Code Development Process & Timeline

Rulemaking Process

1. Pre-rulemaking

During the pre-rulemaking stage, the Statewide CASE Team supports the Energy Commission in identifying code change opportunities to pursue for the code cycle. Once the Energy Commission selects measures, the Statewide CASE Team conducts research and analyses to develop supporting documentation that the Energy Commission can rely on when making determinations that proposed changes meet statutory requirements. This includes developing CASE Reports, which include: energy savings estimates, cost-effectiveness analyses, market assessments, economic analyses, material and water use impacts, draft code language, and recommended processes for compliance verification. The Final CASE Reports are submitted to the Energy Commission towards the end of the pre-rulemaking stage.

The Statewide CASE Team engages with stakeholders that may be impacted by the proposed code changes to ensure they are aware of the proposed changes, to encourage constructive dialogue with members of the Statewide CASE Team and the Energy Commission, to identify and address issues with the proposed changes, and to improve research and analyses. To understand the needs of those who will use the code in practice, the Statewide CASE Team conducts personalized outreach, hosts meetings, provides information about proposed code changes and opportunities to provide input on this website platform.

2. Rulemaking

During the rulemaking stage, the Statewide CASE Team actively participates in the Energy Commission’s rulemaking workshops and tracks all comments that are submitted to the Energy Commission’s public docket. The Statewide CASE Team works with Energy Commission staff to resolve issues that arise during the rulemaking. In addition, the Statewide CASE Team reviews each version of the draft language that is released for public review and recommends revisions to address stakeholder concerns, fine-tune the requirements prior to adoption, fix editorial issues, and recommend adjustments to improve the clarity of code language.

3. Post-Adoption

After the standards are adopted, the Statewide CASE Team provides support to update the Compliance Manuals, ACM Reference Manuals, and the compliance software.

Energy Code Ace provides an Energy Code Implementation Timeline that allows users to view and compare the monthly milestones for California and Federal code cycles. Click here to view an interactive timeline of these code cycles.