Contra Costa County, CA Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

Ordinance Code § 74-4.006 amends the 2025 California Green Building Standards Code (CGBSC) as adopted countywide under § 74-2.002(g). Amended CGBSC Section 301.1.1 extends the mandatory construction-waste provisions of Section 4.408 to additions, alterations and demolitions of existing residential buildings, and amended Section 301.3.2 requires the equivalent Section 5.408 diversion standard whenever a permit is required for the work. The operative numeric standard, amended Section 4.408.1, requires a project to recycle and/or salvage for reuse a minimum of 65 percent of the nonhazardous construction and demolition waste it generates.

To document that, amended Section 4.408.2 requires the applicant to submit a construction waste management plan before the county issues the building permit, identifying which materials will be diverted, whether they will be source-separated or bulk mixed, which diversion or disposal facilities and hauling companies will be used, and how the tonnage of debris will be weighed or otherwise measured. Excavated soil and land-clearing debris are exempted from the diversion count, and the enforcing agency may accept alternate reduction requirements if the owner or contractor shows that diversion facilities are unavailable near the jobsite.

Before final inspection, amended Section 4.408.5 requires a construction waste management final report with weight documentation and receipts from every receiving facility, substantiating the diverted and disposed tonnage claimed in the plan. Nonresidential projects face the parallel 65 percent standard under amended Section 5.408.1. The same amendment package separately requires at least 10 percent of multifamily parking spaces to carry fully-operational Level 2 EV charging equipment under amended Section 4.106.4.2.2.