KITCHEN REMODELING IN TUSTIN, CA

Read the city's FAQ on when building permits are required with your plans in hand. Refacing cabinets and painting is a different project from changing what runs behind the walls. These common kitchen changes alter a system or the structure, so plan on permits and inspections for them:

• Moving the sink or dishwasher, or running water to a new spot such as an island.
• Adding or moving a gas line for a range or cooktop.
• New circuits for a cooktop, wall oven or other appliances, and added or moved outlets.
• New recessed, pendant or other permanently wired lighting.
• A new or rerouted range hood duct.
• Removing, opening or moving a wall, or resizing a window opening.

• City of Tustin: FAQ – When are building permits required? (opens in a new tab)
• City of Tustin: FAQ – How do I get a building permit? (opens in a new tab)
• City of Tustin: Permits Process (opens in a new tab)
• City of Tustin: Forms & Handouts (opens in a new tab)
• City of Tustin: Building (opens in a new tab)

We have relied on the titles of the city's FAQs and pages, not restated their answers. Confirm with the Building Division which permits your kitchen needs before demolition.

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.

California's 2025 Building Standards Code (Title 24) took effect on January 1, 2026, and a city's own code can carry local amendments. Besides its Governing Codes & Ordinances page, Tustin posts a 2025 California Building Standards Codes Information document and a Building Code Update document for Ordinance No. 1569.

Read those before the kitchen is drawn, or ask the Building Division whether any local amendment touches the plumbing, wiring or walls in your plans.

• City of Tustin: Governing Codes & Ordinances (opens in a new tab)
• City of Tustin: 2025 California Building Standards Codes Information Updated (opens in a new tab)
• City of Tustin: Updated Building Code Update Ord No 1569 (opens in a new tab)
• California Building Standards Commission: Codes (Title 24) (opens in a new tab)

We have relied on the titles of Tustin's code documents, not on their text. Confirm with the Building Division what applies to your kitchen.

The city has a Historic Preservation page and a Tustin Historic Resources Survey page. A kitchen remodel happens mostly inside the house, but some of it can show outside: a new or larger window over the sink, a range hood vent through an exterior wall or a new door to the yard.

If your house may be on the survey, ask the Community Development Department whether those exterior changes need any review beyond the building permit before the design is final.

• City of Tustin: Historic Preservation (opens in a new tab)
• City of Tustin: Tustin Historic Resources Survey (opens in a new tab)

We have relied on the titles of these city pages, not on their contents. Whether your home is on the survey, and what that means for a remodel, is for the city to confirm.

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.

Send the association the same drawings you give the Building Division, so the two approvals describe the same kitchen. If the plans change after one of them signs off, tell the other before work starts.