Butte County, CA Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Butte County no longer keeps a standalone electrical code chapter; the editor's note to Chapter 27 (Electricity) records that the former chapter "was repealed and replaced by Ord. No. 3973, § 8, 12-11-07," with its substance folded into Chapter 26 (Buildings). Section 26-1 adopts the 2025 edition of the California Building Standards Code by reference, and its table lists "Part 3, California Electrical Code" alongside the Building, Residential, Mechanical, and Plumbing codes as part of that adoption, applying "to and govern all building construction in the unincorporated areas of the county."

Section 26-3.1(c) then ties electrical permits to the same administrative rules the county wrote for building permits: "The following provision shall apply to permits under the 2025 California Residential Code, 2025 California Electrical Code, 2025 California Mechanical Code, and 2025 California Plumbing Code: The rules concerning time limitation of application, expiration, transferability, occupancy, and work exempt from a permit shall be as specified in subsection (a) above." That cross-reference means an electrical permit application expires one year after filing if the permit is not issued (Section 105.3.2), an issued permit expires one year from issuance with a 30-day window to renew before a new application and fees are required (Section 105.5), and a permit can be transferred to a new owner or contractor (Section 105.8). Section 26-3.1(a) also adds a Butte-specific exemption directly to the "Electrical" work-exempt list: "No permits shall be required for the installation, alteration or repair of agricultural water pumps used solely for agricultural purposes."