BILL NUMBER: AB 162 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 407
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 21, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 10, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 6, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Leslie
JANUARY 18, 2005
An act to amend Sections 17303, 17305, 81133, 81134, and 81135 of,
to add Sections 81133.1 and 81133.2 to, and to add Article 3.3
(commencing with Section 17319) to Chapter 3 of Part 10.5 of, the
Education Code, relating to school facilities, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 162, Leslie School facilities: Department of General Services:
California Community Colleges.
Existing law establishes the public school system in this state.
Existing law also establishes the California Community Colleges under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes the establishment of
school districts and county offices of education, as well as
community college districts, and authorizes these districts to
provide instruction at public elementary and secondary schools and
community college campuses throughout the state.
Existing law requires the Department of General Services to
supervise the design and construction of certain school buildings,
including elementary and secondary schools, as well as specified
community college facilities, to ensure that plans and specifications
comply with specified structural safety standards and to ensure that
the work of construction has been performed in accordance with the
approved plans and specifications, for the protection of life and
property. Existing law also requires the department to pass upon and
approve or reject all plans for the construction of, and in some
cases, the alteration of, any school building subject to those
provisions, and to inspect the school buildings and work of
construction or alteration to an extent that in its judgment is
necessary or proper for the enforcement of these requirements and the
protection of the safety of the students, the instructors, and the
public. Existing law requires the department to take specified
action, as necessary, to expedite review of the applicant's plans.
These requirements are part of the body of law known as the Field
Act.
This bill would require the department, as it deems necessary to
expedite review of the applicant's plans, to make a good faith effort
to hire state employees. The bill would require the department to
establish procedures and requirements governing the use of the
collaborative process for project development and review, as an
alternative to the traditional plan review and approval process, to
ensure the public safety of school buildings serving kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as well as community college buildings,
through a collaborative, consistent, and timely project development
and review process. The bill would require the department, in
consultation with participating school districts and community
college districts, to establish mutually determined timeframe goals
for a project's plan review, district and consultant response,
response review, and final approval. The bill would require the
timeframe goals to reflect the project's estimated construction cost,
complexity, and size, and other requirements of the collaborative
process for project development and review.
The bill would require the department to establish model statewide
timeframe goals by February 1, 2007, and to submit a preliminary
report to the Legislature by July 1, 2008, and a final report by July
1, 2009, that address whether the implementation of the
collaborative process for project development and review has assisted
the department, the school districts, and the community college
districts in meeting their timeframe goals.
The bill would authorize the department to establish a procedure
for the payment and collection of a specified filing fee that would
be imposed by the department in connection with the submission of an
application for the collaborative process for project development and
review. The bill would authorize the department to assess a fee on a
participating district to cover the unreimbursed costs of the
department incurred pursuant to that district's participation in the
collaborative process if the department deems the assessment of the
fee to be necessary for the support of its operations and establishes
a procedure for the determination, payment, and collection of the
fee. The bill would authorize the proceeds of the fee to be paid into
the State Treasury and credited to the continuously appropriated
Public School Planning, Design, and Construction Review Revolving
Fund, and thus the bill would make an appropriation.
The bill would establish alternative procedures pursuant to which
the department, at its discretion, may advertise and award contracts
for a qualified plan review firm for assistance in performing the
plan review required by existing law. Under these alternative
procedures, the bill would authorize the department to request
statements of qualifications from interested plan review firms. The
bill would require the department to announce the statements of
qualifications through specified means, and would require those
statements to describe the general scope of services to be provided
within each generic project category for plan review services that
the department anticipates may be awarded during the period covered
by the announcement. The bill would require the department to
evaluate the statements of qualifications and develop a list of
qualified firms that meet certain requirements. The bill would
require the department to contact firms on a rotational basis to
distribute the work in a fair and equitable manner and to determine
that the firm has sufficient staff and is available for the
performance of the project. Upon selecting a qualified firm, the bill
would require the department to negotiate a contract for the
services that includes a price and timeframe that it determines to be
fair and reasonable.
