81133
. (a) The Department of General Services shall pass upon, and
approve or reject, all plans for the construction or, if the
estimated cost exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), the
alteration of any school building. To enable it to do so, the
governing board of each community college district and any other
school authority before adopting any plans for the school building
shall submit the plans to the Department of General Services for
approval, and shall pay the fees prescribed in this article.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), where the estimated cost of
reconstruction or alteration of, or addition to, a school building
exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), but does not exceed
one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), a licensed structural
engineer shall examine the proposed project to determine if it is a
nonstructural alteration or a structural alteration. If he or she
determines that the project is a nonstructural alteration, he or she
shall prepare a statement so indicating. If he or she determines that
the project is structural, he or she shall prepare plans and
specifications for the project which shall be submitted to the
Department of General Services for review and approval. A copy of the
engineer's report stating that the work does not affect structural
elements shall be filed with the Department of General Services.
(c) If a licensed structural engineer submits a report to the
Department of General Services stating that the plans or activities
authorized pursuant to subdivision (b) do not involve structural
elements, then all of the following shall apply to that project:
(1) The design professional in responsible charge of the project
undertaken pursuant to this subdivision shall certify that the plans
and specifications for the project meet any applicable fire and life
safety standards, and do not affect the disabled access requirements
of Section 4450 of the Government Code, and shall submit this
certification to the department. The letter of certification shall
bear the identifying licensing stamp or seal of the design
professional. This provision does not preclude a design professional
from submitting plans and specifications to the department along with
the appropriate fee for review.
(2) Within 10 days of the completion of any project authorized
pursuant to subdivision (b), the school construction inspector of
record on the project, who is certified by the department to inspect
school buildings, shall certify in writing to the department that the
reconstruction, alteration, or addition has been completed in
compliance with the plans and specifications.
(3) The dollar amounts cited in this section shall be increased on
an annual basis, commencing January 1, 1999, by the department
according to an inflationary index governing construction costs that
is selected and recognized by the department.
(4) No school district shall subdivide a project for the purpose
of evading the limitation on amounts cited in this section.
(5) Before letting any contract for any construction or alteration
of any school building, the written approval of the plans, as to
safety of design and construction, by the Department of General
Services, shall first be had and obtained.
(6) In each case the application for approval of the plans shall
be accompanied by the plans and full, complete, and accurate
specifications, and structural design computations, and estimates of
cost, which shall comply in every respect with any and all
requirements prescribed by the Department of General Services.
(7) (A) The application shall be accompanied by a filing fee in
amounts as determined by the Department of General Services based on
the estimated cost according to the following schedule:
(i) For the first one million dollars ($1,000,000), a fee of not
more than 0.7 percent of the estimated cost.
(ii) For all costs in excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000),
a fee of not more than 0.6 percent of the estimated cost.
(B) The minimum fee in any case shall be two hundred fifty dollars
($250). If the actual cost exceeds the estimated cost by more than 5
percent, a further fee shall be paid to the Department of General
Services, based on the above schedule and computed on the amount by
which the actual cost exceeds the amount of the estimated cost.
(8) (A) All fees collected under this article shall be paid into
the State Treasury and credited to the Public School Planning,
Design, and Construction Review Revolving Fund, and are continuously
appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, for the use of the
Department of General Services, subject to approval of the Department
of Finance, in carrying out this article.
(B) Adjustments in the amounts of the fees, as determined by the
Department of General Services and approved by the Department of
Finance, shall be made within the limits set in paragraph (7) in
order to maintain a reasonable working balance in the fund.
(9) No contract for the construction or alteration of any school
building, made or executed by the governing board of any community
college district or other public board, body, or officer otherwise
vested with authority to make or execute this contract, is valid, and
no public money shall be paid for any work done under this contract
or for any labor or materials furnished in constructing or altering
the building, unless the plans, specifications, and estimates comply
in every particular with the provisions of this article and the
requirements prescribed by the Department of General Services and
unless the approval thereof in writing has first been had and
obtained from the Department of General Services.
(d) For purposes of this section, "design professional in
responsible charge" or "design professional" means the licensed
architect, licensed structural engineer, or licensed civil engineer
who is responsible for the completion of the design work involved
with the project.