California Adopts 2016 Electrical, CalGreen and Accessibility Codes
On Jan. 19-20, 2016, the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) met at its regularly scheduled public meeting and adopted the 2016 California Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical, CalGreen and Accessibility Codes. These codes are based on the model 2014 National Electrical Code and the model 2015 Uniform Plumbing and Mechanical Codes. CalGreen and the Accessibility Codes are California-specific codes.
At a previous meeting on Dec. 16, 2015, the CBSC also adopted the 2016 California Building, Fire, Residential and Existing Building Codes. These codes are based on the model 2015 International Building, Fire, Residential and Existing Building Codes.
These actions by the CBSC are part of the 2015 Triennial Code Adoption Cycle. With a few minor exceptions, the adoption portion of this Cycle is now completed for all of the codes. The 2016 editions of these codes, along with the codes already adopted on December 16, 2015, will be published by June 30, 2016, and will be effective on January 1, 2017. Collectively, all of these codes are known as the 2016 California Building Standards Code, Title 24.
Several notes concerning this code adoption activity in California:
- The 2016 California Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6) is adopted under a separate rulemaking process from the rest of the construction codes. It has also been adopted and has the same effective date as the other codes, i.e., January 1, 2017.
- The 2016 California Electrical Code, based on the 2014 NEC, was adopted with minimal amendments by all the State agencies. The CBSC and the State agencies are to be commended for their efforts to keep amendments to all the model codes, including the NEC, to a minimum.
- The adoption of the accessibility provisions to the 2016 California Building Code included an entire new set of requirements for accessible Electric Vehicle Charging Spaces. These are the first requirements in the nation to address the accessibility of EVCS installations.
Links to rulemaking packages, which include California amendments, can be found here.
