California Historical Building Code
Title 24 Part 8
By Perry A. Tabor, P.E.
The California Historical Building Code (CHBC) provides specific regulations (alternative building codes) for the preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, relocation or reconstruction of qualified historic buildings or properties so as to preserve their original or restored architectural elements and features. At the same time, it provides for the safety of occupants and for the reasonable accommodation of people with disabilities.
While these alternative solutions are intended to protect historic buildings from the adverse impact of certain requirements of the regular building code, they also translate into cost-effective incentives as described by the California Office of Historic Preservation.
A "qualified historical building" is defined as any building, group of buildings, district, site or object, which is listed by any level of government as having historic importance. This also includes those resources listed in the State of California's evaluated inventory, and given any level of significance other than "not eligible." Also included are ships and railroad rolling stock of historical significance.
The CHBC recognizes and endorses the need - on a case-by-case basis - to find and adopt reasonable alternative situations where strict compliance with established statutes or regulations would jeopardize the historic building's appearance or rehabilitation economic viability (i.e., full upgrade of building).
The "triggers" for full upgrading to current standards, with respect to length of vacancy, change of occupancy, or percentage of value of the work proposed, and which exist in other codes, are not recognized by the CHBC, which concentrates instead on the preservation-sensitive resolution of genuine safety considerations.
Structural/seismic upgrading issues are governed by the CHBC, permitting design based on real values (performance) of archaic materials and solutions based on engineering principles and professional judgment (providing a framework within which unique solutions may be custom tailored to the specific problems related to each unique historic resource), rather than solutions limited to code-based (pre- scriptive) formulas. This flexibility usually translates into a higher degree of retention of the historic fabric.
You may very well benefit if your building qualifies as a "historical building."
Here are some places to research whether your property "qualifies":
- The Office of Historic Preservation: computer lists of the National Register and California Register
- Local planning office: usually the best place to find local lists
- Local heritage or history commissions
- Local neighborhood or preservation organizations: these groups may have access to official lists but can't create official lists
- Local, state and federal agencies that promulgate projects: CalTrans, Department of Water Resources, Department of General Services/ Real Estate Services Division, local water agencies and local public works departments
April 2008 Builder Architect Edition Issue