ATTACHMENT A
2025 California Building Standards Code
Major Changes Summary
Additional details on the code standards and changes can be found at:
2025 California Building Standards Code: www.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/codes List of 2025 California Code Changes: www.dgs.ca.gov/BSC/Resources/2025-Title-24- California-Code-Changes
Building & Residential Codes
Major changes to these codes are associated with:
• Extraction of the Wildland Urban Interface Code into its own code book.
Introduction of Title 24-Part 7 titles the California Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Code.
• Enhancing life safety in response to new technologies that establish rules for smokeproof enclosures, a crucial fire barrier, and emergency power systems.
This includes requirements for facilities manufacturing or storing lithium-ion batteries which now have their occupancy classification changed to moderate or high-hazard occupancy types, triggering new automatic sprinkler requirements. • Expanding emergency power illumination mandates and rules for complex egress systems.
Electrical – Mechanical – Plumbing Codes
• Tamper-resistant receptacles required for dwelling units and accessories. • Water consumption sections amended to align with appliance efficiency regulations adopted by the California Energy Commission in Title 20 and showerhead requirements in CALGreen.
Energy Code
• Introduction of prescriptive heat pump requirements for select nonresidential existing building types and domestic water heating systems serving individual dwelling units in low rise multifamily buildings.
• Update to prescriptive heat pump requirements, and associated performance baselines, for newly constructed single-family, multifamily, and select nonresidential building types.
• Update to solar photovoltaic system standards for residential, nonresidential, and hotel and motel buildings.
• Update to energy storage standards for high-rise residential, nonresidential, and hotel and motel buildings.
• Establishing electric-ready requirements for multifamily domestic water heating systems.
• Establishing electric-ready requirements for commercial kitchens.
CALGreen Code
• Introduction of mandatory requirements to address embodied carbon in building materials under Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applying to large-scale new construction and alterations.
Fire Code
• Added or removed amendments to clarify code sections found across model codes in order to reduce conflicts between standards.
• New definitions added for battery types and battery storage to align with current technology, International Fire Code, and NFPA 855.
• Amendments added to align chapters and code sections with existing California Code of Regulations divisions, specifically regarding decorative materials and temporary tents, cooking, and heating operations.
• Amended Group E child-care facilities exception to allow those occupancies providing care for less than 100 children under 36 months of age when complying with special requirements and avoid classifying as an I-4 day care. • Enhanced public safety requirements for advancing electric and alternative power supply technology.
• Modified existing amendments for corridor fire-resistance ratings to align with California Building Code.
• Extraction of the Wildland Urban Interface Code into its own code book.
Introduction of Title 24-Part 7 titles the California Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Code.
• Modified existing amendments for fire sprinkler requirements for new and existing buildings.
• Modified existing fire alarm requirements for new and existing buildings to align with California Fire Code.
Wildland-Urban Interface Code (New)
• Merges Building Code Chapter 7A into WUI Code Chapter 5 and various Fire Code Chapters.
• New WUI code is based on the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code created by centralizing requirements from California Building Code, Residential Code, Fire Code, Government Code, Health & Safety Code, Public Resources Code, and Code of Regulations.
• The code provides the framework for designating wildland-urban interface areas in the state, fire protection plan requirements for buildings in designated fire hazard severity zones, minimum construction standards, and defensible space requirements in the wildland-urban interface.
Pasadena Local Amendments Proposed
There are no new technical amendments proposed in this adoption for the Building Standards Code and Staff is recommending that the existing amendments to the Codes be carried forward from the previous code cycle.
Administrative Code Changes
• Establishing height and setback survey requirements for property line development.
• Standardizing temporary tent permit thresholds between Fire and Building Codes.
• Establish construction site maintenance requirements for Trash and Debris management.
• Removal of existing local code amendments where the model code is more restrictive, or where model code is redundant.