Amended in Senate May 25, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 31, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2093


Introduced by Assembly Member Steinorth

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(Coauthor: Senator Roth)

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February 17, 2016


An act to amend Section 1938 of the Civil Code,begin delete and to amend Sections 4459.8 and 8299.06 of the Government Code,end delete relating to disabilitybegin delete access.end deletebegin insert access, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2093, as amended, Steinorth. Disability access.

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(1) Existing

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begin insertExistingend insert 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).begin delete 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 programend delete.

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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.

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(2) Existing

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begin insertExistingend insert 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.

This bill would require the commercial property owner or lessor 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 lessor 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, 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 bill would require a statement on the lease form or rental agreement stating that, upon request of the lessee or tenant, the property owner may not prohibit a CASp inspection of the subject premises and that the parties must mutually agree on the arrangements for the time and manner of the inspection, the payment of the associated fee, and the cost of making repairs, as specified.begin delete Theend delete

begin insert Theend insert 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.begin delete Theend delete

begin insert Theend insert 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.

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(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.

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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.

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This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

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Vote: begin deletemajority end deletebegin insert23end insert. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: begin deleteyes end deletebegin insertnoend insert. 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
P4    1shall remain confidential, except as necessary for the tenant to
2complete repairs and corrections of violations of
3construction-related accessibility standards that the lessee or tenant
4agrees to make.

5(c) Making any repairs or modifications necessary to correct
6violations of construction-related accessibility standards that are
7noted in a CASp report is presumed to be the responsibility of the
8commercial property owner or lessor, unless otherwise mutually
9agreed upon by the commercial property owner or lessor and the
10lessee or tenant. The prospective lessee or tenant shall have the
11 opportunity to review any CASp report prior to execution of the
12lease or rental agreement. If the report is not provided to the
13prospective lessee or tenant at least 48 hours prior to execution of
14the lease or rental agreement, the prospective lessee or tenant shall
15have the right to rescind the lease or rental agreement, based upon
16the information contained in the report, for 72 hours after execution
17of the agreement.

18(d) If the subject premises have been issued an inspection report
19by a CASp, as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of
20Section 55.53, indicating that it meets applicable standards, as
21defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 55.52, the
22commercial property owner or lessor shall provide a copy of the
23current disability access inspection certificate and any inspection
24report to the lessee or tenant not already provided pursuant to
25subdivision (b) within seven days of the date of the execution of
26the lease form or rental agreement.

27(e) If the subject premises have not been issued a disability
28access inspection certificate, as described in subdivision (e) of
29Section 55.53, the commercial property owner or lessor shall state
30the following on the lease form or rental agreement:


32“A Certified Access Specialist (CASp) can inspect the subject
33premises and determine whether the subject premises comply with
34all of the applicable construction-related accessibility standards
35under state law. Although state law does not require a CASp
36inspection of the subject premises, the commercial property owner
37or lessor may not prohibit the lessee or tenant from obtaining a
38CASp inspection of the subject premises for the occupancy or
39potential occupancy of the lessee or tenant, if requested by the
40lessee or tenant. The parties shall mutually agree on the
P5    1arrangements for the time and manner of the CASp inspection, the
2payment of the fee for the CASp inspection, and the cost of making
3any repairs necessary to correct violations of construction-related
4accessibility standards within the premises.”

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SEC. 2.  

Section 4459.8 of the Government Code is amended
6to read:

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4459.8.  

(a) The certification authorized by Section 4459.5 is
8effective for three years from the date of initial certification and
9expires if not renewed. The State Architect, upon consideration of
10any factual complaints regarding the work of a certified access
11specialist or of other relevant information, may suspend
12certification or deny renewal of certification.

13(b) (1) The State Architect shall require each applicant for
14certification as a certified access specialist to do both of the
15following:

16(A) Pay fees, including an application and course fee and an
17examination fee, at a level sufficient to meet the costs of application
18processing, registration, publishing a list, and other activities that
19are reasonably necessary to implement and administer the certified
20access specialist program.

21(B) Provide to the State Architect the name of the city, county,
22or city and county in which the applicant intends to provide
23services.

24(2) The State Architect shall require each applicant for renewal
25of certification to do both of the following:

26(A) Pay a fee sufficient to cover the reasonable costs of
27reassessing qualifications of renewal applicants.

28(B) Provide to the State Architect the name of the city, county,
29or city and county in which the applicant has provided services
30since the last day of certification by the State Architect.

31(3) The State Architect shall periodically review his or her
32schedule of fees to ensure that the fees for certification are not
33excessive while covering the costs to administer the certified access
34specialist program. The application fee for a California licensed
35architect, landscape architect, civil engineer, or structural engineer
36shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250).

37(c) All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited
38into the Certified Access Specialist Fund, which is hereby created
39in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340, this fund
40is continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years for use
P6    1by the State Architect to implement Sections 4459.5 to 4459.8,
2inclusive.

3(d) The State Architect shall post on his or her Internet Web
4site the name of the city, county, or city and county in which each
5certified access specialist provides or intends to provide services.

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SEC. 3.  

Section 8299.06 of the Government Code is amended
7to read:

8

8299.06.  

(a) A priority of the commission shall be the
9development and dissemination of educational materials and
10information to promote and facilitate disability access compliance.

11(b) The commission shall work with other state agencies,
12including the Division of the State Architect and the Department
13of Rehabilitation, to develop educational materials and information
14for use by businesses to understand their obligations to provide
15disability access and to facilitate compliance with
16construction-related accessibility standards.

17(c) The commission shall develop and make available on its
18Internet Web site, or make available on its Internet Web site if
19developed by another governmental agency, including Americans
20with Disabilities Act centers, toolkits or educational modules to
21assist a California business to understand its obligations under the
22law and to facilitate compliance with respect to the top 10 alleged
23construction-related violations, by type, as specified in subdivision
24(a) of Section 8299.08. Upon completion of this requirement, the
25commission shall develop and make available on its Internet Web
26site, or work with another agency to develop, other toolkits or
27educational modules that would educate businesses on the
28accessibility requirements and to facilitate compliance with that
29requirement.

30(d) The commission shall post the following on its Internet Web
31site:

32(1) Educational materials and information that will assist
33building owners, tenants, building officials, and building inspectors
34to understand the disability accessibility requirements and to
35 facilitate compliance with disability access laws. The commission
36shall at least annually review the educational materials and
37information on disability access requirements and compliance
38available on the Internet Web sites of other local, state, or federal
39agencies, including Americans with Disabilities Act centers, to
P7    1augment the educational materials and information developed by
2the commission.

3(2) A link to the Internet Web site of the Division of the State
4Architect’s Certified Access Specialist (CASp) Program to assist
5building owners and tenants in locating or hiring a CASp.

6(e) The commission shall, to the extent feasible, coordinate with
7other state agencies and local building departments to ensure that
8information provided to the public on disability access requirements
9is uniform and complete, and make its educational materials and
10information available to those agencies and departments.

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This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
12immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
13the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
14immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

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15
In order to increase compliance with accessibility standards for
16the benefit of the public, especially disabled consumers who may
17experience unjust discomfort, difficulty, or embarrassment when
18public places or businesses are not compliant with accessibility
19standards required by law and to improve the ability of businesses
20to correct accessibility violations, provide clarity to property
21owners and tenants regarding responsibility for correcting
22accessibility violations and increase awareness of state programs
23to inspect properties for accessibility violations, it is necessary
24that this act go into effect immediately.

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