New California confined spaces regulations effective Jan. 1, 2026

The California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) recently updated the state’s confined space regulations for the construction industry, effective Jan. 1.

The updates introduced important changes that directly impact confined space entry operations on construction sites across the state.

Employers are required to ensure all employees involved in confined space entry operations are trained on the new requirements, and that their confined space entry programs and written procedures are reviewed and updated to comply with the revised rules.

What’s included?

Revisions by the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board changed the following sections of Title 8 California Code of Regulations (CCR) Confined Space regulations:

• Subchapter 4, Article 3. General Construction Safety Orders
  • § 1512 - Emergency Medical Services (by proxy)
• Subchapter 4, Article 37. Confined Spaces in Construction
  • § 1951 - Definitions
  • § 1952 - General Requirements
  • § 1953 - Permit-Required Confined Space Program
  • § 1955 - Entry Permit
  • § 1956 - Training
  • § 1960 - Rescue and Emergency Services
• Subchapter 7, Group 16, Article 108. Confined Spaces
  • § 5156 - Scope, Application and Definitions
  • § 5158 - Other Confined Space Operations (by proxy)

General Requirements explained with greater specificity

Legislators replaced General Requirements paragraph §1952(a) with a list of four specific requirements:

(a) Identification of confined spaces and evaluation of permit spaces

1. The employer shall have a competent person conduct an initial survey of its work area for confined spaces existing at the time work begins.
2. The employer shall have a competent person inspect its work area with sufficient frequency to effectively identify new confined spaces.
3. The employer shall inform their employees and the controlling contractor of each new confined space discovered or created as a result of construction or demolition activity.
4. The employer shall have a competent person identify each confined space that is a permit space, through consideration, evaluation, and testing of the elements of that space.

In paragraph D, employers required to have a written permit space program was changed from “any employer” who directs its employees to enter a permit space to “entry employers.”

Legislators modified the definition of entry employers to, “Any employer whose employees enter or will enter a permit space” which allowed them to remove a redundant and expansive note.

Internal atmosphere testing now allows multi-gas meters

For internal atmosphere testing, employers must test for oxygen content, flammable gases and vapors, and potential toxic air contaminants in that order.

In §1952 and §1953, a line was added to codify allowing concurrent testing for atmospheric hazards with a multi-gas meter, “provided the order in which readings are examined is preserved.”

Permit-Required Space rules clarified

Legislators replaced a note to §1953(a)(3)(D) regarding entry when the atmosphere cannot be reduced below 10% lower flammable limit (LFL) with three specific requirements:

1. Except when the entry employer complies with all of the following, no entry shall be made into a permit space where the entry employer is unable to reduce the concentration of flammable gases, mists, or vapors below 10% of the LFL:
   1. The permit space is rendered inert for the duration of entry into the permit space.
   2. The entry employer provides employees entering the permit space with respiratory protection pursuant to §5144(d)(2) - Respirators for IDLH atmospheres.
   3. The entry employer eliminates or isolates all additional physical hazards within the permit space.

Legislators also added lines requiring employers to:

(I) Prohibit work involving the use of flame, arc, spark, or other source of ignition within a permit space (or any adjacent space having common walls, floor, or ceiling with the permit space) which contains, or is likely to develop, a hazardous atmosphere due to flammable or explosive substances, or contains, or is likely to develop an oxygen-enriched atmosphere

(J) Conduct surveillance of the surrounding area(s) to avoid hazards such as drifting vapors from tanks, piping, and sewers.

Rescue requirements now direct employers to additional legislation

Rescue requirements in §1953(9) and §1955(12) were modified from general statements to instead direct employers to CCR §1512(e) - Provision for Obtaining Emergency Medical Services.

1960 was also renamed from “Rescue and Emergency Services.” to “Permit Space Rescue and Emergency Medical Services,” and a new section was added at the beginning:

(a) The entry employer shall ensure the rescue services at the site are trained, immediately available, properly equipped, and capable of performing permit space rescue and obtaining emergency medical services specified under Section 1512(e).

Additional changes to training, definitions

In §1956 - Training, a line was added to require trained employees to understand “written procedures.”

Legislators changed the definition of “airborne combustible dust” from dust that “obscures vision at a distance of 5 feet” to dust that “exceeds 20% of the minimum explosive concentration (MEC)” and also added a definition for MEC.

Additional minor changes to language were made, along with grammatical and continuity fixes.

Industries struck out of General Industry Safety Orders

In addition to Subchapter 4, Article 37, confined space regulations are specified in Subchapter 7, Group 16, Article 108.

In §5156 - Scope, Application and Definitions, “construction operations regulated by §1502” was removed from the list for which §5158 - Other Confined Space Operations, applies.

Three notes were also removed:

• Electric utility operations within underground vaults. See §2700 for a definition of vault and §2943(b) for manholes and §2943.1 for enclosed spaces.
• Shipyard operations are regulated by §8355.
• Construction operations are regulated by Article 37 of the Construction Safety Orders.