BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2093 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 2093 (Steinorth) - As Amended March 31, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Judiciary |Vote:|10 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill seeks to promote compliance with disability access requirements in commercial property. Specifically, this bill: AB 2093 Page 2 1)Requires the Division of the State Architect (DSA) to require each applicant for certification as a certified access specialist (CASp), and for CASp recertification, to provide the DSA with information about location (city, county) where they intend to, or have provided services, and requires the DSA to post this information on its website. The California Commission on Disability Access (CCDA) must also post a link on its website to the DSA's CASp program. 2)Requires a commercial property owner to state on every lease form or rental agreement executed after July 1, 2017, whether or not the property being leased has undergone inspection by a CASp. 3)Requires, if the property has undergone a CASp inspection, and there have been no modifications since the inspection to impact access compliance, the property owner to provide a copy of the CASp's inspection report prior to execution of the lease. 4)Stipulates that any modifications necessary to correct accessibility deficiencies as noted in a CASp report are presumed to be the responsibility of the property owner, unless otherwise mutually agreed to by the owner and the lessee. 5)Requires the property owner, if the property has been provided a current disability access inspection certificate, to furnish the certificate to the lessee within seven days of execution of the lease. 6)Requires the property owner, if the property has not been provided a current disability access inspection certificate, to state in the lease agreement that a CASp can inspect the AB 2093 Page 3 property, and although an inspection is not required by state law, the owner cannot prohibit a lessee from arranging and inspection. FISCAL EFFECT: DSA's costs will be minor and absorbable to obtain and publish information regarding where each CASp provides their services. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. Under current law, a commercial property owner is required to state on every lease form or rental agreement whether the property has been inspected by a CASp. If the property has undergone a CASP inspection, the lease or rental agreement must state whether the property meets all applicable construction-related accessibility standards. Since the property owner may not know whether the property has met all applicable-related accessibility standards, current law may unintentionally create a disincentive for a business property owner to obtain CASp services. This bill seeks to increase the amount of information that tenants get about commercial property that they may rent or lease, ultimately promoting compliance of commercial property with the ADA and state construction-related accessibility standards. 2)Finding a CASp. The State Architect publishes a list of all the CASps in the State on its website. Currently, there are AB 2093 Page 4 over 575 CASps, however, it may be difficult to find a CASp who is available in a given area. Currently, the State Architect's website does not consistently provide the location in which a CASp provides his or her services. This bill requires an applicant for CASp certification or renewal to provide the State Architect the location where the applicant will provide CASp services, specifically, the city, county, or city and county. Additionally, the proposed amendments require the State Architect to publish this locational information. 3)Prior Legislation. This bill is similar to AB 1342 (Steinorth) of 2015, which the Governor vetoed due to provisions, not included in AB 2093, which established two staff positions within the CCDA. AB 1521 (Assembly Judiciary Committee), Chapter 755, Statutes of 2015, addressed the problem of high-frequency ADA litigation by establishing new pre-filing procedures for "high-frequency litigants" and providing new tools for businesses to use when they are served with complaints alleging violations of construction-related accessibility claims 4)Related Legislation. SB 269 (Roth), also on today's committee agenda, establishes a list of "technical violations" that are presumed to not cause a person difficulty, discomfort or embarrassment for the purpose of awarding the plaintiff minimum statutory damages, and protects a business with 50 employees or less from liability for minimum statutory damages for violations of construction-related accessibility standards during the 120 day period after the business obtained a CASp inspection of the business and corrected violations noted in the inspection. AB 2093 Page 5 Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081