2025 California Standards for Accessible Design Guide (effective January 1, 2026)
PUBLIC HOUSING.
Housing facilities constructed or altered by, for, or on behalf of a public entity, or constructed or altered as part of a public entity’s program to provide housing pursuant to United States Code of Federal Regulations, 28 CFR Part 35, Section 35.102(a), including but not limited to the following:
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One-or two-family dwelling units, or congregate residences;
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Buildings or complexes with three or more residential dwellings units;
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Homeless shelters, group homes, halfway houses and similar social service establishments;
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Transient lodging, such as hotels, motels, hostels and other facilities providing accommodations of a short term nature of not more than 30 days duration;
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Housing at a place of education, such as housing on or serving a public school, public college or public university.
Note: A public entity’s program to provide housing may include but is not limited to: the allocation of local, state, or federal financial assistance, Community Development Block Grants, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the California Multifamily Housing Program, loan agreements and housing bonds. Examples that are not considered a public entity’s program to provide housing may include but are not limited to: density bonuses, the receipt of public funds for the installation of energy efficiency features, seismic strengthening, water conservation and fire safety features. For additional information see “Guide to Public Housing Regulated in Chapter 11B of the California Building Code” and the “California Access Compliance Advisory Reference Manual” available on the Division of the State Architect’s website.
Advisory Definition of PUBLIC HOUSING. While the text of Chapter 11A, Section 1101A.1 partially reads “Newly constructed covered multifamily dwellings, which can also be defined as public housing, shall be subject to the requirements of Chapter 11A and Chapter 11B.”, DSA has statutory authority for public housing under California Government Code Section 12955.1(c). Chapter 11B includes the requirements for covered multifamily dwellings under the federal Fair Housing Act, which in previous editions of the CBC made reference to Chapter 11A for these requirements. Since the CBC Chapter 11B amendments adopted in the 2019 Intervening Code Cycle effective July 1, 2021, Chapter 11A is no longer applicable for public housing.
Housing at a place of public education is public housing as stated in Item 5. Housing at a private school, college, or university is not public housing. In those facilities, the housing units with mobility features follow Section 11B-224.7 ◼
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