Section 81135 Of Article 7. Approvals From California Education Code >> Division 7. >> Title 3. >> Part 49. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 7.
81135
. (a) Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions
set forth in this section govern the construction of this article.
(1) "Prequalified list" means a list of qualified firms
established by the Department of General Services to perform specific
types of plan review services.
(2) "Qualified plan review firm" means an individual, firm, or the
building official of a city, county, or city and county, as defined
in Section 18949.27 of the Health and Safety Code, or the authorized
representative of that building official that is identified by the
Department of General Services as having appropriate expertise and
knowledge of the requirements that apply to school buildings under
this article.
(b) The department shall establish and maintain a list of
qualified plan review firms, and shall make that list available, upon
request, to community college districts and other interested
parties.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 14952 of the Government Code, the
Department of General Services shall contract with sufficient numbers
of qualified plan review firms for assistance in performing the plan
review required under the Field Act.
(d) At the discretion of the Department of General Services,
contracts for a qualified plan review firm made pursuant to this
article may be advertised and awarded in accordance with this
section.
(e) (1) The Department of General Services may establish
prequalified lists of qualified firms in accordance with this
subdivision.
(2) (A) For each type of plan review for which the department
elects to use the process established by this section for advertising
and awarding contracts, the Department of General Services may
request statements of qualifications from interested firms.
(B) The request for statements of qualifications shall be
announced statewide through the California State Contracts Register
and publications of relevant professional societies.
(C) Each announcement shall describe the general scope of services
to be provided within each generic project category for plan review
services that the Department of General Services anticipates may be
awarded during the period covered by the announcement. For the
purposes of this section, a generic project category shall be defined
in a manner that each specific project to be awarded within a
respective discipline meets all of the following requirements:
(i) The project is substantially similar to all other projects
within that discipline.
(ii) The project is within the same size range and geographical
area.
(iii) The project requires substantially similar skills and
magnitude of professional effort as compared to every other project
within that discipline.
(3) The Department of General Services shall evaluate the
statements of qualifications, and develop a list of qualified plan
review firms that meet the criteria established and published by the
Department of General Services. Interviews may be held to determine a
firm's qualifications. Lists of qualified plan review firms shall be
maintained by the Department of General Services for not more than
four years.
(4) During the term of a prequalified list, as specific projects
are identified by the Department of General Services as being
eligible for contracting, the Department of General Services shall
contact a firm on the prequalified list, on a rotational basis, for
both of the following purposes:
(A) To distribute the work in a fair and equitable manner.
(B) To determine that the firm has sufficient staff and is
available for performance of the project.
(5) If the contacted firm is not available, the Department of
General Services shall continue to contact firms on the prequalified
list, on a rotational basis, until an available firm is identified.
(6) The Department of General Services shall negotiate a contract
for the services with the identified firm, including a price and
timeframe that it determines is fair and reasonable.
(7) If the identified plan review firm is unable to negotiate a
satisfactory contract with the Department of General Services, the
department shall terminate negotiations, and shall undertake
negotiations, on a rotational basis, with the next firm available for
performance from the prequalified list until a successful
negotiation is achieved. If the Department of General Services is
unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with a firm on two
separate occasions, that firm may be removed from the prequalified
list.
(f) Contracts for plan review services that the Department of
General Services elects to advertise and award in accordance with
this section are not subject to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
4525) of Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code.