Last week Governor Newsom signed AB-1738, a bill that will greatly benefit residents of multifamily buildings who currently own or will own electric vehicles. The California Building Standards Law previously established the California Building Standards Commission under the Department of General Services. This commission is responsible for approving and adopting building standards and incorporating them into the California Building Standards Code.

Before the bill was signed, the Department of Housing and Community Development was required to propose mandatory building standards for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in multifamily dwellings to the commission for consideration. The commission was then required to adopt, approve, codify, and publish these standards for both multifamily and nonresidential development.

Now, under AB-1738, the commission and Department of Housing and Community Development are required to research and develop mandatory building standards for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations with low power level 2 or higher electric vehicle chargers in existing multifamily dwellings during specific retrofits, additions, and alterations to existing parking facilities. These standards will be proposed for adoption in the next triennial edition of the California Building Standards Code.

Furthermore, this law mandates that the Department of Housing and Community Development and the commission must review and update these building standards every triennial code cycle until specified goals are met.