California bill enables remote inspection for residential solar, batteries, heat pumps and more

California lawmakers have passed AB 1738, a bill that would let homeowners and contractors request remote video inspections for several home upgrade projects instead of waiting for a city inspector to show up in person. It covers solar panels, home battery storage, heat pump heating and cooling systems, heat pump water heaters, and new roofs. Local governments still run the inspection programs and can still require someone to visit in person if a project raises safety concerns. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support and now awaits Governor Newsom's signature; he has until September 30 to sign it.

The change is meant to cut the wait times that add cost to these projects. One analysis found contractors often wait two to six hours for an inspector to check work that takes about fifteen minutes to review, adding roughly $600 to $1,000 to the cost of a typical project. Statewide, the shift to remote inspections is expected to save California families more than $500 million over the next three years.

Remote inspections already exist in at least 19 California places, including Los Angeles County, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Berkeley, where a large share of checks for things like water heaters and solar batteries are already done this way, without reported safety problems. If Newsom signs AB 1738, California would become the first state to guarantee homeowners this option statewide, which could make it faster and cheaper to add solar, a battery, or a heat pump to your own house.