The bill would also make various nonsubstantive technical and
conforming changes.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Current law requires the Department of General Services to
review and approve plans for community college and school buildings
serving kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, after the plans
are completed by the building designers in accordance with the Field
Act.
(b) Because of the increasing complexity of building design,
especially seismic requirements, it is costly and time consuming for
building designers to change the design of a building after the plans
are completed.
(c) Returning plans after review for corrections or redesign can
delay the completion and use of the building.
(d) Early collaboration among the Department of General Services,
community college districts, school districts, and their design
professionals during critical stages of the building design and
project development process will facilitate the early identification
and resolution of technical issues, and thus reduce the probability
that significant changes in the building plans will be required after
plan review. The current project submittal and plan review process
established by existing law does not formally accommodate, prior to
design completion, this desired degree of collaboration and issue
resolution between these parties.
(e) The Legislature acknowledges that the Department of General
Services and the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges have entered into a memorandum of understanding for the
development and implementation of the collaborative process for
project development and review to ensure the public safety of
community college facilities through a collaborative, consistent, and
timely project development and plan review process.
(f) This process may be made available to community college
districts and school districts serving kindergarten and grades 1 to
12, inclusive, on a voluntary basis, as an alternative to the
traditional plan review and approval process currently provided by
the Department of General Services. The collaborative process for
project development and review involves the early and full
participation of all parties involved in the development, plan
review, construction, and certification of facilities projects on
behalf of community college districts and school districts serving
kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. These parties include the
Department of General Services staff, qualified plan review firms,
community college districts, school districts, and their design
professionals.
SEC. 1.5. Section 17303 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17303. (a) The Department of General Services shall establish one
or more methods to ensure that each application has been completed
sufficiently by the applicant to enable the plan review to be
performed.
(b) Upon receipt of a complete application, the Department of
General Services shall inform the applicant of the period of time
that it anticipates to elapse prior to commencing review of the
applicant's plans. Within 10 days of being so notified, the applicant
shall make an election to either use the Department of General
Services for the review of the applicant's plan or, request that the
plan review be performed by one or more qualified plan review firms
pursuant to Sections 17305 and 17306. If the applicant elects to use
the services of the Department of General Services for review of the
applicant's plan, the department, as it deems necessary to expedite
review of the applicant's plans, in addition to making a good faith
effort to hire state employees, shall do one or more of the
following:
(1) Contract for assistance from one or more qualified plan review
firms pursuant to Section 17305.
(2) Employ additional staff on a temporary basis.
(3) Maximize the use of department staff through the use of
overtime or other appropriate means.
(4) Any other action determined by the department to have the
effect of expediting the review and approval process.
(c) Each application shall identify, for purposes of receiving the
notifications required under this subdivision, an employee of the
applicant school district and either the applicant's architect or
structural engineer. The Department of General Services immediately
shall notify that employee, and the identified architect or
structural engineer, when each of the following steps in the plan
review process occurs:
(1) The department requests the applicant's architect or
structural engineer to correct or complete any part of the
application.
(2) An application number is assigned to the application.
(3) Review of the applicant's plans is commenced.
(4) Review of the applicant's plans is completed and the
department returns the plans to the architect or structural engineer
for correction.
(5) Corrected plans are returned to the department by the
applicant's architect or structural engineer for final review and
approval.
(6) The department approves the plans and causes a final record
set of the plans to be printed in accordance with Section 17304.
(d) The Department of General Services may provide additional
notifications to applicants as it deems necessary.
SEC. 2. Section 17305 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17305. (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, a county, or a city and county, as
defined in Section 18949.27 of the Health and Safety Code, or the
authorized representative of the 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 school 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 that
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 plan review 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 new
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.
SEC. 3. Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 17319) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 10.5 of the Education Code, to read:
Article 3.3. Collaborative Process for Project Development and
Review
17319. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The purpose of the collaborative process for project
development and review is to ensure the public safety of school
facilities through a collaborative, consistent, and timely project
development and review process.
(2) The collaborative process for project development and review
may be made available, as an alternative to the traditional plan
review and approval process, to school districts that voluntarily
apply to the Department of General Services.
