AB 2418 rewrites California’s rules for local review of nonresidential building permit plans by creating a temporary (through Jan. 1, 2037) framework that lets applicants push plan review out to private, certified engineers or architects when local review would be delayed. The bill requires a local agency, once an application is deemed complete, to give an estimated timeframe for review; if that estimate or actual performance would cause an “excessive delay,” the applicant may ask the city or county to contract for private plan checking or, when no qualified private entities are available, retain a private professional provider at the applicant’s own expense.
The bill creates concrete process steps — a five‑business‑day notice to the jurisdiction, an affidavit under penalty of perjury from the private reviewer, a 10‑business‑day local response window, and an automatic deeming/approval rule if the jurisdiction fails to act — and couples those with indemnity and immunity shifts that move a significant portion of construction risk onto applicants and private reviewers. It also requires posting of nonresidential permit fee schedules and faster final inspections for specified occupancy groups.
At a Glance
What It Does
After an application is deemed complete, the local agency must provide an estimated timeframe for determining compliance; if that timeframe or an actual delay would be excessive, the applicant can request that the agency contract with a private plan‑checking entity or, if none are available, retain an independent certified engineer or architect to perform the check. The private reviewer must file an affidavit under penalty of perjury and the local agency has 10 business days to act on the accompanying report or the permit can be deemed approved.
Who It Affects
Nonresidential developers, tenants doing remodels or tenant improvements (one to three stories, excluding hotels/motels and several exempt categories), licensed architects and engineers who hold specified plan‑examiner certifications, and local building departments responsible for posting fee schedules and meeting new response and inspection deadlines.
Why It Matters
The bill shortens the excessive‑delay threshold, creates an expedited private review path that can effectively convert local review into a certifier‑led process with a deemed approval backstop, and reallocates liability through indemnity and statutory immunity — all of which change operational, legal, and insurance dynamics for permit applicants and local governments.
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What This Bill Actually Does
AB 2418 sets up a fast‑track workaround for local plan backlog. Once an applicant’s nonresidential permit application is formally deemed complete under state permit‑streamlining rules, the local building department must give a written estimate of how long it will take to determine whether the plans meet applicable code and local standards.
If that estimate would produce an “excessive delay” or if the department actually takes too long, the applicant can demand that the local agency hire private plan‑checking resources to complete the review. The statute defines the timelines that trigger this option and narrows the kinds of projects that qualify.
If the local agency cannot identify available or qualified private entities to perform the contracted review, the applicant may hire, at their own expense, a “private professional provider” — specifically, a licensed architect or professional engineer who also holds an accepted plans‑examiner certification. The provider must prepare an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, stating whether the submitted plans comply, and the applicant must submit a plan‑check report that may include proposed corrections.
The city or county has 10 business days to consider that report and either issue the permit or issue a written noncompliance notice specifying required corrections; if the jurisdiction fails to act and the affidavit asserts compliance, the plans are deemed compliant and the permit considered approved.The bill also changes how these private reviews interact with the Permit Streamlining Act: when a private professional provider performs the plan check, the local agency is treated as having complied with the Act’s completeness‑and‑timeliness rules for the nonresidential permit. On liability, AB 2418 requires the applicant to indemnify the public agency for property damage or personal injury resulting from construction based on a private plan check, and it expressly removes public‑entity liability under the Government Code for acts or omissions tied to issuing or denying permits under this new process.
Finally, the statute requires cities and counties that set nonresidential permit fees to publish a fee schedule online and mandates a building inspection within 10 business days after a contractor notifies completion for certain occupancy groups.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill shortens the defined “excessive delay” for an initial structural plan check from 50 days to 30 days after a complete application has been submitted.
If local review would exceed that timeframe (or if an excessive delay occurs), the applicant may request the jurisdiction hire private plan‑checking resources; if the jurisdiction finds none available, the applicant may hire a private professional provider at their own cost.
A private professional provider must file an affidavit under penalty of perjury stating whether plans comply; the local agency then has 10 business days to act on the provider’s report or, if it does not and the affidavit asserts compliance, the permit is deemed approved.
The bill shifts legal risk: the applicant must indemnify the local agency for damages from construction per a privately checked plan, and the public entity receives statutory immunity from liability tied to issuance or denial of permits under this process.
AB 2418 requires localities that charge nonresidential permit fees to post a fee schedule online and mandates a final inspection within 10 business days of a completion notice for certain California Building Code occupancy groups; the whole package sunsets January 1, 2037.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Private plan checks, applicant notice, affidavit, and deemed approval
This recast statutory text establishes the core operational pathway: after an application is deemed complete, the local agency must give an estimated review timeframe; the applicant may request private plan checking if the estimate or actual performance would be an excessive delay. If the applicant uses a private professional provider, that provider must produce an affidavit under penalty of perjury and the applicant must submit a detailed report including needed corrections. The local agency then has 10 business days to accept the report and issue the permit or to issue a written noncompliance notice. If the agency fails to act and the affidavit states compliance, the plans are deemed compliant and the permit deemed approved.
