Building Inspection Commission adopts San Francisco amendments to 2022 state building code
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Summary
The Building Inspection Commission unanimously adopted San Francisco's amendments to the 2022 California Building Standards Code (Title 24) on Aug. 17, 2022. DBI staff said most edits are administrative cleanup and renumbering to align the city code with state changes that take effect Jan. 1, 2023.
On Aug. 17, 2022, the San Francisco Building Inspection Commission voted unanimously to adopt the city's amendments to the 2022 California Building Standards Code (Title 24), moving the local code into alignment with state and national updates that take effect Jan. 1, 2023.
Michelle of the Department of Building Inspection's Technical Services division presented the package and described the tri‑annual national model code update process, the state's adoption with its own amendments, and the city's local edits. "Most of it is cleanup language," she said, adding that the package contains renumbering, removal of redundancy, and deletions of sunsetted sections. She highlighted several state changes that will affect local practice, including increased requirements for EV‑ready parking spaces, broader photovoltaic (PV) requirements for new residential and nonresidential construction, a tightened definition of "efficiency dwelling unit" (reduced from 224 to 190 square feet), and new mass‑timber classifications that can allow taller timber construction under certain fire‑resistive approaches.
City Attorney Rob Capo told commissioners the city has prepared an index explaining local findings required under California law for substantive amendments. "Because there are no new substantive changes we're adopting as part of this repeal and replace, it's just the ones we're carrying over," he said, summarizing the legal footing for the package.
Commissioners asked practical questions about how the public and applicants can get code guidance; Michelle said DBI provides front‑line help at an information counter, code‑specific assistance at the Technical Service Division counter, and detailed code guidance during plan check. Members also noted a letter from the Code Advisory Committee in the meeting packet that reviewed the changes.
The commission then moved to adopt the San Francisco amendments to the California Building Standards Code. The motion was seconded and carried by unanimous roll call.
The next step is submission of the approved package to the city publisher and transmittal to the Board of Supervisors as required; once published the San Francisco code amendments will be effective in line with the state code on Jan. 1, 2023.
The commission approved the item and continued with the rest of its agenda, including scheduling items for October.
