STAFF REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
DATE: Regular Meeting of January 13, 2026
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Dante Hall, City Manager
SUBMITTED BY: Tim Rood, Community Development Director SUBJECT: Ordinance to repeal and replace Hercules Municipal Code Title 9, Chapters 1-18, re-locating appeals provisions, adopting by reference Contra Costa County Ordinance No. 2025-19, No. 2025-15, and No. 2025-14, which adopts the 2025 California Code of Regulations, Title 24, with changes, additions, and deletions, adopting by reference the Uniform Code for Abatement of Dangerous Buildings 1997 edition with existing amendments, additions, and deletions, and adopting by reference the International Property Maintenance Code 2024 Edition with amendments, additions, and deletions.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
Request planning staff present the staff report;
Receive comments from the public;
Request clarification from staff on any issues related to the Ordinance; Adopt first reading of amended Ordinance.
BACKGROUND:
The California Building Standards Commission has adopted the 2025 California Building Standards Code (CBSC) (California Code Regulations Title 24), replacing the 2022 CBSC. The CBSC includes the California Administrative, Building, Residential, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Energy, Historical Building, Existing Building, Reference Standards, Green Building Standards, Fire, and Wildland-Urban Interface Codes. These statewide codes will take effect on January 1, 2026.
Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development (the County) and the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District provide CBSC compliance and building inspection services within the City of Hercules on a contract basis.
At a public hearing held on November 4, 2025, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2025-19 (Attachment B), which adopted the 2025 editions of the Building Codes, with modifications to reflect local conditions. At a public hearing held on November 18, 2025, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance Nos. 2025-14 (Attachment C) and 2025-15 (Attachment D), which adopted the 2025 California Fire Code and the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, respectively, with modifications to reflect local conditions. These codes are mostly procedural and are more restrictive than those adopted by the State. The County recommended local amendments to address area-wide conditions related to local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions.
In addition to adopting the updated State and County codes by reference, the proposed ordinance reorganizes and updates Title 9 of the Hercules Municipal Code to improve clarity, consistency, and alignment with current code practices. A new General Provisions chapter is added to establish uniform administrative provisions applicable throughout Title 9, including provisions referencing the Building Official and consolidating enforcement and penalty provisions previously located in Chapter 10. The Board of Appeals chapter is relocated to Chapter 2 without substantive changes.
The Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings is relocated to Chapter 4 and readopted with the City’s existing amendments. The 1994 edition remains the current version adopted by the City. The International Property Maintenance Code is relocated to Chapter 5 and updated to reference the 2024 edition, consistent with current industry standards.
Several outdated and redundant chapters, including Building Security and Housing Code provisions, are deleted and not readopted. All remaining building-related regulations are encompassed within the California Building Standards Code, which is adopted by reference in its entirety in Chapter 3. As a result, additional standalone chapters are no longer necessary.
ANALYSIS:
Although these codes apply statewide, Health and Safety Code sections 17958.5 and 18941.5 authorize a local jurisdiction to modify or amend these codes and establish more restrictive building standards if the local jurisdiction finds that the changes are reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, topographical, or environmental conditions. The proposed ordinance adopts the statewide codes by reference and continues existing local amendments that address such conditions.
Recent changes to State law have placed additional restrictions on local jurisdictions' authority to amend the CBSC as it relates to the construction of new residential housing units. State budget legislation (Assembly Bill 130), adopted at the end of June 2025, amended the Health and Safety Code to limit local jurisdictions' authority to adopt building code amendments related to new housing, except through several narrowly defined exceptions. These exceptions include amendments that are the same or substantially equivalent to amendments already adopted by the local jurisdiction and in effect as of September 30, 2025, and amendments that relate to home hardening for protection against fire risks. These changes will remain in effect from October 1, 2025, through June 1, 2031.
Accordingly, the County and, by reference, the City continue their current building code amendments into the new code cycle, but their authority to adopt new amendments to the 2025 CBSC affecting residential construction is limited. Local jurisdictions retain broader discretion to adopt amendments related to non-residential construction, subject to the required findings. The proposed reorganization of Title 9 does not introduce new substantive building standards but consolidates, updates, and clarifies existing provisions, eliminates outdated and redundant chapters, and aligns the City’s Municipal Code with the State and County building standards framework. 2025 California Building Standards Code
County Ordinance Nos. 2025-14, 2025-15, and 2025-19 amend the statewide codes due to local climatic, geographical, topographical, and environmental conditions. These conditions are described in the findings included with those ordinances, which are attached hereto as Attachments 2, 3, and 4, and are proposed to be adopted by the City as well.
Modifications to the 2025 California Building Code
The following are the substantive changes to the 2025 California Building, Residential, Green Building Standards, and Existing Building Code (Ordinance No. 2025-19).
Require the installation of a hard-wired smoke detector in existing flat roof buildings when a pitched roof is added on top of the existing flat roof, and the solid sheathing of the flat roof is not removed.
