The SB 326 balcony report is now in every resale package. How to read it

Since January 1, 2026, the SB 326 inspection report has been part of every California condo resale package, so buyers now see a building's balcony findings before closing instead of after. SB 410, a 2025 law, made the change and tightened what the report has to contain. For an LA buyer, this is often the most informative document in the stack. For a seller, a weak report now reaches every buyer and every lender.

What SB 326 requires

Civil Code 5551, added by SB 326 in 2019, requires a condo association to have its exterior elevated elements inspected at least every nine years. The rules, as amended:

• What is covered: balconies, decks, stairways, walkways and their railings that sit more than six feet above ground, are supported in whole or in substantial part by wood or wood-based products, and are maintained by the association.
• Which buildings: those with three or more attached units, a limit SB 410 added.
• Who inspects: a licensed structural engineer, civil engineer or architect. Civil engineers were added in 2024.
• How much: a random, statistically significant sample of each type of element.
• When: the first inspection was due by January 1, 2025. That date was never extended for condos; the 2024 extension applied to the apartment law, SB 721. Buildings permitted on or after January 1, 2020 have six years from the certificate of occupancy.
• Immediate threats: if the inspector finds one, the association must be told, access must be restricted, and the local enforcement agency gets a copy within 15 days.

Concrete and steel balconies are outside the statute, so a high-rise built with them can have many balconies and few covered elements. A building like The Shores in Santa Monica (532 residences, 1964) lists ocean-view balconies among its features; whether any of its elements fall under SB 326 depends on how they are built, and the report will say what was inspected.

What SB 410 changed on January 1, 2026

SB 410 (Chapter 516, Statutes of 2025) made four changes that matter in a sale:

1. The most recent inspection report is now one of the documents a seller must provide under Civil Code 4525.
2. It is listed on the association's itemized fee form under Civil Code 4528.
3. The report is an association record, so owners can request it.
4. Reports carry required cover-page information and the inspector's certification that the sample was statistically significant.

Before 2026, many buyers learned about balcony work from board minutes, or from a special assessment notice after they owned the unit.

How to read the report

Start with the cover page and the scope, then go to the findings. In order:

• Date and inspector. Is this the first-cycle report, done by January 1, 2025? A building with no report at all is a question for the board.
• What was inspected. Which element types, how many of each, and how the sample was chosen.
• Condition and remaining life. The statute requires the current physical condition and the expected future performance and remaining useful life of each type.
• Recommended repairs. What, how urgent, and whether the report flags anything as an immediate threat.
• What happened next. The report itself will not tell you. Board minutes, the budget's deferred repair list, any special assessment notice and any repair contracts will.

A clean report from 2024 and an open repair list from the same year read very differently a year and a half later.

Why lenders care about it

For a conventional loan, Fannie Mae's ineligible projects rules (Selling Guide B4-2.1-03, dated August 5, 2026) treat critical repairs as a reason to stop lending in a building. The list includes failing a mandatory state or local inspection, and unfunded repairs over $10,000 per unit that should be done within 12 months. Balconies and parking structures are named. If a structural inspection was done within three years of the lender's review, the lender has to review the report.

An SB 326 report with open, unfunded repairs can therefore stop a conventional loan until the work is done or funded and documented. Since August 3, 2026, every building over 10 units gets a Full Review, so more buildings get this look. Jumbo and portfolio lenders apply their own rules to the same report.

The cost shows up somewhere. In September 2026, ABC7 reported that a 499-unit Torrance complex levied more than $49,000 per owner toward a roughly $19 million podium rebuild, re-piping and elevator work, and an attorney in the story tied rising assessments partly to the balcony law.

What buyers and sellers can do now

Buyers: ask for the report at the start of escrow, alongside the budget, the reserve study and 12 months of minutes. Our condo buyer checklist lists the full set. Ask your lender to review the building before your loan contingency ends. If you are buying from out of state, our sister site's guide to buying in LA from anywhere covers how to run inspections and document review remotely.

Sellers: request the resale package early. If the report shows open repairs, find out from the board whether they are funded, scheduled or done, and get that in writing. A buyer's lender will ask. Our seller checklist covers the rest, and Tyler's pre-sale checklist covers the unit itself.

The SB 326 and SB 410 pillar has the statute in full, and the LA condo rules hub places it on the 2026 to 2027 timeline. Our guide to reading CC&Rs covers who maintains which balconies. To see what we know about a specific building, request a building check.

Common questions

What is an SB 326 inspection report?

It is the report a California condo association must get from a licensed structural engineer, civil engineer or architect after inspecting a statistically significant sample of the wood-supported balconies, decks, stairways and walkways more than six feet above ground that the association maintains. It states their current condition, expected remaining life and recommended repairs. Civil Code 5551 sets the rules.

Do sellers have to give buyers the SB 326 report?

Yes, since January 1, 2026. SB 410 added the most recent inspection report to the resale disclosures in Civil Code 4525, so the seller provides it to the buyer as soon as practicable before the transfer. The association supplies it with the other resale documents and lists any fee on the Civil Code 4528 form.

When was the SB 326 inspection due?

The first inspection had to be completed by January 1, 2025, and Civil Code 5551 still says so. The one-year extension passed in 2024 applied to the apartment balcony law, SB 721, not to condominiums. After the first one, inspections repeat at least every nine years. Buildings permitted on or after January 1, 2020 follow a six-year deadline from the certificate of occupancy.

This article is general information, not legal, tax, insurance or lending advice. Laws and bill statuses change, and how a rule applies depends on the building and its governing documents. Confirm anything that affects a decision with your association’s counsel, a CPA, an insurance broker or your lender. Building figures are from the Condos of LA database.