Code Compliance & Title 24
A new code cycle took effect on January 1, 2026. If your last project was permitted under the old one, some of what you know is out of date.
Get this handled
Book a visit with an arrival window, or call and talk it through with someone who knows the answer.
What changed on January 1, 2026
Permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2026 fall under the 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, the 2025 California Electrical Code (based on the 2023 NEC), and the 2025 CALGreen standards. The short version of what it means for a commercial building in Fresno:
- Lighting controls tightened again. The Tailored Method is gone. Daylight-responsive controls now trigger at 75 watts of general lighting in a daylit zone, with an exception for secondary sidelit zones under 85 watts. General lighting must dim continuously from 100 percent down to 10 — legacy HID and induction sources need only one control step between 30 and 70 percent.
- Sign lighting is restricted to LED and neon. High pressure sodium, metal halide, fluorescent and CFL signs no longer comply.
- Battery energy storage is mandatory on new buildings that require photovoltaic.
- Newly constructed commercial kitchens must be built electric-ready, with branch circuits and service capacity sized for electric cooking equipment. Healthcare and already-all-electric kitchens are exempt. This attaches to new construction — a remodel of an existing kitchen is a different question, and worth asking before you design around it.
- CALGreen EV requirements scale by parking count and now trigger on alterations, including adding parking, installing solar over spaces, or electrical work requiring trenching. Restriping alone does not trigger them.
Where we help
- Reading a project against the current cycle before you are deep into design
- Lighting control design and acceptance testing
- Load calculations and service capacity planning for electric-ready requirements
- EV infrastructure counts and rough-in
- Correcting deficiencies found at inspection or during due diligence
Why we put this on a page
Very few contractors in this market publish anything about Title 24. That is not because it stopped mattering — it is because code pages are unglamorous and hard to keep current. You should be able to read what changed before you are standing in front of an inspector, so here it is.
Frequently asked
Does this apply to my existing building?
Can you handle acceptance testing?
Repairs & Troubleshooting
Something stopped working and you want to know why, what it costs, and when it can be fixed. That is the whole job.
Read morePanel & Service Upgrades
The panel is the one piece of your electrical system everything else depends on. When it runs out of room — or turns out to be a brand nobody will insure — everything downstream stalls.
Read moreLighting & LED Retrofits
Lighting is the cheapest way to change how a space feels and the fastest way to cut a commercial power bill. Both are worth doing properly.
Read moreTell us what is going on.
Call and talk to someone, or pick a day and an arrival window online. Either way you get a real answer, not a callback promise.