Amended in Assembly March 31, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2093


Introduced by Assembly Member Steinorth

February 17, 2016


An act to amend Section 1938 of the Civil Code, and to amend Sections 4459.8 and 8299.06 of the Government Code, relating to disability access.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2093, as amended, Steinorth. Disability access.

(1) Existing law requires the State Architect to establish and publicize a program for the voluntary certification by the state of any person who meets specified criteria as a Certified Access Specialist (CASp). Existing law requires each applicant for CASp certification or renewal to pay certain fees, and requires the State Architect to periodically review those fees, as specified. Existing law provides for the deposit of those fees into the Certified Access Specialist Fund, which is continuously appropriated for use by the State Architect to implement the CASp program.

This bill would require applicants for CASp certification or renewal to additionally provide to the State Architect the name of the city, county, or city and county in which the applicant intends to provide or has provided services, and would require the State Architect to post that information on his or her Internet Web site.

(2) Existing law requires a commercial property owner or lessor to state on every lease form or rental agreement executed on or after July 1, 2013, whether the property has been determined by a CASp to meet all applicable construction-related accessibility standards.

Thisbegin delete bill, for every lease form or rental agreement executed on or after January 1, 2017,end deletebegin insert billend insert would require the commercial property owner or lessorbegin insert to state on every lease form or rental agreement executed on or after January 1, 2017, whether or not the premises have been inspected by a CASp specialist. The bill would require a commercial property owner or lessorend insert to provide the lessee or tenant with a current disability access inspection certificate and inspection report or a copy of a CASp inspection report, as specified,begin delete orend deletebegin insert if the premises have been issued an inspection report indicating that they meet applicable standards. If the premises have not been issued a disability access inspection certificate, the billend insert would require a statement on thebegin insert leaseend insert form orbegin insert rentalend insert agreementbegin insert statingend insert that, upon request of the lessee or tenant, the property owner may not prohibit a CASp inspection of the subject premisesbegin delete at the lessee’s or tenant’s expenseend delete and that the parties must mutually agree on the arrangements for the time and manner of thebegin delete inspection.end deletebegin insert inspection, the payment of the associated fee, and the cost of making repairs, as specified. The bill would require a property owner or lessor of premises that have been subject to CASp inspection, and that remain unmodified or altered, as specified, since the date of the inspection and the lease or rental agreement with regard to construction-related accessibility standards, to provide a copy of the report that is to remain confidential except as necessary to make repairs and corrections, as specified. The bill would establish a presumption that making repairs or modifications necessary to correct violations of construction-related accessibility standards that are noted in a CASp report is the responsibility of the commercial property owner or lessor unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties to the lease or rental agreement. The bill would grant a prospective lessee or tenant the opportunity to review any CASp report prior to execution of the lease or rental agreement, and if the report is not provided at least 48 hours prior to execution of a lease or rental agreement, the bill would grant a prospective lessee or tenant the right to rescind the lease or agreement, based upon information in the report, for 72 hours after execution.end insert

(3) Existing law establishes the California Commission on Disability Access for purposes of developing recommendations to enable persons with disabilities to exercise their right to full and equal access to public facilities and facilitating business compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. Existing law sets forth the powers and duties of the commission, including, but not limited to, developing educational materials and information for businesses, building owners, tenants, and building officials, posting that information on the commission’s Internet Web site, and coordinating with other state agencies and local building departments to ensure that information provided to the public on disability access requirements is uniform and complete.

This bill would additionally require the commission to provide a link on its Internet Web site to the Internet Web site of the Division of the State Architect’s CASp certification program and to make the commission’s educational materials and information available to other state agencies and local building departments.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 1938 of the Civil Code is amended to
2read:

3

1938.  

(a) A commercial property owner or lessor shall state
4on every lease form or rental agreement executed on or after
5January 1, 2017, whether or not the subject premises have
6undergone inspection by a Certified Access Specialist (CASp).

7(b) If the subject premises have undergone inspection by a CASp
8and, to the best of the commercial property owner’s or lessor’s
9knowledge, there have been no modifications or alterations
10completed or commenced between the date of the inspection and
11the date of the lease or rental agreement which have impacted the
12subject premises’ compliance with construction-related
13accessibility standards, the commercial property owner or lessor
14shall provide, prior to execution of the lease or rental agreement,
15a copy of any report prepared by the CASp with an agreement
16from the prospective lessee or tenant that information in the report
17shall remain confidential, except as necessary for the tenant to
18complete repairs and corrections of violations of
19construction-related accessibility standards that the lessee or tenant
20agrees to make.

begin insert

21
(c) Making any repairs or modifications necessary to correct
22violations of construction-related accessibility standards that are
23noted in a CASp report is presumed to be the responsibility of the
24commercial property owner or lessor, unless otherwise mutually
P4    1agreed upon by the commercial property owner or lessor and the
2lessee or tenant. The prospective lessee or tenant shall have the
3 opportunity to review any CASp report prior to execution of the
4lease or rental agreement. If the report is not provided to the
5prospective lessee or tenant at least 48 hours prior to execution
6of the lease or rental agreement, the prospective lessee or tenant
7shall have the right to rescind the lease or rental agreement, based
8upon the information contained in the report, for 72 hours after
9execution of the agreement.

