On September 14, 2021 the County Board of Supervisors directed staff to allow certain CZU rebuild projects located in areas subject to geologic hazards to obtain building permits without further geologic evaluation as required by the County. This is referred to as the CZU Rebuild Directive Board Resolution. Projects that are eligible to use the directive must include the following:

  • Owner: Applicant must be the property owner who held title to the affected property as of August 16, 2020
  • Legality: Original residence must have been legal (constructed with a building permit) or legal-nonconforming (if it can be demonstrated to have been built before 1986);
  • Size & location: Proposed replacement structures must be “in-kind”, meaning no more than 10% larger than the original structure and in substantially the same location as the original structure, unless the footprint is re-located to a building envelope at lower risk of impact from geologic hazard based on the opinion of the County Geologist or a private consultant.

Applicants who choose to rebuild under the CZU Rebuild Directive remain subject to the following requirements:

  • Applicant must submit a geotechnical (soils) report with their building permit application that addresses the requirements of the California Building Code which must include design parameters and mitigation measures for any identified geologic hazard. (CBC 1803.1.1.2, 1803.3 and 1803.5.11.1) The design, calculations and details of mitigations must be provided.
  • Applicant must notarize and record a Notice of Geologic Hazards on the property title prior to building permit issuance.
  • Applicant must sign the CZU Rebuild Directive Acknowledgement Form.

While the CZU Rebuild Directive provides those rebuilding in-kind structures to “opt out” of the geologic report requirement, the California Building Code still requires submission of a geotechnical (soils) report that includes an evaluation of slope instability. RPC Building Plan Check staff will review the submittal documents to verify that the geotechnical (soils) report recommendations are incorporated into the building plans and structural calculations. If you are considering using the CZU Rebuild Directive, please make an appointment with RPC staff to discuss further. It is also strongly recommended that you discuss this with your design team (architect, engineer etc.) prior to taking the Directive.