Calaveras County, CA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

The county did not write its own freestanding permit-trigger ordinance. 4 (unlawful acts and stop-work orders). Because CBC Section 105 requires an owner or authorized agent to obtain a permit before construction, alteration, moving, demolition or change of occupancy of a building, that requirement carries the force of local law the moment the county adopted it. 04, the Calaveras County Building Code, governs all unincorporated territory, San Andreas, Murphys, Arnold, Copperopolis, Valley Springs and Mokelumne Hill among them; Angels Camp, the county's only incorporated city, runs its own building department under its own municipal code and is not covered by this chapter.

040 records the Board's Express Findings justifying local amendments to the state model code. Express Finding Number 1 describes the county's transitional climate between the Sierra Nevada and the San Joaquin Valley and the resulting heavy, ice-laden "Sierra Cement" snow load that building officials must factor into design review under the adopted 2022 CBC Section 1608A provisions. 080, which also requires the applicant to sign the county's standard indemnification agreement before that permit issues.