______________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________ 

_____________ 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
 

State of California
 

JOHN K. VAN DE KAMP
 

Attorney General
 

OPINION :
 

: No. 90-305
 

of :
 

: January 3, 1991
 

JOHN K. VAN DE KAMP :
 

Attorney General :
 

:
 

RONALD M. WEISKOPF :
 

Deputy Attorney General :
 

:
 

THE CALIFORNIA BUILDING STANDARDS COMMISSION has requested
 

an opinion on the following question:
 

Does Health and Safety Code section 18941.5, subdivision
 

(a), apply the building standards as they appear in the model codes
 

that are named in that subdivision, or as they have been amended and
 

appear in the California Building Standards Code, to all occupancies
 

throughout the state?
 

CONCLUSION
 

Health and Safety Code section 18941.5, subdivision (a),
 

applies the building standards of the model codes named in the
 

subdivision as they have been amended and appear in the California
 

Building Standards Code to all occupancies throughout the state.
 

ANALYSIS
 

The State Building Standards Code (Tit. 24, Cal. Code
 

Regs.) is a composite of building standards of three different
 

backgrounds: some have been adopted directly by state agencies
 

without change from building standards contained in various model
 

industry codes; some have been adapted from the model codes'
 

standards to meet California conditions; and some constitute
 

extensive additions to the model codes that have been adopted to
 

address particular California concerns. 


1. 90-305
 
 

Section 18941, subdivision (a), of the Health and Safety
 

Code1/ makes certain building standards applicable to all occupancies
 

throughout California. The subdivision provides as follows:
 

"The building standards contained in the Uniform Fire
 

Code of the International Conference of Building Officials
 

and the Western Fire Chiefs Association, Inc., the Uniform
 

Building Code of the International Conference of Building
 

Officials, the Uniform Plumbing Code of the International
 

Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, the
 

National Electrical Code of the National Fire Protection
 

Association, the Uniform Mechanical Code of the
 

International Conference of Building Officials and the
 

International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical
 

Officials as referenced in the State Building Standards
 

Code shall apply to all occupancies throughout the state
 

and shall become effective 180 days after publication in
 

the State Building Standards Code by the State Building
 

Standards Commission or at a later date after publication
 

established by the commission."
 

The question presented asks which are the building standards that the
 

subdivision makes applicable to all occupancies throughout the state:
 

those that are contained in the uniform model codes themselves as
 

adopted by the various private organizations, or those that have been
 

adapted by state agencies, through additions and deletions to those
 

found in the model codes, and are published in the State Building
 

Standards Code. We conclude they are the latter.2/
 

1. Unidentified section references hereinafter refer to
 

sections of the Health and Safety Code. Also, all references to
 

the State Building Code, the State Building Standards Code, and
 

Title 24 of the California Administrative Code, mean the California
 

Building Standards Code. (§ 18902.)


 2. Although subdivision (a) of section 19841.5 provides that
 

the building standards to which it refers are to be applicable to
 

all occupancies throughout the state, subdivisions (b) and (c) of
 

the section recognize that cities and counties might modify them
 

under certain circumstances. With respect to that authority, we
 

were also asked whether cities and counties have authority to amend
 

the building standards required by section 18941.5, subdivision
 

(a), and if so, if those amendments had to be based on local
 

climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. Subsequent to
 

entertaining the request, we were informed that the question of the
 

scope of local authority under section 18941.5 is an issue in
 

pending litigation in both federal and state court. This office
 

"has traditionally declined to provide opinions on such questions
 

while the litigation is pending." (66 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. i, iv
 

[Foreword] (1983).) 


2. 90-305
 
In answering the question our primary task is to ascertain
 

the intention of the Legislature for enacting subdivision (a) of
 

section 18941.5 so that we may interpret it in such a way as to
 

further that intent. (Cf., Sand v. Superior Court (1983) 34 Cal.3d
 

567, 570; Great Lakes Properties, Inc v. City of El Segundo (1977) 19
 

Cal.3d 152, 153.) To do so we look to the words of the subdivision
 

itself (People v. Belleci (1979) 24 Cal.3d 879, 884; Moyer v.
 

Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1973) 10 Cal.3d 222, 230), "according
 

significance, if possible, to every word, phrase and sentence in
 

pursuance of the legislative purpose." ( Dyna-Med, Inc. v. Fair
 

Employment & Housing Comm. (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1379, 1387). "A statute
 

must be construed 'in the context of the entire statutory scheme of
 

which it is a part, in order to achieve harmony among the parts.'"
 

(People v. Woodhead (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1002, 1009.)
 

The State Building Standards Law (§ 18901 et seq.) requires
 

state agencies responsible for the adoption of building standards to
 

submit them to the State Building Standards Commission for review and
 

approval (§§ 18929, 18930, 18931 subds. (a),(c)), after which they
 

are codified into the State Building Standards Code (§§ 18931, subd.
 

