California's Newsom Signs Building Code Freeze

Washington, DC, July 29, 2025-"California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law a budget bill for the state with many pro-housing provisions, including a six-year pause on adopting or amending new home building codes,” reports the National Association of Home Builders.

“The provisions are meant to address the state’s housing affordability crisis, the worst in the U.S., and ease the immense frustration of Los Angeles residents who lost their homes in devastating fires in January. By one local news account, fewer than 100 home rebuilding permits have been issued out of more than 1,200 applications.

“The $321 billion budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which began July 1, included a series of trailer bills. One of the trailer bills, AB 130, contained provisions that California home builders have been fighting for all year.

“AB 130 prevents the state of California from considering, approving, or adopting any changes to residential building codes until June 1, 2031, except in emergency situations or in the case of wildfire mitigation. Further, the bill prevents local municipalities from amending their code during the same period.

“The bill also places new restrictions on changes the state can make to building codes during the ‘Intervening Cycle,’ an 18-month period after the publication of a code when amendments are added to the code before adoption. The intervening cycles have been successfully targeted for years to get onerous changes through, especially to the state’s Green Building Code.”