Buildings · Analysis

LA's new buildings go electric, by city rule

Since 2023, most new construction in Los Angeles has to skip the gas line. Here is what the ordinance reaches, what it skips, and where a reader can check it.

BY THE RENEWABLE ENERGY LA EDITORS · FILED NOVEMBER 3, 2026 · 6 MIN READ ·

What the ordinance actually requires

An all-electric building, in the city's words, is one with no gas piping run to it: electricity carries the space heat, the water heat, the cooking, and the clothes drying. The rule applies to building permit applications filed starting in 2023, and it covers most new residential and commercial construction in the city. It does not reach into a house that already stands. This is about what gets built next, not what is already on the block.

The city rule sits on top of California's energy code, called Title 24, which the state updates on roughly a three-year cycle and which already pushes new buildings toward heat pumps and, for many building types, rooftop solar and batteries. The state code sets the efficiency floor; the Los Angeles ordinance adds the all-electric requirement on top. The Department of Building and Safety applies both when it reviews your plans, which is why the cleanest way to know how the rule lands on a specific project is to read the department's current information bulletin before you design around a gas meter.

The exemptions, and where gas still shows up

The ordinance carries a list of exemptions, and the list is the part worth reading slowly. Commercial cooking is the one most people have heard about: a restaurant kitchen is treated differently from a studio apartment. There are also carve-outs for cases where an all-electric design is shown to be infeasible, and for certain specialized uses. If a reader could not point to their situation on that list, the safe assumption is that the rule applies and the exception does not.

For existing buildings, the picture is calmer than the headlines suggest. A remodel or an addition is handled on its own terms, and the gas furnace or water heater already in a garage is not forced out by this ordinance. The rule bites at new construction. That distinction matters most for the backyard unit question, because a new detached accessory dwelling unit is generally new construction, and usually falls under the requirement even though the main house in front of it does not.

The Berkeley question, and why LA built its rule differently

Any honest account of local gas rules in California has to mention Berkeley. In 2023 the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Berkeley's ordinance that had banned natural gas piping in new buildings, finding it preempted by a federal appliance-efficiency law. That ruling put a question mark over gas bans written as piping prohibitions, and cities across the state took notice.

Los Angeles structured its requirement as part of the building code rather than as a flat prohibition on gas piping, which lawyers have argued is a meaningful difference, but this desk is not going to tell you the legal ground is settled. It is not. The landscape of what a city can enforce here is still moving through appeals and revisions, so the practical advice is plain: check the Department of Building and Safety's current guidance before you finalize anything, because the version in force today is the one that governs your permit.

Worth watching this month

1. The Department of Building and Safety periodically revises its all-electric information bulletin, so look for an updated version before you lock in plans; routine, but easy to miss.

2. The California Energy Commission is working through the next update to the state Title 24 energy code, and how far that cycle pushes statewide electrification is worth watching for anyone building soon.

3. Any new court ruling or appeal touching local all-electric rules after the Berkeley decision could shift what cities may enforce, and this one actually matters.

4. LADWP posts rebate and service-upgrade information for heat pumps and electrical panels through the year, which is worth a look if you are budgeting the added electric load of a new build.

5. Amendments or exemption changes to the ordinance show up in the City Clerk's council file, mostly as routine housekeeping.

Where this dispatch reads

Los Angeles City Clerk, Council File (lacity.gov), clerk.lacity.gov, Government source: the legislative record for the all-electric buildings ordinance, including text, votes, and later amendments; search the council file system.
California Energy Commission, Building Energy Efficiency Standards (energy.ca.gov), www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/building-energy-efficiency-standards, Government source: the state Title 24 energy code the city rule sits on top of, with the update schedule and the heat pump and solar provisions.
California Air Resources Board, building decarbonization (arb.ca.gov), ww2.arb.ca.gov, Government source: state context on cutting building emissions and the broader shift away from gas appliances.
Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (ladbs.org), www.ladbs.org, City building department: permit guidance and information bulletins, where the all-electric requirement is applied at plan check.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (ladwp.com), www.ladwp.com, The city's electric utility: rates, rebates, and panel and service information for the added electric load of a new all-electric build.

Questions readers have asked

Does this affect my existing home?

No. The ordinance applies to new construction permitted starting in 2023. You can keep or replace the gas appliances you already have, and a remodel is treated separately, so confirm the details with the Department of Building and Safety.

Does it cover a new backyard ADU?

Generally yes. A new detached accessory dwelling unit is usually new construction and falls under the rule, though exemptions and specifics vary, so check the current department guidance for your project.

Can I still put a gas stove in a new build?

In most covered new construction, no. Induction and electric cooking are the default, unless a listed exemption such as commercial cooking applies.

Is this the same as a statewide gas ban?

No. It is a City of Los Angeles rule layered on California's Title 24 energy code. Other cities set their own rules, while the state code applies everywhere in California.