July 25, 2007 - On January 1, 2008, the new changes to the 2007 California Building Standards Code, impacting modular, or factory-built, housing, will take effect.

The International Residential Code (IRC) was not part of the rulemaking effort during this time. The amount of time needed to review the IRC as a new base code was too much given the time constraints of the current process. The California Department of Housing and Community Development anticipates consideration of the IRC’s adoption in California and establishment of stakeholder working groups in the coming year.

In terms of factory-built housing, the department feels this informational bulletin will provide enough advance notice to ensure any new project beginning construction after January 1, 2008 will comply with the 2007 California Building Standards Code.

“However, for factory built home (FBH) projects or developments under construction as of January 1, 2008, (based on existing plans and quality control manuals which were approved prior to January 1, 2008, and which have an expiration date after the January 1, 2008, effective date of the 2007 California Building Standards Code), HCD has established March 1, 2008, as the reasonable date by which manufacturers must resubmit all existing FBH plans and quality control manuals with appropriate revisions or they shall become void.”

To view the entire informational bulletin issued earlier this month, visit http://www.hcd.ca.gov/codes/fbh/IB2007-04Final.pdf

Specifically, the adopted 2007 California Building Standards Code includes:

• Part 2, 2007 California Building Code, is based on the 2006 International Building Code published by the International Code Council. This update is a change from the 2001 California Building Code which was based on the 1997 Uniform Building Code.

• Part 3, 2007 California Electrical Code, is based on the 2005 National Electrical Code published by the National Fire Protection Association.

• Part 4, 2007 California Mechanical Code, is based on the 2006 Uniform
Mechanical Code published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.

• Part 5, 2007 California Plumbing Code, is based on the 2006 Uniform Plumbing Code published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.

• Part 10, 2007 California Existing Building Code (previously known as the
California Code for Building Conservation) is based on the 2006 International Existing Building Code.

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