Appropriations hearing over moratorium on residential building-code updates draws sharp industry and environmental contrast
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Summary
AB 306, which would pause state residential building-code updates for six years to restrain construction-cost increases, drew support from housing and building-industry groups and opposition from codes experts and environmental advocates who said the freeze could undermine safety and local flexibility.
Assemblymember Schultz presented AB 306, which would impose a six-year moratorium on new state building-code updates that affect residential construction, "and would temporarily prohibit local governments from making new modifications to those standards except for emergency changes necessary to protect health and safety." He said the pause is intended to stabilize upfront construction costs and provide certainty to builders and local officials.
Supporters from the California Housing Consortium and the California Building Industry Association told the committee the bill would help preserve project feasibility for affordable housing. Marina Espinosa of the California Housing Consortium said the moratorium would "ensure that affordable housing developers can rely on the project costs they originally budgeted." Silvio Ferrari of the California Building Industry Association argued the triennial code-update cycle has consistently added costs.
Opponents, including the International Code Council and environmental and climate groups, said the bill was too broad and risked public-safety and climate objectives. Ed Manning, representing the International Code Council, called AB 306 "a bit of a chainsaw approach to the codes," saying some updates reduce costs or improve safety and resilience. Ada Welder of Earthjustice and Nico Molina of NRDC Action Fund also registered opposition. Assemblymember Dixon raised concerns the bill would remove local authority to adopt targeted local amendments that address conditions such as coastal corrosion on electrical conduit. She said she would not support the bill in its current form.
The author acknowledged continued stakeholder discussions and the committee placed AB 306 on the suspense file; at the suspense hearing later the same day the committee recorded a due-pass recommendation on a roll call.
