Fountain Valley, CA Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

Chapter 18.28 of the Fountain Valley Municipal Code is titled California Green Building Standards Code and contains one section. Section 18.28.010 adopts the 2022 Edition of the California Green Building Standards Code, California Building Standards Code, California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Part 11, also known as the CALGreen Code, published by the International Code Council. One copy is on file in the office of the building official for public use and examination. Unlike the plumbing, electrical and mechanical chapters, this adoption does not refer to local amendments, and the chapter prints no further section, so the city applies CALGreen as published.

CALGreen sits beside the rest of the city's Title 18 package. Section 18.22.010 adopts the 2022 California Energy Code, Title 24, Part 6, and § 18.26.010 adopts the 2022 California Existing Building Code, Title 24, Part 10. Section 18.02.010 makes Chapter 1 of the 2022 California Building Code and the 2022 California Administrative Code the administrative, organizational and enforcement rules for every technical code in the title, and § 18.02.020 places enforcement with the building official.

Permit-side rules apply to green building work like any other construction. Under § 18.04.030 a person who starts work before obtaining the necessary permits pays a penalty equal to double the permit fees, and the Building Official can require a special investigation at a cost set by resolution. Section 18.04.025 adds Section 105.8 to the building code: if the value of a reconstruction or renovation equals or exceeds 75 percent of the value of the building, the entire building must comply with the provisions for new construction, and the value counts all construction stemming from construction-related permits issued within the last two years. That means a large remodel in the City of Fountain Valley can pull the whole structure into the current code cycle.

Appeals of building-standards decisions go to the Planning Commission acting as the local appeals board under § 18.02.025. A further appeal follows the Chapter 21.60 procedures for planning commission decisions.