Health & Saf. Code, § 18938 · Chapter 4. The California Building Standards Code
Health & Saf. Code, § 18938
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Building standards shall be filed with the Secretary of State and codified only after they have been approved by the commission and shall not be published in any other title of the California Code of Regulations. Emergency building standards shall be filed with the Secretary of State and shall take effect only after they have been approved by the commission as required by Section 18937. The filing of building standards adopted or approved pursuant to this part, or any certification with respect thereto, with the Secretary of State, or elsewhere as required by law, shall be done solely by the commission.
(b) The building standards contained in the model codes described in Section 18916 and adopted by reference into the California Building Standards Code and any other building standards adopted into the California Building Standards Code shall apply to all occupancies throughout the state and shall become effective 180 days after publication in the California Building Standards Code by the California Building Standards Commission or at a later date after publication established by the commission.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, an adoption, amendment, or repeal of a building standard shall become effective 180 days after its publication in the triennial edition of the California Building Standards Code or one of its supplements, or at any later date as approved by the California Building Standards Commission, with the exceptions of standards adopted pursuant to Section 25402 of the Public Resources Code and those regulations that implement or enforce building standards. Regulations that implement or enforce building standards shall become effective 30 days after filing by the commission with the Secretary of State. This subdivision shall not apply to emergency building standards. An amendment or a repeal of a building standard in the California Building Standards Code that, as determined by the commission, would result in a less restrictive regulation, shall become effective 30 days after filing of the amendment or repeal by the commission with the Secretary of State.
(d) Emergency standards defined in subdivision (a) of Section 18913 shall become effective when approved by the commission, and filed with the Secretary of State, or upon any later date specified therein, and remain in effect as provided by Section 11346.1 of the Government Code and Section 18937 of this code. Emergency standards shall be distributed as soon as practicable after publication to all interested and affected parties. Notice of repeal, pursuant to Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, of emergency standards defined in subdivision (a) of Section 18913 within the period specified by that section, shall also be given to the parties by the affected agencies promptly after the termination of the statutory period pursuant to Section 11346.1 of the Government Code.
(e) This section shall not be applicable to the time limits set forth in Sections 17922 and 17958 for approval of uniform codes and for changes by local agencies in the California Building Standards Code.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 418, Sec. 4. (AB 1714) Effective January 1, 2018.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=18938.
- Text hash
- sha256 99381c93c4def4180839d646f23eef80183f9acfbe58e9a453cbabdde5a9ebaf
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Health and Safety Code
- Health & Saf. Code, § 17922Printed as Sections 17922 and 17958
- Health & Saf. Code, § 17958Printed as Sections 17922 and 17958
- Health & Saf. Code, § 18913Printed as Section 18913
- Health & Saf. Code, § 18916Printed as Section 18916
- Health & Saf. Code, § 18937Printed as Section 18937 | Section 18937 of this code
Public Resources Code
Cited by 18 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Health & Saf. Code, § 18938. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Business and Professions Code
Education Code
Food and Agricultural Code
Government Code
Health and Safety Code
- Health & Saf. Code, § 25Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Health & Saf. Code, § 17042Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945
- Health & Saf. Code, § 17921.7Printed as Section 18938
- Health & Saf. Code, § 18938.3Printed as Sections 17922 and 18938
- Health & Saf. Code, § 50152.5Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944 and 18945 of this code
Public Resources Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 514Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 611Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 712Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 3112Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 4120Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 5003.8Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 6111Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
- Pub. Resources Code, § 30333.2Printed as Sections 18930, 18933, 18938, 18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.