New Building Codes Went Into Effect Jan. 1

If you’re planning on building a new home or remodeling your existing home, be aware that new state and local building and fire codes went into effect in January.

According to San Anselmo Building Official Keith Angerman, every three years the state publishes a complete set of updated codes comprising the minimum acceptable standards for construction projects in California. Individual cities then adopt these codes -- with or without additional, more-restrictive amendments warranted by local conditions.

“A lot of people think the building codes are simple,” says Angerman, “but each code book is four- to six-inches thick. You should see the bookshelf behind my desk!”

Angerman has waded through the dozen codes to come up with a list of important changes local builders should know.

Two New State Codes

New in the California codes this year are the Residential Code and the Green Building Standards Code. The Residential Code may sound like an entirely new set of regulations, but Angerman says it just reflects a change in the code-organization scheme.

“All prescriptive requirements pertaining to the structural, fire, and life-safety aspects of single- and two-family residential construction have been pulled out of the Building Code and are now in the new Residential Code,” says Angerman, adding that the law applies to both new construction and remodels. Nonresidential and large-volume residential projects (e.g., apartments, condos) are still governed by the Building Code, as are engineering design requirements for single-family and two-family residences.

According to Angerman, the idea behind this change was to make it easier for the nonprofessional to design his or her own home. “If you follow the Residential Code requirements, in many cases you won’t need to hire an engineer,”  he says. But Angerman is also concerned that owner-builders might not take into account the additional engineering requirements associated with building in seismic hazard zones. San Anselmo and Fairfax both lie in such zones, he says, so “unless you are building a rectangular box house, you would still need an engineer to do the structural design.”

Unlike the Residential Code, the new Green Building Standards Code applies only to new construction, not to remodels, says Angerman. “Builders who have been meeting the existing Energy Code requirements won’t find much different in the Green Building Code,” he says. “There are a few new regulations regarding demolition, recycling of demolition materials, and grading and erosion control, but, as for the rest, most everyone who does construction around here already complies with the requirements.”

But Angerman says this new code will require a bit more paperwork, including written substantiation of the use of low-flow toilets, showerheads and the like.

Electrical and Building Codes

While most of the other state codes have changed somewhat for 2011, “it may surprise people that a major change has been made in the Electrical Code,” says Angerman.

“Now all new and replaced electrical receptacles must be of the tamper-resistant type,” he says. Angerman explains that these new sockets are designed so that anything inserted into just one of the plug slots is blocked from going in. “It’s passive resistance to protect kids who might stick a pin in,” he says, adding that word about this change apparently hasn’t spread yet. “You go into most building supply stores and they may not even know what you’re talking about.”

In addition, the updated code has upped the requirements for the use of arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCI’s), which Angerman explains are circuit breakers that basically protect against fire. AFCI’s formerly were required only in bedrooms, but now they are required on all circuits in the home except those already required to be protected by ground-fault circuit-interrupter receptacles (GFCI’s).

In the new Building Code, a requirement has been added pertaining to carbon monoxide alarms. “Any project that exceeds a value of $1,000 must now have not only the smoke alarms, but also the carbon monoxide alarms brought up to code,” says Angerman.

Fire Sprinklers

With this year’s code adoption comes an easing of regulations in San Anselmo and parts of Fairfax regarding the requirement for fire sprinklers in some newly created residential second units.

Though the new state Residential Code now requires fire sprinklers in all newly constructed residential buildings, Ross Valley Fire Chief Roger Meagor says this didn’t change anything locally, as more-restrictive provisions have long been in place here.

“Since 1998, both San Anselmo and Fairfax have already required residential fire sprinklers,” says Meagor, “not only in new buildings, but also in substantial remodels and second units created within existing buildings.”

But now San Anselmo and Fairfax are backing off those restrictions a bit, Meagor explains, allowing homeowners in some areas to create second units within existing structures without having to install the sprinklers in an effort to encourage more affordable housing units in town.

In San Anselmo, these eased regulations apply town-wide. In wooded Fairfax, they apply only to properties outside the Fairfax Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Zones (essentially those properties in the heart of town along the Sir Francis Drake traffic corridor, mostly on the south and west side of that main thoroughfare)—and to properties along Sir Francis Drake that are in the WUI Zone but aren’t reached by a steep access grade.

According to Meagor, if you live in one of those areas and are turning your existing home into a duplex, say by adding some interior walls or converting your basement into an apartment, you won’t have to install sprinklers. If, however, you’re building a new structure for a second unit, or if you’re doing a “substantial remodel”—i.e., one that, including any additions, affects more than 50 percent of the floor area of an existing structure (such as building a second unit above your garage)— the sprinkler requirements still apply.

Confused? For more information on the new building and fire-safety regulations in San Anselmo or Fairfax, contact: San Anselmo Building Official Keith Angerman at 258-4604; Fairfax Building Official Mark Lockaby at 458-2370; or Ross Valley Fire Inspector Robert Bastianon at 258-4673.