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Sierra Madre Council Adopts 2025 State Building Code; Wildland‑Urban Interface Code Presented, To Be Re‑noticed
Summary
The council voted to adopt the statewide 2025 California Building Standards Code and heard a staff presentation on the 2025 California Fire Code and the new California Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Code. The WUI portion will be re‑noticed for formal adoption at a future meeting after corrected public‑hearing notice.
Sierra Madre City Council voted Oct. 14 to adopt the 2025 California Building Standards Code (Title 24), effective Jan. 1, 2026, and received a staff presentation on the 2025 California Fire Code and the newly consolidated California Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Code.
Council’s approval of the building‑code ordinance (Ordinance No. 14‑87) came after a brief presentation by Building Official Sarkis Nazarian, who told the council that the update is the three‑year statewide cycle and that the city is required to enforce the 2025 codes beginning Jan. 1, 2026. The council moved and approved the ordinance by voice vote.
The WUI and 2025 Fire Code were presented by Fire Marshal Randy Metz and the city’s fire staff, who explained that a publication error in the hearing notice required the city to re‑publish the public hearing before taking action. Metz said the California WUI Code consolidates home‑hardening, vegetation‑management and other wildfire‑related rules that previously were spread across multiple codes and regulations, and that the state adopted the consolidated WUI Code after a multi‑agency process. Sierra Madre staff recommended adopting the California Fire Code with local amendments carried forward from the city’s prior adoption, and adopting the California WUI Code without further local amendments.
Why it matters: the 2025 code updates set minimum standards for design, construction and wildfire resilience for new and altered buildings in the city. The WUI Code in particular aims to make applicable wildfire‑resilience requirements clearer and easier for builders, contractors and homeowners to apply at the local level.
Staff said there are no additional local amendments proposed for the WUI Code at this time; any local changes would require findings showing the city’s topography, climate or geology justify stricter rules. Because the public‑hearing notice for the WUI item was published incorrectly, council did not take final action on it and staff will re‑notice the item for a future meeting so the public can comment formally before adoption.
Looking ahead: staff said the city will return with the re‑noticed WUI/fire‑code adoption and that the Building Standards Commission will have oversight on local amendments under new State law (AB 130).
