Grass Valley introduces ordinance to adopt 2025 California Building Standards Code

At its Nov. 12 meeting the Grass Valley City Council received the first reading and introduction of an ordinance to adopt the 2025 California Building Standards Code.

John May, the city’s building official, summarized the proposed ordinance and staff review. He said the adoption would incorporate the state’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire codes and would also add the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code and the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code. May told council that most code sections remain substantially unchanged from previous adoptions but that the wildland-urban-interface provisions were reorganized by the state into a separate code volume addressing construction methods, defensible space and subdivision egress.

May also reviewed local building activity for 2025: he reported the city had received 657 building-permit applications to date in 2025 and noted a recent increase in single-family dwelling permit applications (11 in 2024 versus 46 in 2025). He described several local projects, including tenant improvements at the Nevada County Commons Resource Center, an addition at Sierra Guest Home assisted living (eight sleeping rooms), an 80-unit hotel on Plaza Drive and the 70,000-square-foot Jada Building on Whispering Pines, which recently began foundation work.

On state law implications, staff told the council that Assembly Bill 130 precludes jurisdictions from implementing certain residential code modifications until 2031 but that exceptions exist for locally adopted changes made previously, for emergency measures, and for specific wildfire-mitigation items.

Councilmember Jan moved to hold the public hearing, waive full reading and introduce the ordinance (identifying it in the record as the 2025 adoption of the California Building Standards Code). The motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.