Article 3 - Building Standards

California Education Code — §§ 81050-81055

Sections (7)

Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 552, Sec. 34. Effective January 1, 2004.

“School building,” as used in this article, means any building used, or designed to be used, for community college purposes and constructed by the state, by any city, county, or city and county, by any district of any kind within the state, by any regional occupational center or program created by or authorized to act by an agreement under joint exercise of power, or by the United States government, or any agency thereof.

§ 81050.5

Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 83, Sec. 1. (AB 358) Effective January 1, 2024.

(a)(1) For the purposes of this article, Article 7 (commencing with Section 81130), and Article 8 (commencing with Section 81160), “school building” does not include any building used or intended to be used by a community college district as residential housing.

(2)The Department of General Services shall approve plans and specifications for a residence for students attending a campus of a community college upon a request by the community college district, pursuant to Sections 81130 and 81160.

(b)As used in this section, “residential housing” means any building used as a personal residence by a teacher or employee of a community college district, with the teacher’s or

employee’s family, if applicable, and any building used as a residence for students attending a campus of a community college district.

§ 81051

Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 552, Sec. 34. Effective January 1, 2004.

(a)Each school building that has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and to be used for community college purposes, shall be renovated according to the Field Act, as defined in Section 81130.3. If subdivision (b) applies, that building may be renovated according to the regulations adopted by the State Architect pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 17280.5.

(b)The governing board of a community college district that proposes to renovate, pursuant to this section, a school building that does not comply with the Field Act shall hold a public hearing, after giving appropriate public notice, for the purpose of gaining public input on the matter. The governing board shall adopt its decision on this proposal at a public hearing.

§ 81052

Added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 35, Sec. 14. Effective May 20, 2006. Operative after November 7, 2006 (Prop. 1D was adopted) by Sec. 25 of Ch. 35.

Each school building constructed, reconstructed, modified, or expanded after July 1, 2006, on a community college campus shall be built according to the Field Act, as defined in Section 81130.3, or according to the California Building Standards Code, as adopted by the California Building Standards Commission.

§ 81053

Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 704, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2009.

(a)To ensure that community college districts are able to effectively exercise the option of utilizing the Field Act or the California Building Standards Code, as provided in Section 81052, and construct buildings safely, cost effectively, and in a timely manner, the Department of General Services shall develop and submit, in consultation with the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, by June 1, 2009, to the California Building Standards Commission proposed building standards for adoption as part of the California Building Standards Code that will govern the construction, reconstruction, modification, or expansion of school buildings of a community college district as provided in Section 81052, if the community college district elects not to utilize the Field Act. The Department of General Services shall review and include, where appropriate, in these standards the standards that govern the California State University. The proposed building standards shall provide for independent plan review and oversight to be performed by the Department of General Services. The standards shall become effective 30 days after adoption by the California Building Standards Commission.

(b)The Department of General Services shall be responsible for plan reviews consistent with Section 81133.

§ 81054

Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 704, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2009.

(a)The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) shall undertake a fact-based analysis of the length of time the Department of General Services and the community colleges take to perform their respective functions to complete community college construction and alteration projects. This information shall be compiled in a report made available to the Legislature and the Governor by March 1, 2009.

(b)Following the issuance of the report described in subdivision (a), the Department of General Services shall convene a working group advisory committee consisting of a representative from the Department of General Services, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Associated General Contractors of California, and the Professional Engineers in California Government. The working group shall analyze the report and the current process to complete community college construction and alteration projects and develop recommendations for changes, if any, in the project development and review process to ensure the public safety of community college facilities through a collaborative, consistent, cost-effective, and timely project development and review process. The recommendations shall include proposed timeframe goals for the performance of each specific task performed by the Department of General Services and by private design professionals performing services for a community college district and an assessment of the staffing and other resource needs of the Department of General Services to perform its tasks related to the construction or alteration of community college facilities. The recommendations shall be submitted in writing to the Department of General Services, working group members, the Senate and Assembly Committees on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Education, the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, and the education budget subcommittees of the Assembly and Senate by December 31, 2009.

§ 81055

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 378, Sec. 1. (AB 648) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Affordable rent” means an amount consistent with the rent limits established by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.

(2)“Extremely low income faculty or staff” means an employee of the California Community Colleges who satisfies the requirements of Section 50106 of the Health and Safety Code.

(3)“Lower income faculty or staff” means an employee of the California Community Colleges who satisfies the requirements of Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety

Code.

(4)“Satellite campus” means an auxiliary classroom or a teaching site not a part of the main campus.

(5)“University housing development project” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 21080.58 of the Public Resources Code.

(b)Notwithstanding any other law, a community college district is not required to comply with the zoning ordinances of a city, county, or city and county for a university housing development project constructed on property owned or leased by a community college district, if the parcel on which the project will be constructed meets either of the following requirements:

(1)The parcel is contained either

wholly or partially within a one-half mile radius of a main campus, as defined in Section 94849.

(2)The parcel is contained either wholly or partially within a one-half mile radius of a satellite campus that existed before July 1, 2025.

(c)If the university housing development project includes units for faculty and staff, the community college district shall ensure that a portion of the units are made available at affordable rents to extremely low income faculty and staff and to lower income faculty and staff.