Pasadena, CA Fire Regulations: Propane Storage (2026)

Pasadena Municipal Code Section 14.28.280 amends Section 6101.3 of the California Fire Code, titled "Construction documents," to set the threshold at which an LP-gas installer must submit construction documents to the city before installing a container. A single container exceeding 20 gallons in water capacity, or an aggregate of containers on one property exceeding 40 gallons, triggers the documentation requirement. Below those thresholds, small cylinders such as those used for portable grills or camp stoves fall outside the permit-document mandate, while larger fixed residential or commercial tanks do not.

A companion provision, Section 14.28.290, adds Section 6101.4, "Minimum testing," which requires that all tanks, primary storage, secondary containment, monitoring systems, and release-prevention or mitigation equipment associated with any hazardous material, including LP-gas, be tested for proper function according to manufacturer or design specifications, whichever standard is stricter, before the material is introduced into the system. Read together, the two sections mean a Pasadena property owner installing a larger propane tank must both file plans with the city and have the installation tested before it is charged with gas.

Both sections were adopted by Ordinance No. 7461 on November 10, 2025, as part of a full repeal and reenactment of Chapter 14.28 adopting the 2025 California Fire Code. The construction-document requirement channels larger installations through plan review by the Building and Fire Departments rather than leaving them to unsupervised private installation.