We Need Your Help: Support AB 306, the AIA California-Sponsored Building Code Appeals Reform Bill
AB 306 has cleared every Senate committee and is headed to the Senate Floor for a vote. Now is the time for AIA California members to make their voices heard.
AIA California is proud to sponsor AB 306 (Schultz, Hadwick & Wicks), which would improve consistency, transparency, and accountability in California’s building code system.
The bill has successfully passed through the Senate Housing, Local Government, and Appropriations Committees and is now before the full Senate. With the Legislature entering the final weeks of the session, we need your help to get AB 306 across the finish line.
Take Action Now
We are asking AIA California members and firms to send a letter to their State Senator urging an AYE vote on AB 306. Both individual architects and architecture firms can submit letters, and every voice helps demonstrate the importance of this issue to California’s design and construction community.
Taking action is easy:
If you or your firm submits a letter, please let us know! Send a quick note or a copy of your letter to sterrell@aiacalifornia.org so we can track member engagement and strengthen our advocacy efforts.
Why AB 306 Matters
California has statewide building standards, yet those standards are interpreted and applied independently by more than 540 local jurisdictions. As a result, identical code provisions can be interpreted differently from city to city, innovative materials and construction methods often require separate approvals in multiple jurisdictions, and local code interpretations can create unintended barriers to housing production and adaptive reuse.
These inconsistencies create uncertainty, increase project costs, delay housing delivery, and make it more difficult to scale innovation across California.
AB 306 addresses this challenge by creating a more practical statewide framework for resolving significant building code disputes, code interpretations, and code equivalency determinations while improving transparency in code administration.
A Long-Developing Proposal
The concepts behind AB 306 have been discussed for years by housing, construction, and design stakeholders and are modeled after similar successful programs at the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Division of the State Architect, which have established processes for resolving code interpretations and appeals.
The issue was also highlighted through discussions convened by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, which identified inconsistent code interpretations as a barrier to housing production and innovation. More recently, the proposal was included among the recommendations of the Assembly Select Committee on Housing Construction Innovation.
What AB 306 Would Do
AB 306 would:
Preserving Local Authority
AB 306 does not eliminate local control or weaken California’s building safety standards. Local governments would continue to retain their existing authority over local conditions and project-specific decisions.
Rather than replacing local authority, the bill creates a statewide framework for addressing building code issues whose impacts extend beyond a single project or jurisdiction.
We Need Your Help to Get AB 306 Across the Finish Line
AB 306 has made it through the committee process. Now it needs the support of the full Senate.
This is the moment when outreach from architects and firms across California can make a real difference. Please contact your State Senator and urge them to vote AYE on AB 306 when it comes before the Senate Floor.
Together, we can help create a more transparent, predictable, and efficient building code system that supports housing delivery, adaptive reuse, and innovation while maintaining California’s commitment to public health, safety, and welfare.
Find your State Senator here
Download a Form Support Letter here
And remember: if you or your firm submits a letter, please let us know by emailing sterrell@aiacalifornia.org.
