Santa Barbara County, CA Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Santa Barbara County Code Sec. 1 adopts the California Electrical Code, 2025 Edition, promulgated by the California Building Standards Commission and based on the 2020 National Electrical Code, as the primary electrical code for the unincorporated area. Everything else defaults to needing a permit, but County Code Sec. 1(b) exempts nine categories of minor electrical work: portable, cord-connected motors and appliances; repair or replacement of a fixed motor, transformer, or approved fixed appliance of the same type, rating, and location; temporary cord-connected decorative lighting; reinstalling attachment-plug receptacles (not the outlets themselves); replacing an over-current device of the same capacity in the same location; repairing or replacing electrodes or transformers of the same size for approved signs or gas-tube systems; removing abandoned electrical wiring; wiring or equipment operating under 25 volts and incapable of supplying more than 50 watts; and low-energy Class II and III power, control, and signal circuits.

Beyond one-off jobs, Sec. 1) lets the Building Official issue an annual maintenance permit to a qualified contractor who regularly repairs or maintains existing electrical, plumbing, or mechanical systems, covering work at a single site; the permit holder must report all completed work to the Building Official monthly and pay an annual issuance fee plus hourly inspection charges set by Board resolution. If the Building Official finds an electrical system poses an immediate hazard to life or property, Sec. B) authorizes ordering it disconnected or removed on the spot, independent of the normal permit process.