(3) This process entails the early participation of all parties
involved in a project from project development and continuing through
plan review, construction, and certification of school facilities
projects. These parties include the Department of General Services'
staff and their qualified plan review firms, and school districts and
their design professionals.
(b) The Department of General Services, in consultation with the
Office of Public School Construction, shall establish procedures and
requirements governing the use of the collaborative process for
project development and review alternative. These procedures and
requirements shall include an application and selection process. Upon
project selection, the Department of General Services and the school
district shall mutually agree to the roles and responsibilities of
the Department of General Services, the applicant school district,
and its design professionals.
(c) As a part of the establishment of the requirements for the
collaborative process for project development and review, the
Department of General Services, in consultation with participating
school districts, shall establish mutually determined timeframe goals
for a project's plan review, district and consultant response,
response review, and final approval. Those timeframe goals shall
reflect the project's estimated construction cost, complexity, size,
and other requirements of the collaborative process for project
development and review.
(d) The Department of General Services shall establish model
statewide timeframe goals, in consultation with school districts and
other relevant parties, by February 1, 2007. Implementation of the
collaborative process for project development and review with
participating districts shall not negatively impact the traditional
plan review process with other districts.
(e) The Department of General Services shall submit a preliminary
report to the Legislature by July 1, 2008, and a final report by July
1, 2009. These reports shall address whether the implementation of
the collaborative process for project development and review has
assisted the department and school districts in meeting their
mutually determined timeframe goals.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 17300, the application for the
collaborative process for project development and review may be
accompanied by a filing fee from the school district in amounts
determined by the Department of General Services based on the
estimated project cost and according to the fee schedule identified
in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, of Section 17300. The
Department of General Services may establish a procedure for the
payment and collection of this filing fee.
(g) The department may assess a fee on a participating district to
cover the unreimbursed costs of the department incurred pursuant to
that district's participation in the collaborative process if the
department deems the assessment of the fee to be necessary for the
support of its operations and establishes a procedure for the
determination, collection, and deposit of the fee.
(h) During project development, the school district may provide
input to the Department of General Services in its selection of a
qualified plan review firm to provide consultative services to that
department. Upon project submittal by the applicant school district,
the department shall also refer the necessary project documents to
the selected qualified plan review firm for plan review. The
department shall establish procedures governing the use of this
article by applicant school districts for the selection of a
qualified plan review firm.
SEC. 4. Section 81133 of the Education Code is amended to read:
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.
SEC. 5. Section 81133.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
81133.1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The purpose of the collaborative process for project
development and review is to ensure the public safety of community
college facilities through a collaborative, consistent and timely
project development and review process.
(2) The collaborative process for project development and review
may be made available, as an alternative to the traditional plan
review and approval process, to community college districts that
voluntarily apply to the Department of General Services.
(3) This process entails the early participation of all parties
involved in a project from project development and continuing through
plan review, construction and certification of community college
facilities projects. These parties include, but are not limited to,
the Department of General Services' staff and their qualified plan
review firms, and community college districts and their design
professionals.
(b) In consultation with the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, the Department of General Services shall
establish procedures and requirements governing the use of the
collaborative process for project development and review alternative.
These procedures and requirements shall include an application and
selection process. Upon project selection, the Department of General
Services and the community college district shall mutually agree to
the roles and responsibilities of the Department of General Services,
the applicant community college district, and its design
professionals.
(c) As a part of the establishment of the requirements for the
collaborative process for project development and review, the
Department of General Services, in consultation with participating
community college districts, shall establish mutually determined
timeframe goals for a project's plan review, district and consultant
response, response review, and final approval. Those timeframe goals
shall reflect the project's estimated construction cost, complexity,
size, and other requirements of the collaborative process for project
development and review.
(d) The Department of General Services shall establish model
statewide timeframe goals, in consultation with community college
districts and other relevant parties, by February 1, 2007.
Implementation of the collaborative process for project development
and review with participating community college districts shall not
negatively impact the traditional plan review process with other
community college districts.
