Building

The Permit Counter Section is responsible for the administration of the building permit process - including screening projects for zoning conformance, screening building plans at intake to be sure they are reviewable by all appropriate agencies; routing plans to review agencies and tracking/monitoring the review process; preparing two final sets of plans; calculating fees; issuing permits; and communicating with applicants.

The Building Plan Check function of the Department is responsible for reviewing each set of building plans for compliance with the building, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, energy and accessibility codes.

The Building Inspections unit is responsible for inspecting all permitted work to ensure it conforms to the approved plans, or to the appropriate codes and land ordinances when there are no plans.

Building Design - 2010 Code Criteria

New Building Codes: Effective January 1, 2011 the County of Santa Cruz adopted new building codes. These codes are: 2010 California Building Code (CBC), 2010 California Electric Code (CEC), 2010 California Plumbing Code (CPC), 2010 California Mechanical Code (CMC), 2008 California Energy Code, 2010 California Historical Code, 2010 California Residential Code, 2010 California Green Building Code.

Find out about the changes and additions in this brochure: Substantial Changes and Additions to the New 2010 California Codes.

These California codes are adopted by reference in County Code Chapter 12.10 and users should refer to both County Code Chapter 12.10 and the California codes in researching code issues.

Code books are available for review at the Planning Department records room counter on the 4th Floor of the County Building at 701 Ocean and at the office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors on the 5th Floor.

California codes can be purchased online at the International Code Council web site: www.iccsafe.org  - ICC Store - State and Local Codes.