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California SB 222 sets heat-pump permit fee limits, with exceptions and phased deadlines

California approved SB 222 on September 28. The heat-pump law includes $150 and $200 permit-fee limits with exceptions, HOA protections and inspection changes; it does not guarantee $1,000 off every project.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 25, 2026 · Updated 10/25/2026

California approved Senate Bill 222, the Heat Pump Access Act, on September 28, and the Secretary of State chaptered it that day. The law addresses residential heat-pump water heaters and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Its provisions should not be confused with an immediate discount on equipment or a guarantee that every installation saves $1,000.

The text sets permit-fee limits of $150 for a heat-pump water heater and $200 for a heat-pump HVAC system, alongside a reasonable-cost requirement. There are exceptions for smaller jurisdictions and for jurisdictions that substantiate higher reasonable costs through written findings and an adopted resolution or ordinance. Third-party technology fees for compliance checks and permitting are outside those limits.

Beginning July 1, 2027, cities and counties must offer asynchronous inspections for covered installations, so the contractor and inspector need not always be present together. Inspectors can still require a further inspection with the contractor present when tests, corrections or access make it necessary. A jurisdiction may offer remote inspections instead, consistent with applicable law.

The law also calls for no more than one nondiscretionary permit per covered installation on or before January 1, 2028, but preserves separate permits for electrical-panel replacement or structural work. Additional permits can be required when a building official makes the specified written public-health or safety findings. The chapter does not apply to new residential construction.

By July 1, 2028, covered jurisdictions must implement real-time online automated permitting for qualifying swapouts that do not require a new electrical panel or structural work. Population exemptions and equipment-sizing requirements limit that obligation. Separate HOA provisions restrict bans, special fees and contractor or product requirements, while preserving legal, permitting, health and safety requirements.

For homeowners, the useful next step is to ask the local permitting authority which rules and published fees apply to the actual project and date. A lower permit charge is only one part of installation cost. The law's staged deadlines, exceptions and inspection safeguards mean statewide policy changes should not be presented as automatic savings available everywhere today.

Official source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov ↗