Redlands, CA Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

Chapter 15.06 of the City Code adopts the 2025 California Residential Code, including Appendices BF, BO, BJ and CI, as the city's Residential Building Code under section 15.06.010. Section 15.06.070(A) amends CRC Appendix CI section 115922(a) to state that a building permit issuance is the event that triggers the pool safety mandate: when a permit is issued for construction of a new pool and/or spa, or the remodeling of an existing pool and/or spa, at a private single-family home, the pool or spa must carry the required drowning-prevention features.

That permit runs through the same Chapter 15.04 process that governs all residential construction, since section 15.06.030 directs applicants to Chapter 15.04's temporary-occupancy and appeals provisions, and section 15.06.040 sends board-of-appeals questions on residential permits to the same Chapter 15.04 procedure used for the California Building Code. Section 15.04.020 separately exempts only fences up to 6 feet and retaining walls up to 3 feet from a standalone building permit, and expressly carves out any fence that serves as a swimming pool enclosure under section 15.06.080, meaning pool enclosure fencing does not get the general fence exemption and must be reviewed with the pool permit itself.

Geotechnical work tied to new pool construction on sloped or expansive soils can also trigger the section 15.06.050 geotechnical evaluation requirement applied to new construction generally. Permit review, plan checking, and inspection for the pool proceed through the Department of Building and Safety, and the Chief Building Official may suspend or revoke a permit for site violations under the amended CBC section 105.6 procedure incorporated into Chapter 15.04.