why the CALBO Board saw value in the moves.
First, did you try and visit our industry partners at either recent event? In both San Ramon and Ontario, we were literally bursting at the seams as attendees tried to get through the “gauntlet” of the hallways, classrooms, and at lunch. If we learned nothing else from the pandemic, it was a need for increased personal space. Both new venues are significantly larger, affording the industry partners exhibiting to have open space that will not block the flow of attendee traffic. Further, both venues afford room for future expansion, giving us a chance to stay put for a bit should we be able to make ends meet with the properties.
Additionally, unlike what some may think – many hotels do not like Education Weeks. Why? Because very few people stay overnight at the hotel. CALBO Education Weeks use a great deal of meeting space. At some venues, we take it all. When we only have 30-40 sleeping rooms per night, this leaves the hotel nearly vacant after 3:30 in the afternoon. We have found partnerships with properties with transient commuter traffic, such as airport properties with a large flight crew need. Think Burlingame near SFO. Or perhaps in business parks surrounded by large corporations. Think San Ramon surrounded by Toyota and Chevron. Contracting Education Week venues well in advance, given our spatial needs, and on our budget, can be difficult to say the least.
Whether you are attending a CALBO webinar or Virtual Education Week courses, get familiar with GoToWebinar online training platform to ensure you are prepared for your next online training experience.
As the first year of the 2023-2024
Legislative Session warms up like the summer heat in California,
CALBO’s Legislative Team has been hard at work in
Sacramento. CALBO started this year with around 25
High Priority bills, but CALBO now has around 10 bills remaining
this year. Although this year has been positive,
more work is required before the legislature wraps up its first
year of this legislative session in
September. Currently, the legislature is at recess
until August 14th. Before we cover a few remaining
high priority bills, let’s recap the recent membership events
CALBO’s Legislative Team has hosted this spring and summer.
The Return of Leadership and Advocacy Day
After a 3-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, CALBO hosted its first Leadership and Advocacy Day (LAD) in Sacramento this May. The event was well-attended as CALBO members met with legislative staff and elected officials to discuss who CALBO is and what some of our high-priority bills are this year. Attendees participated in over 50 meetings with legislators and their staff, learned about the California Legislative Process, and got an understanding about the major pieces of legislation impacting CALBO members. LAD is an important effort for CALBO’s government relations efforts as elected officials can hear from you, their voters about issues of importance in the built environment. CALBO met with not only representatives of the respective building departments in attendance, but also members of relevant policy committees to CALBO’s legislative efforts. This was the first time CALBO got a taste of the “swing space” or the new building that legislative staff is working in as the Capitol is under renovation for the next several years. Additionally, some attendees had their first experience talking with legislative staff, who are some of the most important people in the legislature as they provide background to their bosses on policy issues and recommend how to vote on specific bills. CALBO looks forward to continuing this annual tradition next year for our members. Keep your eyes out for registration and event details later this year so YOU can participate in this important event in May 2024.
CALBO Legislative Webinars: Spring and Summer 2023
CALBO has prepared a few different resources and opportunities for your legislative needs. Make room on your summer and fall schedules – register now!
State Laws Enforced by Building Departments for 2022-2023This course features a completely new and updated resource publication, State Laws Enforced by Building Departments, distributed by CALBO focusing on state codes used in the daily work of building departments. It seeks to provide a better understanding of how state laws are crafted and where to look for state statutes that affect how and why we do much of our work. Focus remains on the Health and Safety Code, Government Code, Business and Professions Code and several other state codes that building departments have responsibilities with. Recent amendments to state law, laws that have been a challenge to implement and enforce, and how to better enforce to ensure compliance are course discussion topics as well.
*IMPORTANT: If you can not attend this course, the updated State Laws Enforced by Building Departments can be purchased online – click here.
Register Now – Click Here
In this webinar, CALBO’s legislative team updates our membership on the new laws impacting building departments and how to work within the realms of the law to provide the best service to your communities. Building officials, building department staff, code professionals, and industry colleagues are encouraged to attend this town hall format to answer questions about the current legislative session and what bills may impact your local jurisdiction in 2024. Check out the CALBO legislative page for more resources and updates.
Register for this free membership opportunity -
Click Here
For any questions, please contact the CALBO Office or 916-457-1103.