(b), 19839, 18940; cf. §§ 18910, 18911). The standards adopted by
 

the agencies are based in the main on standards contained in
 

"uniform" or "model" industry codes, which are developed by private
 

organizations through a consensual process among product
 

manufacturers, building industry representatives, and government
 

building officials to govern various aspects of building construction
 

within the industry's concern. (§§ 18930, subd. (a)(7); 18932, subd.
 

(c); 18941; cf. §§ 18916; 18928, 18939; see Danville Fire Protection
 

Dist. v. Duffel Financial & Constr. Co. (1976) 58 Cal.App.3d 241,
 

249; 65 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 397, 399, 401 (1982); 63 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen.
 

566, 568-570 (1980); 60 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 234, 237 (1977).)3/
 

But state agencies do not necessarily adopt building
 

standards contained in the model codes without change; to the
 

contrary, they are authorized and expected to amend them, with
 

appropriate additions or deletions, in order to tailor them to
 

particular California conditions and to address particular California
 

programs, interests, and public health and safety concerns. (Cf. §§
 

3. These would include, for example, the Uniform Housing Code
 

and the Uniform Building Code of the International Conference of
 

Building Officials, the Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform
 

Mechanical Code of the International Association of Plumbers and
 

Mechanical Officials, the National Electrical Code of the National
 

Fire Protection Association, and the Uniform Fire Code of the
 

International Conference of Building Officials and the Western Fire
 

Chiefs Association, Inc. (Cf. § 18916 [definition of "model
 

code"].) 


3. 90-305
 
18928, subd. (b), 18930, subd. (a)(7)(A), 18939.) 4/ Where such
 

changes are made, the building standards submitted to the State
 

Building Standards Commission for approval will contain them, and it
 

will be the standards as changed from their model code progenitors
 

that will appear in the State Building Standards Code. (Cf.
 

§§ 18938, 18939.) Thus a building standard of a model code that has
 

been amended by a state agency will not appear in the State Building
 

Standards Code in its original form, but rather as it has been
 

adapted by the agency for projects and programs under its
 

jurisdiction or to meet particular California building conditions.
 

(Ibid.; see also Matrix Adoption Appendices in Title 24.)
 

With this in mind, if we now return to subdivision (a) of
 

section 18941.5 and look to the clause following "as referenced in
 

the State Building Standards Code," the standards about which the
 

subdivision speaks become clear. It provides that those standards
 

"shall become effective 180 days after [their]
 

publication in the State Building Standards Code by the
 

State Building Standards Commission...." 


As just seen, building standards, of whatever provenance, do not come
 

to be published in the State Building Standards Code without going
 

through the formal adoption process prescribed by the State Building
 

Standards Law. But in that process, building standards from model
 

codes that have been amended by state agencies are not published in
 

the State Building Standards Code in their original pre-amended form
 

at all, but only as they have been amended with appropriate additions
 

and deletions to meet particular California conditions or program
 

demands. Thus when subdivision (a) of section 18941.5 predicates the
 

effective date of the specified standards upon their publication in
 

the State Building Standards Code, it establishes beyond doubt that
 

it is referring to the building standards as they have been amended
 

4. By way of specific examples: under section 17922,
 

subdivision (a), the Department of Housing and Community
 

Development adopts building standards that "impose substantially
 

the same requirements as are contained in the most recent editions
 

of [certain enumerated] uniform industry codes" but with "additions
 

or deletions" as are appropriate to the needs of California. (See
 

63 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 566, 578, supra; see also § 19990 [building
 

standards for factory built housing].) Under section 4450 of the
 

Government Code, the State Architect adopts building standards to
 

ensure that certain buildings and facilities are accessible to and
 

usable by the physically disabled; these standards are to be
 

"consistent with the standards for buildings and structures which
 

are contained in pertinent provisions of the latest edition of the
 

Uniform Building Code," but with "such additional requirements ...
 

as the State Architect determines are necessary to assure ...
 

access and usability...." (See also, § 19955 et seq.)
 

4. 90-305
 
 

by state agencies, for once a standard in a model code is amended, it
 

is only the amended version which appears in the State Building
 

Standards Code.5/
 

Furthermore, had the Legislature wished to have the
 

building standards as they appear in the model codes apply to the
 

state's occupancies, it need not have employed the language "as
 

referenced in the State Building Standards Code," but could have
 

simply stopped with the listing of the model codes in which they
 

appear. But the "as referenced in" language was used; thus, any
 

interpretation that the model codes' pre-amended standards were
 

nonetheless meant to apply would make it surplusage. However, it is
 

a principle of statutory interpretation that "[a] construction making
 

some words surplusage is to be avoided." ( Watkins v. Real Estate
 

Commissioner (1960) 182 Cal.App.2d 397, 400; accord, City and County
 

of San Francisco v. Farrell (1982) 32 Cal.3d 47, 55; California
 

Mfgrs. Assn. v. Public Utilities Com. (1979) 24 Cal.3d 836, 844.)
 

