Committee advances bill to limit local disassembly of factory‑built housing and cut inspection fees

Assemblymember (speaker 15) told the committee AB 2058 is a narrow, technical fix to preserve factory‑built housing efficiencies by preventing duplicative local inspections that disassemble modules already inspected by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The author also said the bill would reduce certain local permitting and inspection fees by roughly half and permit developers to use third‑party local inspectors.

Curtis Wong, a modular housing developer (speaker 22), described the two‑permit reality—factory and site—and said factory portions can be permitted in about four weeks while local site permitting often takes many months. He told the committee, “You can get a 4 week permit actually, for the factory... the site portion with different jurisdictions can be a challenge.” Industry witnesses and housing‑affordability groups including the Housing Action Coalition and the California Council for Affordable Housing spoke in support.

A modular home manufacturer (speaker 26) requested clearer statutory delineations between factory‑built components and on‑site installation work to prevent confusion on first projects permitted under a new regime. Committee members expressed interest in addressing that technical concern as the bill moves forward.

The committee voted to move the bill forward and asked authors to continue working with stakeholders to clarify definitions and guardrails. The measure was passed out of committee for further consideration.