Lakewood, CA Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Section 8300 adopts the California Electrical Code, 2025 Edition, as the electrical code of the City of Lakewood, most recently reaffirmed by Ordinance No. 2025-2 on November 11, 2025, and states that where the Lakewood Municipal Code conflicts with the Los Angeles County Electrical Code or Title 27 of the county code, the city's provisions control. Section 8305 amends Section 82-1 of the Electrical Code to spell out the actual permit requirement: no person may do or cause to be done any electrical work regulated by the Code without first securing a permit from the Chief Electrical Inspector, subject only to narrow exceptions in Building Code Sections 303(f) and 304(a).

This is one place where Lakewood's status as a contract city shows up directly in the ordinance text: § 8301 defines the Chief Electrical Inspector as the Director of Public Works of the County of Los Angeles, not a city employee, so permit review and field inspection for electrical work run through the county's inspection staff even though the city writes its own amendments and controls in a conflict. A narrow permit exception carved out at § 8306 covers Southern California Edison's installation of radio-controlled load-management relays on private air conditioning equipment, provided the relay is Underwriters Laboratories-listed, the Chief Electrical Inspector approves the installation specifications, and Edison or its contractor installs and maintains the units.