AGENDA ITEM #4
FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
MEETING DATE October 15, 2025
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY: Mark Lockaby, Building Official
Bridget Wipfler, Climate Action Coordinator
SUBJ ECT: Introduce, Waive Firs t Reading, and read by title only Ordinance No. 901 adopting the 2025 California Building Standards Code(California Code of Regulations , Title 24) including the 2025 California Adminis trative Code, the 2025 California Building Code, the 2025 California Res idential Code, the 2025 California Electrical Code, the 2025 California Mechanical Code, the 2025 California Plumbing Code, the 2025 California Energy Code, the 2025 California His torical Building Code, the 2025 California Exis ting Building Code, the 2025 California Green Building Standards Code, and the 2025 California Referenced Standards Codes , with Local Amendments , and the 2024 Edition of the International Property Maintenance Code
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RECOMMENDATION
1) Introduce, waive firs t reading, and read by title only Ordinance No. 901 adopting the 2025 California Building Standards Code(California Code of Regulations , Title 24) including the 2025 California Adminis trative Code, the 2025 California Building Code, the 2025 California Res idential Code, the 2025 California Electrical Code, the 2025 California Mechanical Code, the 2025 California Plumbing Code, the 2025 California Energy Code, the 2025 California His torical Building Code, the 2025 California Exis ting Building Code, the 2025 California Green Building Standards Code, and the 2025 California Referenced Standards Codes , with Local Amendments , and the 2024 Edition of the International Property Maintenance Code. 2) Set a public hearing for November 5, 2025 to cons ider adoption of the propos ed ordinance.
BACKGROUND
Routine adoption -
Every three years , the State of California updates its building codes , and the cities and towns mus t in turn adopt them. Fairfax las t adopted the 2022 building codes on December 7, 2022. The Town of Fairfax adopted Tier 1 Reach Codes and Flex Compliance Pathway (FlexPath) from the 2022 Building Standards Code, as es tablis hed by Ordinance No. 872.
New law -
The recently chaptered As sembly Bill 130 (AB 130) created a moratorium until J une 1, 2031 on new local amendments for res idential requirements, except those s ubs tantially equivalent to local amendments in effect as of September 30, 2025. Fairfax is adopting Tier 1 reach codes and Flex Path that are substantially similar to those adopted as part of the 2022 code cycle.
If local amendments were not in effect as of September 30, 2025, new local amendments can s till be adopted under AB 130 under one of the following exemptions : a) the California Building Standards Commiss ion determines that the changes are necess ary to protect health and s afety as emergency s tandards , b) the changes relate to home hardening, c) the building s tandards relate to home hardening and are propos ed for adoption by a fire protection dis trict pursuant to Health and Safety Code s ection 13869.7, d) the propos ed changes are necess ary to implement a local code update that is cons is tent with a General approved as of June 10, 2025, or e) the changes are related to adminis trative practices and exclus ively result in any of the following—such as s treamlined is suance of a post-entitlement permit, post-entitlement fee s chedule updates , implementation of new permitting software, reduced agency cos ts , or changes to local programs related to building code enforcement procedures .
Outreach and Exemptions -
The County of Marin and the Town of Fairfax conducted outreach to the community and builders. The code includes exemptions for hards hip/ infeas ibility for s ingle-family res idential projects subject to the flexible compliance pathway requirements because:
o Compliance is disproportionate to overall project cos t; o Strict compliance with the s tandards would create or maintain a hazardous condition(s ) and pres ent a life s afety ris k to the occupants ;
o Conflicts with State s tandards ;
o Measures impair a lis ted his toric structure.
DISCUSSION
On J uly 1, 2025 the State of California published and made available the 2025 Edition of the California Code of Regulations , Title 24 cons is ting of the following:
• The California Adminis trative Code
• The California Building Code
• The California Res idential Code
• The California Electrical Code
• The California Mechanical Code
• The California Plumbing Code
• The California Energy Code
• The California Wildland-Urban Interface Code
• The California His torical Building Code
• The California Fire Code
• The California Exis ting Building Code
• The California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen) • The California Referenced Standards
The State has mandated that local jurisdictions mus t adopt the codes with appendices and amendments to be effective by J anuary 1, 2026. California Building Standards are applicable to all occupancies throughout California
The 2024 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code is not included in the California Code of Regulations and will be adopted by reference as part of Title 15 of the Fairfax Municipal Code.
The California Fire Code and the California Wildland Urban Interface Code (WUI) will be adopted separately under Chapter 8 of the Fairfax Municipal Code. The Ross Valley Fire prevention officers are again reques ting changes to Chapter 7 of the building code, and Chapter 3 of the res idential code requiring that WUI apply to:
new buildings , additions , repairs , and exterior alterations . The amendments have been added to Section
15.04.020 of the Municipal Code.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fis cal impact from this routine action, other than minimal s taff time used from the exis ting Building Official and exis ting part-time Climate Action Coordinator.
ATTACHMENTS (to be posted via supplement)
Attachment 1: Ordinance No. 901
Attachment 2: 2022 Cos t-Effectiveness Study: Exis ting Single Family Building Upgrades Attachment 3: Application of the 2022 Studies to the 2025 Energy Code: Exis ting Single Family Building Upgrades Attachment 4: Green Building Chapter Summary