(e) The Department of General Services shall submit a preliminary
report to the Legislature by July 1, 2008, and a final report by July
1, 2009. These reports shall address whether the implementation of
the collaborative process for project development and review has
assisted the department and community college districts in meeting
their mutually determined timeframe goals.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 81133, the application for the
collaborative process for project development and review may be
accompanied by a filing fee from the community college district in
amounts determined by the Department of General Services based on the
estimated project cost and according to the filing fee schedule
identified in paragraph (7) of subdivision (c) of Section 81133. The
Department of General Services may establish a procedure for the
payment and collection of this filing fee.
(g) The department may assess a fee on a participating district to
cover the unreimbursed costs of the department incurred pursuant to
that district's participation in the collaborative process if the
department deems the assessment of the fee to be necessary for the
support of its operations and establishes a procedure for the
determination, collection, and deposit of the fee.
(h) During project development, the community college district may
provide input to the Department of General Services in its selection
of a qualified plan review firm to provide consultative services to
that department. Upon project submittal by the applicant community
college district, the department may also refer the necessary project
documents to the selected qualified plan review firm for plan
review. The department may establish procedures governing the use of
this section by applicant community college districts for the
selection of a qualified plan review firm.
SEC. 6. Section 81133.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:
81133.2. (a) The Department of General Services shall provide
training, on an ongoing basis, to its employees and to the employees
of architectural and structural engineering firms that contract with
the department for the purposes of this chapter. The training shall
address all phases of the plan review process established under this
chapter, and shall be designed to ensure that all individuals who
develop and review college building plans obtain sufficient knowledge
of the rules, regulations, and standards that apply under this
chapter.
(b) The department shall make the training described in
subdivision (a) available to the employees of architectural and
structural engineering firms that contract with applicant community
college districts for the purpose of this chapter, and to any other
individuals, firms, and governmental agencies that are involved in
college building design, construction, or inspection, and that may
benefit from the training.
(c) The department may charge a fee for training provided pursuant
to this subdivision.
SEC. 6.5. Section 81134 of the Education Code is amended to read:
81134. (a) The Department of General Services shall establish one
or more methods to ensure that each application has been completed
sufficiently by the applicant to enable the plan review to be
performed.
(b) Upon receipt of a complete application, the Department of
General Services shall inform the applicant of the period of time
that it anticipates to elapse prior to commencing review of the
applicant's plans. Within 10 days of being so notified, the applicant
shall make an election to either use the Department of General
Services for the review of the applicant's
plans or, request that the plan review be
performed by one or more qualified plan review firms pursuant to
Sections 81135 and 81136. If the applicant elects to use the services
of the Department of General Services for review of the applicant's
plans, the department, as it deems necessary to expedite review of
the applicant's plans, in addition to making a good faith effort to
hire state employees, shall do one or more of the following:
(1) Contract for assistance from one or more qualified plan review
firms pursuant to Sections 81135 and 81136.
(2) Employ additional staff on a temporary basis.
(3) Maximize the use of department staff through the use of
overtime or other appropriate means.
(4) Any other action determined by the department to have the
effect of expediting the review and approval process.
(c) Each application shall identify, for purposes of receiving the
notifications required under this subdivision, an employee of the
applicant community college district and either the applicant's
architect or structural engineer. The Department of General Services
immediately shall notify that employee, and the identified architect
or structural engineer, when each of the following steps in the plan
review process occurs:
(1) The department requests the applicant's architect or
structural engineer to correct or complete any part of the
application.
(2) An application number is assigned to the application.
(3) Review of the applicant's plans is commenced.
(4) Review of the applicant's plans is completed and the
department returns the plans to the architect or structural engineer
for correction.
(5) Corrected plans are returned to the department by the
applicant's architect or structural engineer for final review and
approval.
(6) The department approves the plans and causes a final record
set of the plans to be printed in accordance with Section 17304.
(d) The Department of General Services may provide additional
notifications to applicants as it deems necessary.
SEC. 7. Section 81135 of the Education Code is amended to read:
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.