Milpitas, CA Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Milpitas adopted the 2025 California Electrical Code, published by the National Fire Protection Agency and the California Building Standards Commission in Part 3 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, as the city's Electrical Code under Municipal Code § II-6-1.01 (Ord. No. 65.155, § 3, adopted 9/2/25), including Annexes A, B, C, D and F. Three local amendments follow in Section 2 of Chapter 6. Section II-6-2.01 requires all new electrical services to be installed underground per Electrical Code § 230.30, except when relocating or replacing an existing service at an existing building.

Section II-6-2.02 requires the building's main service disconnect to sit on the first floor level under Electrical Code § 230.70(A)(1) through (A)(3). Section II-6-2.03 requires new buildings' grounding electrode systems to use a concrete-encased electrode: at least two inches of concrete cover, at least 20 feet of steel reinforcing bar of at least half-inch diameter (or 20 feet of bare 4 AWG copper conductor), connected remotely from the main service equipment. Under Title II Chapter 1, the Building Official reviews the application, plans and fees and issues the permit (§ II-1-8.01); the permit expires if work is not commenced or inspected within 12 months, or if suspended more than 180 days, and reinstatement then costs half the original fee unless the lapse exceeds 360 days (§ II-1-8.04).

Doing electrical work in violation of Title II is unlawful (§ II-1-5.01) and is declared a public nuisance (§ II-1-6.01), and carries a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 per day (§ II-1-5.04). Permit decisions may be appealed to the Building Official under § II-1-4.01.