For that reason too, the mention of "the building standards contained
 

[in the specified model codes] as referenced in the State Building
 

Standards Code" cannot be interpreted to refer to the standards as
 

they were contained in the model codes in their pre-amended form
 

before the California additions and deletions were made to them.
 

The phrase in question thus alludes to the standards
 

contained in the model code standards, not as they appeared therein,
 

but as they have been brought to appear in the State Building
 

Standards Code. This interpretation of the "as referenced in"
 

language in section 18941.5, subdivision (a), is consistent with the
 

use of the term "reference" in sections 18928 and 18939, other
 

provisions of the State Building Standards Law. There it is a term
 

of art which prescribes the way in which model code standards are
 

adopted in whole or in part for inclusion in the State Building
 

Standards Code without reproducing their text.6/ When a model code
 

5. It should also be noted that if the Legislature intended
 

to have the original unadapted model code standards apply, and
 

establish a deadline for their implementation, it would not have
 

set a deadline upon their "publication in" the State Building
 

Standards Code because the 180-day period would never commence -­

since they are not published in the code. Rather the Legislature
 

would have set the deadline for their implementation "180 days
 

after publication of the State Building Standards Code," as it
 

originally did in subdivision (b) of section 18941.5 to set a date
 

when local standards which deviate from the Code, and which also do
 

not appear in it, become effective. (§ 18941.5, subd. (b) as added
 

by Stats. 1988, ch. 1302, § 1.) We note that the word "of" was
 

inadvertently deleted when subdivision (b) was amended last year
 

(Stats. 1989, ch. 952, § 5).


 6. Section 18928, subdivision (a) provides that "Each state
 

agency adopting a model code, national standard, or specification
 

5. 90-305
standard is adopted for California without modification, that is done
 

by referencing the standard --i.e., citing and adopting the section
 

of the model code which contains it, but not reproducing the text.
 

When a model code standard is adapted for California purposes,
 

similar citation is made to it but with the appropriate additions and
 

deletions set forth, or a full text of the adapted California version
 

appears. (See Matrix Adoption Appendices in Title 24.) Hence, a
 

"referenced" model code may refer to something other than the entire,
 

unmodified model code.
 

Since it is reasonable to assume that the Legislature did
 

not intend to use a significant term in two different senses in the
 

same law (Stillwell v. State Bar (1946) 29 Cal.2d 119, 123; Rosemary
 

Properties, Inc. v. McColgan (1947) 29 Cal.2d 677, 686; Diachenko v.
 

State of California (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 932, 928), we may safely
 

presume that when it used the past participle of "reference" in
 

section 18941.5, it had the same meaning for it as it had when it
 

used the term in sections 18928 and 18939. Hence, in the context of
 

section 18941.5, the citation to "the building standards contained in
 

the [various industry codes] as referenced in the State Building
 

Standards Code" means the standards contained in the model codes in
 

the way they have been made to appear in the State Building Standards
 

Code. So understood, that would include any "appropriate additions
 

and deletions" that were made to them by California agencies. 


Finally it should be mentioned that some question has been
 

raised as to whether the application of the building standards in the
 

State Building Standards Code might not be limited by the
 

programmatic responsibilities of the adopting agencies. In other
 

words, it is suggested that a building standard should only apply to
 

the types of occupancies that are within the specific area(s) of
 

jurisdictional concern of the state agency which adopted it. We do
 

not accept such a limitation. Section 18941.5 does not direct the
 

application of the building standards in the State Building Standards
 

Code according to the areas of individual concern of the adopting
 

agencies, but states that they are to "apply to all occupancies
 

throughout the state. . . ." (Emphasis added.) Since the term
 

"occupancy" is defined as "the purpose for which a building . . . is
 

used or intended to be used" (§ 18917), that would mean that the
 

standards were meant to apply on a generalized basis to all uses. Of
 

course, where a standard specifically states that it is to only apply
 

shall reference the most recent edition of the applicable model
 

codes, national standards, or specifications." (Emphasis added.)
 

Section 18939 provides that "Building standards adopted or
 

approved by the [State Building Standards Commission] shall
 

incorporate the text of the model codes, applicable national
 

specifications, or published standards, in whole or in part, only
 

by reference, with appropriate additions or deletions therefrom."
 

(Emphasis added).) 


6. 90-305
 
to a particular type of occupancy, only that occupancy would be
 

covered by it. 


We therefore conclude that section 18941.5, subdivision
 

(a), requires the application of building standards as they have been
 

amended and appear in the State Building Standards Code to all
 

occupancies throughout the state.
 

* * * * *
 

7. 90-305