School facilities: Field Act: seismic safety: workgroup.

Existing law requires the Department of General Services, under the police power of the state, to supervise the design and construction of any school building or the reconstruction or alteration of or addition to any school building, if not exempted, to ensure that plans and specifications comply with specified rules, regulations, and building standards and to ensure that the work of construction is performed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, for the protection of life and property. Existing law authorizes the department to issue a stop work order when construction work on a public school is not being performed in accordance with existing law and would compromise the structural integrity of the building, thereby endangering the public safety, but requires the department to allow construction of incidental and minor nonstructural additions or nonstructural alterations without invoking its stop work authority. Existing law establishes in the Department of General Services the Division of the State Architect and provides that the State Architect has general charge, under the Department of General Services, of the erection of all state buildings. This bill would require the Department of General Services to convene a workgroup, or continue to use an existing workgroup, as specified, to develop and adopt recommendations for improving the oversight of school construction projects. The bill would require the workgroup to review changes made within the Division of the State Architect to improve its oversight of school construction projects and to review the Field Act to consider changes to the act concerning occupancy of school facilities when and if significant safety concerns are identified. The bill would require the Division of the State Architect by July 1, 2013, to report the recommendations of the workgroup to the Senate Select Committee on Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery, at a public hearing with an opportunity for public comment, as specified, and to the appropriate Senate and Assembly policy committees. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2015.