The Field Act 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 adopted rules and regulations and building standards published in regulations, 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.
The California Building Standards Code requires that specified buildings, structures, and facilities be accessible to, and useable by, persons with disabilities, including that when alterations or additions are made to existing buildings or facilities, an accessible path of travel to the specific area of alteration or
addition is provided. The California Building Standards Code also requires that if an area has been altered without providing an accessible path of travel to that area, and subsequent alterations of that area or a different area on the same path of travel are undertaken within 3 years of the original alteration, the total cost of alterations to the areas on that path of travel during the preceding 3-year period are required to be considered in determining whether the cost of making that path of travel accessible is disproportionate.
This bill would exempt projects solely for the installation of limit the cost of complying with the requirement to provide an accessible path of travel to a
free-standing, open-sided shade structures, that meet structure project that meets specified requirements, requirements and that is on a school district, county office of education, charter school, or community college campus from the above-described accessible path of travel requirements.
If an area has been altered by a shade structure under these provisions without providing an accessible path of travel to that area, and subsequent alterations of that area or a different area on that same path of travel are undertaken within 3 years of the original alteration, the bill would prohibit the cost of the shade structure from being included in the total cost of the alterations to the areas on that path of travel during the preceding 3-year period for purposes of making the above-described determination, as specified. to 20% of the adjusted construction cost, as defined, of the shade structure project.