In a move strongly supported by California Building Industry (CBIA) and other industry coalition members, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. has signed AB 2913 (Wood), a measure which extends the expiration date of building permits from 6 months to 12 months. Also, the bill amends the statute to make it clear that all local jurisdictions have the authority to grant one or more 6-month extensions for just cause.
For the past 30+ years, the existing statute has stipulated that a builder must comply with the building codes that are in effect on the date the initial permit application is submitted to the local building department and that this initial permit was good for six months.
However, the ability to grant extensions was in the administrative code, and numerous local jurisdictions chose not to adopt this authority. Making matters worse, California (and the rest of the nation) has been struggling with a severe labor shortage over the past decade with no end in sight. This problem has been further exacerbated by the wildfires over the past two years making the need to suspend or delay projects for short periods of time a shared reality within the industry.
AB 2913 seeks to address these issues by doubling the amount of time the initial permit is valid and by placing into statute the authority for locals to grant one or more extensions for just cause. A special thanks to CBIA for their work on this bill.