end insert
begin delete

10(c)

end delete

11begin insert(d)end insert If the subject premises have been issued an inspection report
12by a CASp, as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of
13Section 55.53, indicating that it meets applicable standards, as
14defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) ofbegin insert Sectionend insert 55.52, the
15commercial property owner or lessor shall provide a copy of the
16current disability access inspection certificate and any inspection
17report to the lessee or tenant not already provided pursuant to
18subdivision (b) within seven days of the date of the execution of
19the lease form or rental agreement.

begin delete

20(d)

end delete

21begin insert(e)end insert If the subject premises have not been issued a disability
22access inspection certificate, as described in subdivision (e) of
23Section 55.53, the commercial property owner or lessor shall state
24the following on the lease form or rental agreement:


26“A Certified Access Specialist (CASp) can inspect the subject
27premises and determine whether the subject premises comply with
28all of the applicable construction-related accessibility standards
29under state law. Although state law does not require a CASp
30inspection of the subject premises, the commercial property owner
31or lessor may not prohibit the lessee or tenant from obtaining a
32CASp inspection of the subject premises for the occupancy or
33potential occupancy of the lessee or tenant,begin delete at the lessee’s or
34tenant’s expense,end delete
if requested by the lessee or tenant. The parties
35shall mutually agree on the arrangements for the time and manner
36of the CASpbegin delete inspection.”end deletebegin insert inspection, the payment of the fee for the
37CASp inspection, and the cost of making any repairs necessary to
38correct violations of construction-related accessibility standards
39within the premises.”end insert

P5    1

SEC. 2.  

Section 4459.8 of the Government Code is amended
2to read:

3

4459.8.  

(a) The certification authorized by Section 4459.5 is
4effective for three years from the date of initial certification and
5expires if not renewed. The State Architect, upon consideration of
6any factual complaints regarding the work of a certified access
7specialist or of other relevant information, may suspend
8certification or deny renewal of certification.

9(b) (1) The State Architect shall require each applicant for
10certification as a certified access specialist to do both of the
11following:

12(A) Pay fees, including an application and course fee and an
13examination fee, at a level sufficient to meet the costs of application
14processing, registration, publishing a list, and other activities that
15are reasonably necessary to implement and administer the certified
16access specialist program.

17(B) Provide to the State Architect the name of the city, county,
18or city and county in which the applicant intends to provide
19services.

20(2) The State Architect shall require each applicant for renewal
21of certification to do both of the following:

22(A) Pay a fee sufficient to cover the reasonable costs of
23reassessing qualifications of renewal applicants.

24(B) Provide to the State Architect the name of the city, county,
25or city and county in which the applicant has provided services
26since the last day of certification by the State Architect.

27(3) The State Architect shall periodically review his or her
28schedule of fees to ensure that the fees for certification are not
29excessive while covering the costs to administer the certified access
30specialist program. The application fee for a California licensed
31architect, landscape architect, civil engineer, or structural engineer
32shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250).

33(c) All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited
34into the Certified Access Specialist Fund, which is hereby created
35in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340, this fund
36is continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years for use
37by the State Architect to implement Sections 4459.5 to 4459.8,
38inclusive.

P6    1(d) The State Architect shall post on his or her Internet Web
2site the name of the city, county, or city and county in which each
3certified access specialist provides or intends to provide services.

4

SEC. 3.  

Section 8299.06 of the Government Code is amended
5to read:

6

8299.06.  

(a) A priority of the commission shall be the
7development and dissemination of educational materials and
8information to promote and facilitate disability access compliance.

9(b) The commission shall work with other state agencies,
10including the Division of the State Architect and the Department
11of Rehabilitation, to develop educational materials and information
12for use by businesses to understand their obligations to provide
13disability access and to facilitate compliance with
14construction-related accessibility standards.

15(c) The commission shall develop and make available on its
16Internet Web site, or make available on its Internet Web site if
17developed by another governmental agency, including Americans
18with Disabilities Act centers, toolkits or educational modules to
19assist a California business to understand its obligations under the
20law and to facilitate compliance with respect to the top 10 alleged
21construction-related violations, by type, as specified in subdivision
22(a) of Section 8299.08. Upon completion of this requirement, the
23commission shall develop and make available on its Internet Web
24site, or work with another agency to develop, other toolkits or
25educational modules that would educate businessesbegin delete ofend deletebegin insert onend insert the
26accessibility requirements and to facilitate compliance with that
27requirement.

28(d) The commission shall post the following on its Internet Web
29site:

30(1) Educational materials and information that will assist
31building owners, tenants, building officials, and building inspectors
32to understand the disability accessibility requirements and to
33 facilitate compliance with disability access laws. The commission
34shall at least annually review the educational materials and
35information on disability access requirements and compliance
36available on the Internet Webbegin delete siteend deletebegin insert sitesend insert of other local, state, or
37federal agencies, including Americans with Disabilities Act centers,
38to augment the educational materials and information developed
39by the commission.

P7    1(2) A link to the Internet Web site of the Division of the State
2Architect’s Certified Access Specialist (CASp) Program to assist
3building owners and tenants in locating or hiring a CASp.

4(e) The commission shall, to the extent feasible, coordinate with
5other state agencies and local building departments to ensure that
6information provided to the public on disability access requirements
7is uniform and complete, and make its educational materials and
8information available to those agencies and departments.



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