Montebello, CA Building Safety: Door Locking Hardware (2026)

Chapter 15.08, the city's building security regulations added under Ordinance No. 2336 in 2010, sets these hardware standards apart from the general California Building Code. Section 15.08.100(A) covers every exterior swinging door of a residential building and its attached garage, requiring wood doors to be solid-core construction at least one and three-fourths inches thick, or with panels at least nine-sixteenths inch thick, and a single or double cylinder deadbolt lock with a bolt projection of at least one inch built to repel cutting-tool attack, an embedment of at least three-fourths inch into the strike, a cylinder guard, a minimum of five-pin tumblers, and connecting screws at least one-fourth inch in diameter.

The inactive leaf of a double door needs metal flush bolts embedded at least five-eighths inch into the door frame, and any glazing within forty inches of the lock must be fully tempered or burglary-resistant unless a double-cylinder deadbolt is used instead. The same section also requires street numbers at least four inches high in a contrasting color, visible to approaching emergency vehicles, plus illuminated diagrammatic directories and minimum lighting levels for multi-family complexes. The building official, or the code enforcement supervisor subject to the building division's approval, administers the chapter under Section 15.08.140, and no building permit may receive final approval or utility release until the applicant satisfies the enforcing authority that the hardware complies.