KITCHEN REMODELING IN COSTA MESA, CA

Write the kitchen down as a list of changes before you open the city's pages. New cabinet doors, hardware and paint are one kind of project. Moving the sink to an island, running a gas line for a range, adding circuits for an induction cooktop or wall oven, rerouting the range hood duct or taking out a wall to open the kitchen to the family room is another.

Once plumbing, gas, wiring or walls change, plan on a permit and inspections. Check each item against the Insta-Permit list. If the kitchen needs plans, the Plan Check Services pages include a Plan Check Submittal Procedure and a Building Plan Requirements page, and both are worth reading before the drawings are started.

• City of Costa Mesa: Insta-Permit (opens in a new tab)
• City of Costa Mesa: Building Permits (opens in a new tab)
• City of Costa Mesa: Plan Check Services (opens in a new tab)
• City of Costa Mesa: Plan Check Submittal Procedure (opens in a new tab)
• City of Costa Mesa: Building Plan Requirements (opens in a new tab)

We have relied on the titles of these city pages, not on their lists or requirements. Which route your kitchen takes is the city's call, so confirm with Building Safety before work starts.

Three sets of state rules shape most kitchen remodels, whichever city you live in. The California Energy Commission's 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6) apply to permit applications from January 1, 2026. The 2025 California Electrical Code (Title 24, Part 3) took effect the same day. And Civil Code Section 1101.4 ties water-conserving fixtures to the final sign-off on a permitted remodel.

• Lighting: under the residential lighting rules in Section 150.0(k) of the Energy Code, new permanently installed lighting is to be high efficacy, and under-cabinet lighting is switched separately from the ceiling lighting, so one can be on without the other.
• Outlets: the Electrical Code calls for ground-fault (GFCI) protection on kitchen receptacles and arc-fault (AFCI) protection on the 120-volt, 10- to 20-amp branch circuits that supply kitchen outlets or devices.
• Circuits: the countertop receptacles are served by at least two 20-amp small-appliance circuits, and an individual circuit that supplies an appliance, such as an induction cooktop or wall oven, is sized to at least the appliance's marked rating.
• Faucet: Civil Code Section 1101.3 treats an interior faucet that flows more than 2.2 gallons per minute as noncompliant. For alterations or improvements to a single-family home built on or before January 1, 1994, Section 1101.4 makes replacing noncompliant fixtures a condition of final permit approval.

Which of these apply depends on what the remodel actually changes. The plan checker and inspector decide that for your project, so confirm with the city.

The Energy Commission's 2025 Single-Family Residential Compliance Manual says any new or altered lighting has to meet Section 150.0(k) of the Energy Code, while existing lighting that is not altered may stay as it is. For a kitchen, Chapter 6 of the manual adds these points:

• Recessed downlights: no screw-based lamps, a light source marked JA8-2025-E, and a housing labeled airtight and sealed to the ceiling with a gasket or caulk.
• Dimming: lighting in habitable spaces, kitchens included, needs readily accessible wall-mounted dimming controls. The manual lists exceptions.
• Range hood lights: lighting built into the hood does not have to meet the efficacy requirements for permanently installed lighting.

The manual explains the Energy Code but is not the code itself. Confirm with Building Safety what applies to the lighting your kitchen changes.

Costa Mesa adopts its construction codes in Section 5-1 of its Municipal Code. The plan checker and inspector review a kitchen against the codes as the city adopted them, so ask Building Safety whether a local amendment touches your plans.

For questions along the way, Building Safety keeps a Frequently Asked Questions page and a Building Safety Directory and Office Location page.

• Costa Mesa Municipal Code Section 5-1, Construction codes adopted (opens in a new tab)
• City of Costa Mesa: Building Safety Frequently Asked Questions (opens in a new tab)
• City of Costa Mesa: Building Safety Directory and Office Location (opens in a new tab)
• City of Costa Mesa: Building Safety (opens in a new tab)

We have not restated Section 5-1 or the city's FAQ on this page. Read the current versions and confirm the details with Building Safety.

If your home is in a homeowners association that requires approval for physical changes, Civil Code Section 4765 sets the ground rules for that review: the association's decision is to be in writing, and a disapproval has to explain why and describe how to ask for reconsideration. HOA approval and a city permit are separate. One does not replace the other.

With a kitchen, an association may ask more about the work than about the cabinets: when crews can work, where they park, where a debris bin can sit, and anything that shows outside, such as a range hood vent through an exterior wall or a new window over the sink. Ask for its rules before the schedule is set, and give the association and the city the same drawings.