Santa Clara County Title B Building Code adopts CALGreen Title 24 Part 11 baseline plus reach-code amendments requiring cool roofing on new construction and major reroofs in unincorporated areas. Reflective materials must meet minimum solar reflectance and thermal emittance ratings under Title 24 Part 6.
Santa Clara County Code Title B incorporates the California Building Standards Code, including CALGreen Title 24 Part 11 and Energy Code Title 24 Part 6, with local reach-code amendments adopted under the OneSCC plan. Low-sloped roofs (slope less than 2:12) generally must achieve a minimum 3-year aged solar reflectance of 0.55 and thermal emittance of 0.75. Steep-sloped roofs in CEC Climate Zone 3 or 4 — covering most of Santa Clara County — must hit at least 0.20 aged solar reflectance. The Department of Planning and Development enforces during plan-check for new construction and reroofs exceeding 50 percent of total roof area. Title B reach codes layer additional CALGreen Tier 1 measures encouraged in heat-vulnerable communities.
Permits are denied for plans that fail Title 24 cool-roof requirements. Installation of non-compliant materials triggers correction notices, removal, and replacement at owner cost. Repeat contractor violations risk license referral to the Contractors State License Board for discipline.
See how Palo Alto's cool roof requirements rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.