Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, requires each public agency to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the information that will be required from any applicant for a development project.

This bill would require a developer, prior to seeking all the required land use approvals or entitlements necessary for the issuance of a building permit for a proposed development project in a high fire or very high fire hazard severity zone, as defined, to make a good faith effort to obtain a minimum of 2 insurance quotes, as provided, that contain estimates of the cost to insure the structures or units that will be built as part of the development project. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to require a developer to submit those insurance quotes as part of the applications for all the required land use approvals or entitlements, or to report that it was not able to obtain those insurance quotes. The bill would also require a developer to submit those insurance quotes to the Department of Real Estate and the Department of Insurance.

Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, continues into existence the California Building Standards Commission and requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code.

This bill, on and after June 1, 2031, would require a developer of a new development that is unable to obtain the insurance quotes described above to ensure that a structure or unit located in a high fire hazard severity zone area meets the applicable building standard requirements adopted by the commission for a very high fire hazard severity zone and that a structure or unit located in a very high fire hazard severity zone area meets the applicable highest level of wildfire building standards adopted by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.

This bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.