AB 253
Third Party Permit Review (Housing “Shot Clock”)
This bill will speed up the approval process for new homes by allowing home builders to hire a licensed and certified third-party reviewer for review of housing permit applications if the local government cannot or does not complete their permit review within 30 days.
While numerous recent state laws have streamlined the process to make more homes legal to build (a.k.a. “entitlements”), many jurisdictions in California continue to have slow, unpredictable “post-entitlement” permitting and inspection processes. These permitting and inspection delays slow down housing production and can even kill smaller housing projects by driving costs beyond what’s feasible for small, local builders.
This bill will allow home builders to hire a licensed and certified third-party reviewer for certain projects, if the local government cannot or does not complete the permit review process within 30 days – a sort of “shot clock” for housing construction permits. AB 253 will sunset in 10 years (2035).
Updates
- AB 253 was introduced on 1/15/25. It passed both the Assembly Housing Committee and the Assembly Local Government Committees on 3/12/25. It passed the Assembly on 4/1/25 by a vote of 72-0. It passed the Senate Local Government Committee on 7/2/25 and the Senate Housing Committee on 7/15/25. It passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on 8/29/25. It passed the Senate floor on 9/11/25 and passed the Assembly in a concurrence vote on 9/12/15. It now goes to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
Authors
- Chris Ward (AD 78)
Sponsors
- California YIMBY