Narrow scope, tightened timelines, and exclusions
The bill narrows the eligible project types (new nonresidential buildings with no occupied floors over 40 feet, or tenant improvements/remodels one to three stories) and excludes health facilities, public buildings, and buildings with occupied floors more than 40 feet above access. It shortens the initial excessive‑delay trigger to 30 days and preserves a 60‑day window for resubmitted corrections. These definitions control the universe of projects that can use the private review route and set the specific deadline triggers compliance officers will have to monitor.
Indemnity requirement and public‑entity immunity
When a private professional provider does the plan check, the applicant must indemnify the local agency for any property damage or personal injury resulting from construction in accordance with those plans. The provision also overrides Government Code Section 815.6 to provide the public entity and public employees statutory immunity for discretionary or ministerial acts or omissions related to issuing or denying permits under this process. Practically, this reduces the legal exposure of local agencies while shifting risk onto applicants and their hired reviewers.
Temporary replacement and reversion trigger
The bill inserts a separate version of §19837 that echoes the pre‑amendment language and sets that text to become operative on January 1, 2037. In effect, the private‑plan‑check regime and associated rules in the amended §19837 are time‑limited: they exist only through the sunset date, after which the statute reverts to the alternative text laid out here. Compliance officers should track the statutory expiration when evaluating long‑term policy changes and administrative practices.
Fee schedules and public posting
Local governing bodies retain authority to set permit filing fees but the statute requires any jurisdiction that prescribes nonresidential building permit fees to prepare a fee schedule and publish it on its website. The fees remain subject to the standard limitation that they not exceed the reasonable cost of issuing permits and must be imposed under Government Code §66016. This is an operational transparency step that enables applicants to anticipate costs and challenge fee calculations.
10‑business‑day inspection requirement for selected occupancy groups
For specified occupancy groups listed by California Building Code chapter (A‑type assemblies, B, E, F, M, S, U, etc.), the local building department must perform a permitted‑work inspection within 10 business days after receiving notice that the permitted work is complete. This creates a fast final‑inspection obligation tied to the same set of projects that are likely to use the private plan‑check pathway, imposing a concrete operational deadline on field inspection teams.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Nonresidential applicants and developers: They get an escape valve from local backlog via private plan checking and a statutory backstop (deemed approval) if the jurisdiction does not act within 10 business days after receiving a certified report.
- Licensed architects and professional engineers with plans‑examiner certifications: The statute creates fee‑bearing opportunities for certified reviewers to perform private plan checks for applicants who pay out of pocket.
- Local economies and construction trades: By shortening delay thresholds and enabling private reviews, the bill aims to reduce permit‑related project slippage that can stall construction schedules and local project pipelines.
- Applicants who value predictability: The required fee schedule posting and concrete deadlines for inspection and permit action improve transparency about timing and costs.
Who Bears the Cost
- Applicants (developers, owners, tenants): They may have to pay for a private professional provider when the jurisdiction cannot identify qualified entities, and they assume indemnity obligations for consequences of construction following a private review.
- Local building departments: While the bill reduces liability risk, departments must produce written time estimates, post fee schedules, respond within 10 business days to private reports, and meet the new inspection timeline — all administrative burdens that require staffing and process changes.
- Local governments’ inspection staff and operations: The 10‑day inspection mandate pressures field resources and could increase overtime or require hiring to meet the new turnaround standard.
- Insurers and sureties: Carriers will face shifted risk profiles as applicants and private reviewers assume greater legal and financial exposure, likely affecting premiums and underwriting practices for professional liability and construction policies.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill tries to reconcile two legitimate but conflicting aims: accelerate nonresidential permitting to keep projects moving, versus preserve robust public oversight and distribute construction safety risk appropriately. Speed and private certification reduce delay but concentrate risk on applicants and private reviewers while diminishing the public agency’s practical role in final safety determinations.
AB 2418 speeds permit processing by empowering certified private reviewers and imposing tight local response windows, but it raises multiple implementation and policy questions. The bill’s deem‑approval mechanic (permit deemed approved if the jurisdiction fails to act after receiving an affidavit asserting compliance) is a powerful remedy for applicants, yet it hinges on the integrity and qualifications of private reviewers; the statute attempts to manage that with certification requirements and an affidavit under penalty of perjury, but it leaves open how local agencies will vet and recognize out‑of‑jurisdiction or alternative certifications.
The practical effect may be a higher demand for certain ICC/IA compliance certifications and a race among providers to offer plan checks for projects where timing matters most.
Shifting liability toward applicants through indemnity and carving out public‑entity liability is administratively tidy for local governments but transfers substantial residual risk to owners, designers, and their insurers. That reallocation could reduce litigation against public entities, but it may also depress trust in private reviews if applicants lack deep pockets or if professional liability claims increase.
Smaller jurisdictions with tight budgets may struggle to comply with the new posting, timing, and inspection duties, especially if fee schedules are contested or slow to generate revenue. Finally, the sunset date (Jan. 1, 2037) creates a decade‑plus pilot; agencies and stakeholders will need to monitor outcomes to decide whether to embed these practices permanently or let them lapse.
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