Require more reinforcing in some building foundations to better withstand seismic forces found in this region of California.
Modifications to the 2025 California Residential Code
Prohibit the use of gypsum wallboard as seismic bracing.
Restrict the use of Portland Cement Plaster as seismic bracing to single-story one- and two-family dwellings and accessory structures.
Modifications to the 2025 California Green Building Standards Code Require that at least 10 percent of the total number of parking spaces for new multi-family residential and new non-residential developments be equipped with fully operational electric vehicle charging equipment. This is consistent with the County’s existing code amendments for electric vehicle charging. Although statewide code requirements for electric vehicle charging have increased in the 2025 code cycle, the County’s existing local code amendments are still necessary to ensure that current standards for electric vehicle charging are maintained.
Apply construction waste management requirements in the statewide code to certain projects for existing residential buildings, including: Projects that increase the total combined conditioned and unconditioned building area by 5,000 square feet or more. Projects that impact 5,000 square feet or more of the total combined conditioned and unconditioned building area. Demolition projects when a demolition permit is required, except demolition projects that are necessary to abate a public nuisance. Delete the exception from construction waste management requirements for projects solely based on their isolated location from diversion facilities. Require measuring and documentation of all generated debris to ensure that at least 65% is diverted from landfills.
Modifications to the 2025 California Existing Building Code The amendments to the 2022 California Existing Building Code are not substantive in nature and are limited to administrative provisions for the use and enforcement of this Code and to be consistent with the administrative provisions of the other statewide codes as amended.
Modifications to the 2025 California Fire Code
The following are the substantive changes to the 2025 California Fire Code (Ordinance No. 2025-14).
Require standby EMS personnel for large events as well as standby fire personnel to account for the fact that the fire district is both the local fire and EMS provider.
Establish requirements for fire apparatus access roads to include protection of designated emergency evacuation routes as adopted by the local governing body as part of their emergency evacuation plan.
Reduces the square footage thresholds found in Chapter 9 (Fire Protection Systems) for installation of automatic fire sprinkler systems in most commercial buildings and in private and charter schools.
Enhance fire service response and information available to occupancies in the District.
Prohibit all fireworks in the District without a permit and an increase to the financial liability for permitted events.
Amends where above-ground flammable and combustible liquids storage tanks may be located.
Amends were flammable gases and flammable cryogenic fluids storage tanks may be located.
Amend the reduction of fire flow needed and the location where hydrants are required.
Modifications to the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code The following are the substantive changes to the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Ordinance No. 2025-14).
Amends Section 101.3.1 (Application) of California Wildland-Urban Interface Code Chapter 1 (Administration) to include the following locations:
All lands designated by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection as State Responsibility Area (SRA).
Lands in Local Responsibility Area (LRA) identified by the State Fire Marshal as High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
Land designated as a High or Very-High Fire Hazard Severity Zone by cities and other local agencies.
Land designated as a Wildland-Urban Interface Area by cities and other local agencies Amends Section [A]101.5 (Additions or alterations) of California Wildland-Urban Interface Code Chapter 1, to add the following two exceptions:
The existing building or structure must meet any provisions of this code that expressly apply to an existing building or structure retroactively.
If a substantial addition or substantial alteration is made to any existing building or structure, the existing building or structure, and the substantial addition or substantial alteration, must comply with all requirements of this code.
Amends definitions to add to new definitions “Substantial Addition” and “Substantial Alteration.” Substantial Addition. Any change to an existing building or structure that meets both of the following criteria: (a) adds gross floor area that exceeds fifty percent of the gross floor area of the existing building or structure; and (b) results in the building or structure and the addition having a combined new gross floor area of 5,000 square feet or more.
Substantial Alteration. Any change to an existing building or structure that meets both of the following criteria within a one-year period: (a) The removal of fifty percent or more of the linear length of any interior or exterior wall of the building or structure; and (b) The removal and replacement of fifty percent or more of the area of the building or structure’s roof.
Requires non-combustible fences in new residential subdivisions in wildland-urban interface areas unless exceptions apply.
The City’s adoption of County amendments is authorized in Sections 50020-50022.9 of the California Government Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Adoption of this Ordinance is not a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 because it is an administrative action that does not authorize any construction and will not have an impact on the environment. Even if adoption of this Ordinance was considered a project, it is exempt from CEQA review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15601 (b)(3), because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that adoption of building codes, including those intended to protect the environment, would have a significant effect on the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
ATTACHMENTS:
Draft Ordinance
County of Contra Costa Ordinance No. 2025-19 Adoption of Building Code Standards and Findings in Support of Changes, Additions, and Deletions to the Statewide Building Standards Code County of Contra Costa, the Crockett-Carquinez Fire Protection District, and the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Ordinance No. 2025-14 Adopting the 2025 California Fire Code and Local Amendments and Findings in Support of Amendments.
County of Contra Costa, the Crockett-Carquinez Fire Protection District, and the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Ordinance No. 2025-15 Adopting the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code with Local Amendments and Findings in Support of Amendments.