BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2335
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 23, 2008

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
                             Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
                  AB 2335 (Nakanishi) - As Amended:  April 14, 2008
           
          SUBJECT  :  Building permits.

           SUMMARY  :  Combines three separate statutory provisions  
          concerning forms, declarations, and notice to the property owner  
          relating to the issuance of building permits into a single  
          provision that combines and modifies the existing forms,  
          declarations, and notice to the property owner and expands the  
          acknowledgments property owners are required to make by  
          requiring them to explicitly acknowledge that they understand or  
          verify specified information. 

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Requires each jurisdiction to require of every applicant for a  
            building permit, to provide declarations attesting to building  
            project identification, licensed contractor's or  
            owner-builder's status, workers compensation coverage, the  
            name of participating construction lending agency, and  
            expressed permission for jurisdiction officials to enter upon  
            the property for the purpose of inspection.

          2)Requires, under a separate statute, each jurisdiction to  
            follow-up every owner-builder application with an  
            informational notice to the owner of the property, informing  
            the property owner that an owner-builder permit has been filed  
            in his/her name, and that there are rules and risks that  
            accrue to the property owner associated with this action. 

          3)Requires, under a separate statute, each jurisdiction to  
            attach to the above notice to the property owner an additional  
            form verifying to the jurisdiction that the owner of the  
            property is aware of, and agrees to an owner-builder permit  
            being issued in his/her name; and further declares the method  
            and scope of property owner participation in the proposed  
            construction which the property owner is required to fill out,  
            sign, and return before each owner-builder permit can legally  
            be issued. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None








                                                                  AB 2335
                                                                  Page  2


           COMMENTS  :

          1)According to the author and sponsors of AB 2335, the three  
            separate provisions of the Health & Safety Code pertaining to  
            declarations, forms, and notices required before a building  
            permit can be issued are both unnecessarily duplicative and  
            confusing to the applicant property owner, and issuing  
            jurisdiction alike. These statutes are meant to provide a  
            legal safety-net for both parties to the process, but, due to  
            the confusion created by overlapping requirements in three  
            different parts of the code, the end result is often more  
            legal trouble rather than less, due to too-hasty review and  
            signing, omission of needed actions, or excessive paperwork  
            going astray.

          2)AB 2335 simplifies and streamlines the building permit process  
            by combining the three separate provisions of the Health and  
            Safety Code into one provision incorporating the essential  
            elements into one model application form.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          CA Building Officials [CO-SPONSOR] 
          Contractor State License Board [CO-SPONSOR]
          CA Spa and Pool Industry Education Council

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    J. Stacey Sullivan / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958