Los Angeles County Municipal Code Art. 80 General Provisions

The purpose of this Code is to provide minimum standards to safeguard the public's safety and welfare by regulating the design, construction, installation, quality of materials, use, location, operation and maintenance of electrical systems, equipment and appliances as specifically set forth herein. Consistent with this purpose, the provisions of this Code are intended and always have been intended to confer a benefit on the community as a whole and are not intended to establish a duty of care toward any particular person.

This Code shall not be construed to hold the County or any officer, employee or agent thereof responsible for any damage to persons or property by reason of any inspection authorized herein or by reason of the issuance or nonissuance of any permit authorized herein, and/or for any action or omission in connection with the application and/or enforcement of this Code. By adopting the provisions of this Code, the County does not intend to impose on itself, its employees or agents any mandatory duties of care toward persons and property within its jurisdiction so as to provide a basis of civil liability for damages.

This section is declaratory of existing law and is not to be construed as suggesting that such was not the purpose and intent of previous Code adoptions.

(Ord. 92-0004 § 2, 1992.)

The provisions of this Code shall apply to the construction, alteration, moving, repair and use of any electrical wiring on any premises within the unincorporated area of the County of Los Angeles and to such work or use by the County of Los Angeles within any incorporated city not exercising jurisdiction over such work or use.

The provisions of this Code shall not apply to public utilities; or to electrical wiring for street lighting or traffic signals located primarily in a public way; or to mechanical equipment not specifically regulated in this Code.

Where, in any specific case, different sections of this Code specify different materials, methods of construction or other requirements, the most restrictive shall govern. Where there is a conflict between a general requirement and a specific requirement, the specific requirement shall be applicable.

Except as hereinafter changed or modified, the building standards contained in the National Electrical Code of the National Fire Protection Association, Inc., which are published in the California Building Standards Code, are applicable to all occupancy groups and uses throughout the County of Los Angeles. Amendments to the building standards contained in the National Electrical Code, by state agencies, are applicable only to those occupancies or uses which the state agency making the amendment is authorized to regulate.

(Ord. 2002-0077 § 3, 2002.)

The office of Chief Electrical Inspector exists in the Building and Safety Division of the Department of Public Works. The Chief Electrical Inspector shall administer the provisions of this Code under the supervision and control of the Director of Public Works, acting as the County Engineer, and shall be a competent electrical engineer of good moral character, well versed in approved methods of electrical construction for safety to life and property, the statutes of the State of California relating to electrical work, the ordinances of the County of Los Angeles relative thereto, and the California Electrical Code as amended from time to time.

(Ord. 2002-0077 § 4, 2002; Ord. 99-0041 § 2, 1999; Ord. 86-0003 § 3, 1986.)

Whenever the term "Chief Electrical Inspector" is used in any section of this Code other than Section 80-4, such term shall be construed to mean the "Director of the Department of Public Works," acting as the County Engineer of the County of Los Angeles, or an authorized representative.

(Ord. 2002-0077 § 5, 2002; Ord. 86-0003 § 4, 1986.)

The provisions of this Code shall not apply to any electrical work performed by or for any electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, railroad corporation or street railroad corporation on or with any electrical equipment owned or controlled and operated, or used by and for the exclusive benefit of, such corporation in the conduct of its business as a public utility, or to any other work which any such corporation may be entitled by law to perform without payment of any local tax; but all provisions of this Code shall apply insofar as they may consistently with the above be applicable to all other electrical work performed by or for any such corporation.

The terms "electrical corporation," "telephone corporation," "telegraph corporation," "railroad corporation," and "street railroad corporation" are herein used as said terms are respectively defined in the Public Utility Code of the State of California; and such terms shall also be deemed to include similar utilities which are municipally or governmentally owned and operated.

The provisions of this Code shall cover, govern and control the installation, alteration or repair of any electrical wiring, connection, fixtures, sockets, appliances, apparatus, machinery or other electrical devices by or on behalf of the County of Los Angeles or any department or officer thereof, or by or on behalf of any school district, or any quasipublic or political corporation or governmental agency or body on said premises not owned by a public school district within said unincorporated territory.

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed the ordinance, and each section, subsection, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses and phrases be declared invalid.

(Ord. 2002-0077 § 6, 2002.)

The liability and indemnification of the Chief Electrical Inspector and any of his subordinates are governed by the provisions of Division 3.6 of Title 1 of the Government Code.

(Ord. 88-0037 § 2, 1988.)

The fees in this Code shall be reviewed annually by the Director of Public Works. Beginning on July 1, 1992, and thereafter on each succeeding July 1, the amount of each fee in this Code shall be adjusted as follows: Calculate the percentage movement between March of the previous year and March of the current year in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA areas, as published by the United States Government Bureau of Labor Statistics, and adjust each fee by said percentage amount; provided, however, no adjustment shall decrease any fee and no fee shall exceed the reasonable cost of providing services. When it is determined that the amount reasonably necessary to recover the cost of providing services is in excess of this adjustment, the Building Official may present fee proposals to the Board of Supervisors for approval.

(Ord. 2025-0048 § 3, 2025; Ord. 2019-0057 § 3, 2019; Ord. 99-0041 § 3, 1999; Ord. 91-0087 § 7, 1991.)

For the purpose of this Code, certain terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall be construed as set out in this Section. Words used in the singular include the plural and the plural the singular.

Electric or Electrical Wiring means the installation or the alteration of any material, fixture, device, appliance or equipment in or on any building, structure or premises, used or designed or intended to be used to generate, transmit, transform or utilize electric energy.

Hotel is any building containing six or more rooms intended or designed to be used, or which are used, rented or hired out to be occupied, or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests.

Maintenance Electrician is an electrician regularly employed and registered in accordance with the provisions of this Code.

Person is an individual human being, a firm, partnership or corporation, his or their heirs, executors, administrators, assigns, officers or agents, the County of Los Angeles, and any local agency as defined in Section 53090 of the Government Code, or officer thereof.

Special Permission is the written consent of the Chief Electrical Inspector.

Tenant Improvement (Electrical) means electrical work altering or adding to the wiring system of a tenant space.

(Ord. 2007-0109 § 2 (part), 2007; Ord. 99-0041 § 4, 1999; Ord. 92-0004 §§ 3, 4, 1992; Ord. 91-0087 § 6, 1991; Ord. 88-0037 § 3, 1988; Ord. 86-0003 § 5, 1986.)