Pacifica, CA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)
Key Facts
- Adopted code
- 2024 International Property Maintenance Code
- Adopting section
- Pacifica Municipal Code § 8-5.01
- Included appendix
- Appendix A, Boarding Standard
- Chapters adopted
- IPMC Chapters 1 through 8
- Local title change
- Renamed for City of Pacifica at § 8-5.02
- Max misdemeanor penalty
- $1,000 fine or 6 months jail
Summary
In the City of Pacifica, minimum habitability and maintenance standards for existing structures, including rental housing, come from the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code, adopted by reference at Municipal Code Section 8-5.01. The chapter also folds in the IPMC's Appendix A, the Boarding Standard, and requires noncompliant existing structures and premises to be altered or repaired to meet the minimum health and safety level the Code sets.
Sec. 8-5.01. - Adoption of the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code. For the purpose to ensure public health, safety and welfare insofar as they are affected by the continued occupancy and maintenance of structures and premises, existing structures and premises that do not comply with these provisions shall be altered or repaired to provide a minimum level of health and safety as required herein, Chapters 1 through 8, including Appendix A ("Boarding Standard") of that certain code designated as the International Property Maintenance Code, 2024 Edition published by the International Code Council, which is on file in the office of the City Clerk for public record and inspection, is hereby adopted by reference and made a part of this chapter as though set forth in this chapter in full, subject, however, to the amendments, additions, and deletions set forth in this chapter, and said Code shall be known as the Property Maintenance Code for the City.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 5 of Title 8 adopts Chapters 1 through 8 of the International Property Maintenance Code, 2024 Edition, published by the International Code Council, plus Appendix A, the Boarding Standard, governing structures that have been boarded up rather than repaired or demolished. 01 states the purpose directly: to ensure public health, safety and welfare as affected by the continued occupancy and maintenance of structures and premises, and to require that existing structures and premises that do not comply be altered or repaired to a minimum level of health and safety.
, effective January 1, 2026, keeping Pacifica's Property Maintenance Code aligned with the current state amendment cycle; a copy is on file for public inspection at the office of the City Clerk. 02 makes one further local edit, retitling the code as the International Property Maintenance Code of the City of Pacifica rather than using the generic ICC title. The Property Maintenance Code is not written as a landlord-tenant statute; it applies to the physical condition of structures and premises generally, which is why it is the tool Code Enforcement and the Building Division use against a substandard rental unit as much as against any other noncompliant structure or vacant building in the City of Pacifica.
Violations & Fines
Because the Property Maintenance Code is adopted by reference into Title 8, Section 1-2.01 supplies the penalty: violating any provision is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, up to six months in county jail, or both, with the City Attorney able to charge it instead as an infraction carrying escalating $100, $200 and $500 fines for repeat violations within a year. Each day a substandard condition continues is a separate offense, and the City can also summarily abate a public nuisance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Pacifica have its own habitability code for rentals?
What does the Boarding Standard appendix cover in Pacifica?
What edition of the maintenance code applies in Pacifica right now?
What happens if a landlord ignores a maintenance code violation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pacifica
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