Online Permitting Working Group

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The issue of permitting and code compliance for HVAC systems has been the subject of discussion within the regulatory policy arena for many years.

In 2015, the WHPA Compliance Committee developed a roadmap through a collaborative process with California Building Officials (CALBO), contractors, city and county representatives, County Building Officials Association of California (CBOAC), Contractors State License Board (CSLB), the California Energy Commission (CEC), California State Association of Counties (CSAC), and other relevant stakeholders for approved web-based permitting of mechanical change-outs.” This roadmap was approved in January 2016 and called for the development of this working group to develop an online permitting framework, overseeing four distinct project phases: Plan, Define, Pilot, and Deploy. The roadmap detailed the action items necessary for each of these four project phases and their suggested timeframes.  

Structure

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The Online Permitting Working Group reports to the Compliance Committee. To see the complete WHPA organization chart, click here.

The Working Group Chairs are Allison Paul (CHF) and Louis Fuentes (Air Conditioning Guys). If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please email Wendy Worrell, WHPA Staff.
 

2016-2017 SMART Goal Topics

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  1. Launch 2016 Compliance Online Permitting Working Group
  2. Confirm Minimum Legal Requirements for Mechanical Permits and Document in an Interim Memo Posted to the WHPA Website by September 30, 2016.
  3. Identify Legislative and Regulatory Policy Issues Related to Online Permitting and Document in an Interim Memo posted to the WHPA website by October 31, 2016.
  4. Research Best Practices in Online Permitting and Document in a Memo posted to the WHPA website by December 31, 2016.
View the Working Group's Implementation Plans.  

Work Products

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Minimum Legal Requirements for a Building Permit Memo (April 2017)

This memo summarizes the minimum requirements that local building departments are required to collect through the permitting process. It also compares those permit requirements with what is required on the CF-1R compliance form to determine any commonalities. Identifying these minimum requirements can be used to establish baseline criteria upon which an online permitting framework can be built.


Legislative and Regulatory Policy Issues Affecting Online Permitting Memo (April 2017)

This memo summarizes several recent pieces of legislation that have some influence over permitting and compliance. The specific legislation reviewed includes AB 802, SB 350 and SB 1414. In general, permitting and compliance are typically treated as secondary issues in existing legislation with the possible exception of SB 1414, which treats several aspects of compliance more directly. However, in order to achieve the significant improvement to compliance rates envisioned by the California Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, a more concerted legislative effort will likely be required.


Online Permitting for Residential HVAC Alterations (January 2016)

In 2015, at the request of the WHPA Executive Committee, the Compliance Committee took up the issue of online permitting as a means to streamline the manual building permit process that is currently in place for the majority of California jurisdictions. The specific goal adopted by the Compliance Committee and approved by the Executive Committee is to “[d]evelop a roadmap through a collaborative process with California Building Officials (CALBO), contractors, city and county representatives, County Building Officials Association of California (CBOAC), Contractors State License Board (CSLB), the California Energy Commission (CEC), California State Association of Counties (CSAC), and other relevant stakeholders for approved web-based permitting of mechanical change-outs.”

Meeting Notes and Supporting Documents

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Meeting Recordings

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Reference Material

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