A reach code is a local building code amendment that goes beyond the minimum requirements of the state code, for example by requiring a higher share of EV-ready or EV-installed parking spaces in new buildings.
In practice
- In California, cities adopt reach codes on top of the state green building and energy codes and must file them with the state.
- EV charging reach codes typically set the percentage of new parking spaces that must be EV capable, EV ready or fitted with installed chargers.
- Example: Santa Monica’s 2022 code required 60 percent of new multifamily spaces to be EV ready and 5 percent to have chargers installed; a 2024 update proposed raising installed chargers to 15 percent.
- Parking minimum repeal does not cancel EV requirements: under AB 2097, rules for EV charging still apply to the parking a project chooses to build.
Related terms: EV Ready, EV Capable, EV Installed, AB 2097.