Santa Ana, CA Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- SAMC § 8-667 (Ch. 8, Electrical Code)
- Adopted code
- California Electrical Code, 2025 Edition
- Annex adopted
- Informative Annex A, Product Safety Standards
- Authority
- City Charter § 419; Health & Safety Code § 18942(d)(1)
- Conflict rule
- most restrictive requirement governs (§ 8-668)
- Permit eligibility
- licensed contractor or owner-builder only (§ 8-6)
- Penalty
- up to $1,000 fine and/or 6 months jail
Summary
Santa Ana adopts the California Electrical Code, 2025 Edition, plus its Informative Annex A on product safety standards, as the city electrical code under Municipal Code § 8-667. A copy is kept on file with the city clerk under Health and Safety Code § 18942(d)(1), and only a licensed contractor or an owner performing their own work may obtain an electrical permit.
There is adopted by the city that certain code known as the California Electrical Code 2025 Edition and the administrative provisions set forth herein, (hereinafter referred to in this article as the "Electrical Code") together with subsequent supplements, amendments, or editions, which shall become effective, adopted, and incorporated by reference into this Code on the date specified by the state building standards commission, unless specifically adopted prior to that date, of which not less than one (1) copy of said Code has been and is now on file in the office of the city clerk of the city pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 18942(d)(1) and are made available for public inspection. The electrical code is adopted and incorporated by reference as though fully set forth at length herein as provided for in section 419 of the Charter of the city, except for the changes to the electrical code set forth in this chapter of this code that specifically amend the electrical code.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 32).
Full Breakdown
Section 8-667, last amended by Ordinance No. NS-3088 on January 20, 2026, adopts the California Electrical Code, 2025 Edition, together with Informative Annex A (Product Safety Standards), as the city electrical code, incorporated by reference under Section 419 of the Santa Ana Charter. State law requires the city to keep at least one copy on file with the city clerk for public inspection under Health and Safety Code Section 18942(d)(1), and any prior Santa Ana amendment to an earlier electrical code edition is construed as carrying over to the equivalent 2025-edition section.
' As with plumbing and building permits, Section 8-6 limits who may obtain an electrical permit to a licensed contractor, that contractor's employee or authorized representative, a representative of a subscribed service acting for a licensed contractor, or the property owner performing their own work with proof of workers' compensation insurance where an employee is involved. Larger projects, 20 or more residential units or 20,000 square feet or more of commercial or industrial space, must disclose every subcontractor's license and insurance status, and any Labor Code violations from the prior five years, before the permit issues.
Fees for electrical permits, plan review and inspections are fixed by city council resolution under Section 8-5, which overrides any fee schedule in the adopted Electrical Code itself.
Violations & Fines
Electrical work performed without the required permit or by an unlicensed contractor is deemed unpermitted under Section 8-6(e) and is punishable under Section 8-7's reference to the citywide general penalty in Section 1-8: up to a $1,000 fine, six months in jail, or both, prosecutable as a misdemeanor or, at the city attorney's discretion, an infraction, with each day of continued violation a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Ana
California rules heatmap·Compare Santa Ana to another location·View the California building safety overview
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