BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          SB 1358 (Wolk) - Building standards: baby diaper changing  
          stations.
          
          Amended: May 5, 2014            Policy Vote: T&H 8-2
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 19, 2014      Consultant: Mark McKenzie
          
          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File. 

          
          Bill Summary: SB 1358 would require the Building Standards  
          Commission (BSC) to adopt mandatory building standards for  
          installation of baby diaper changing accommodations in newly  
          constructed or renovated public restrooms, as specified.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Minor costs to the BSC to adopt a mandatory building  
              standard as part of the next triennial update of the  
              California Building Standards Code. (Building Standards  
              Administration Special Revolving Fund)

              Unknown, likely minor costs for state agencies to install  
              diaper changing stations in state buildings or facilities  
              that are open to the public and constructed after 2016. 

          Background: Existing law requires the BSC to adopt revised  
          building codes every three years through a public administrative  
          process of proposal, review, and adoption.  Once adopted, the  
          BSC is required to publish and make the building standards  
          available to the public at least 180 days before their effective  
          date.  These procedures give the designers, contractors, local  
          government planners, building officials, and inspectors in  
          construction time to become familiar and ensure compliance with  
          the code. These codes are then published as the California  
          Building Code (CBC) in the California Code of Regulations.  The  
          most recent update was completed in 2013, and went into effect  
          this year.  These Building Standards are in effect through 2016.

          Proposed Law: SB 1358 would require BSC to develop and adopt a  
          mandatory building standard in the next triennial update of the  
          Building Standards Code for the installation of baby diaper  








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          changing accommodations in restroom facilities in places of  
          public accommodation.  The building standard would only apply in  
          new construction or when a bathroom renovation requires a  
          building permit and the value of the restroom renovation exceeds  
          $10,000.  

          Related Legislation: SB 1350 (Lara), pending before this  
          committee, would require BSC to adopt an elective standard for  
          the installation of baby diaper changing accommodations in newly  
          constructed or renovated public restrooms.  The bill would  
          specify that if diaper changing stations are installed in a new  
          or renovated restroom, they must be equally available regardless  
          of gender for which a restroom is designed. 

          Staff Comments: This bill would require the installation of baby  
          diaper changing stations in future state building construction.   
          Although the bill requires changing stations to be installed in  
          renovated restrooms as well, this provision would not apply to  
          state renovations because these projects are not subject to  
          local building permit requirements.  Incremental costs to  
          include changing stations in newly constructed restrooms that  
          are accessible to the general public are unknown at this time,  
          but likely minor.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that costs to  
          purchase and install a diaper changing station as a part of new  
          construction may be in the range of $1,000 to $2,000 per  
          station.  Actual state costs would depend upon the parameters of  
          the adopted building standard, the number of buildings  
          constructed in a single year, and the number of restrooms in  
          those buildings that are accessible to the public.  Staff  
          assumes that, with respect to new state construction, the bill  
          would apply in very limited circumstances.  If 20 new state  
          restrooms are constructed in a single year, costs would be in  
          the range of $20,000 to $40,000. 

          Staff notes that costs to local and public entities would be  
          significant.  Local costs related to the bill are not  
          reimbursable by the state because of the bill's general  
          applicability to both public and private entities.

          Since the bill requires the new building standard to be adopted  
          in the next update to the Building Standards Code, BSC can  
          absorb the costs.










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