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In the wake of the tragic balcony collapse at 2020 Kittredge Street in Berkeley that claimed the lives of six people, the California State Building Standards Commission, which has authority over all state building codes, is considering changes to strengthen standards for balconies and other exterior elevated elements. 

The Building Standards Commission and the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) agreed to start a public process to develop stricter standards for balconies and other exposed building elements. Commissioners also expressed the urgency to deal with waterproofing issues and the need to learn from the lessons of this tragedy. The Commission unanimously voted to discuss exterior elevated elements at a future meeting where they are likely set to form an ad-hoc committee to further discuss reforms. Additionally, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) stated their interest in forming a Task Force to discuss statewide balcony safety and construction reforms. 

This decision came at the request of the Berkeley City Council who sent a letter (attached) on July 16, 2015 requesting the use of steel and other building materials to prevent future balcony failures statewide. Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, who originally introduced the letter as a package of housing safety reforms, praised the move. 

“We can’t let another tragedy happen again. While Berkeley is leading the way, we need to take a statewide approach to improve the safety of housing” Councilmember Arreguin said. “I am very happy that the state Building Commission is committed to addressing this issue and will move forward in the future with policy changes that will save lives.”