Irvine, CA Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

On November 12, 2025 the City Council repealed the prior Chapter 1 of the Building Regulations division and enacted a new chapter (Ord. No. 25-26 § 2, Exh. A) that adopts, by reference, ten separate California codes as the City's Building Code Regulations: the California Building Code, Residential Code, Electrical Code, Mechanical Code, Plumbing Code, Energy Code, Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Historical Building Code, Existing Building Code, and, at item 10, the California Green Building Standards Code, 2025 edition with errata, Title 24, Part 11 of the California Code of Regulations, as published by the International Code Council.

Sec. 5-9-101 states that these codes, 'as amended by the provisions of this Division of the Irvine Municipal Code,' together constitute the City's Building Code Regulations, so CALGreen's mandatory measures, including construction waste diversion, water-efficient plumbing fixtures, and energy and water-conserving building design, apply citywide alongside the companion California Building and Energy Codes rather than through a separate 'green building' chapter. The Chief Building Official within the Division of Building and Safety (Sec. 5-9-203) administers and enforces the adopted codes, including CALGreen. Because it is adopted by reference rather than rewritten locally, the enforceable text is CALGreen itself as published by the International Code Council, subject only to the specific local amendments the City Council makes elsewhere in Division 9.

Projects that violate an adopted code provision are subject to the same misdemeanor violation and appeal procedures, Board of Appeals hearings and Sec. 114 penalties, that apply to the rest of the Building Code Regulations.