(a) Upon receipt by the Commissioner of Administrative Services of the final plans for any phase of a school building project as provided in section 10-291, said commissioner shall promptly review such plans and check them to the extent appropriate for the phase of development or construction for which final plans have been submitted to determine whether they conform with the requirements of the Fire Safety Code, the Department of Public Health, the life-cycle cost analysis approved by the Commissioner of Administrative Services, the State Building Code and the state and federal standards for design and construction of public buildings to meet the needs of persons with disabilities, and if acceptable a final written approval of such phase shall be sent to the town or regional board of education and the school building committee. No phase of a school building project, subject to the provisions of subsection (c) or (d) of this section, shall go out for bidding purposes prior to such written approval.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a town or regional school district may submit final plans and specifications for oil tank replacement, roof replacement, asbestos abatement, code violation, energy conservation, network wiring projects or projects for which state assistance is not sought, to the local officials having jurisdiction over such matters for review and written approval. The total costs for an asbestos abatement, code violation, energy conservation, or network wiring project eligible for review and approval under this subsection shall not exceed one million dollars. Except for projects for which state assistance is not sought and projects for which the town or regional school district is using a state contract pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, no school building project described in this subsection shall go out for bidding purposes prior to the receipt and acceptance by the Department of Administrative Services of such written approval.
(c) On and after October 1, 1991, if the Commissioner of Administrative Services does not complete his or her review pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, not later than thirty days after the date of receipt of final plans for a school building project, a town or regional school district may submit such final plans to local officials having jurisdiction over such matters for review and written approval. In such case, the school district shall notify the commissioner of such action and no such school building project shall go out for bidding purposes prior to the receipt by the commissioner of such written approval, except for projects for which the town or regional school district is using a state contract pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Local building officials and fire marshals may engage the services of a code consultant for purposes of the review pursuant to this subsection, provided the cost of such consultant shall be paid by the school district.
(d) If the Department of Administrative Services makes a state contract available for use by towns or regional school districts, a town or regional school district may use such contract, provided the actual estimate for the school building project under the state contract is not given until receipt by the town or regional school district of approval of the plan pursuant to this section.
(1953, S. 991d; 1957, P.A. 593, S. 11; 1969, P.A. 413; P.A. 73-358, S. 3; P.A. 76-418, S. 16, 18; P.A. 77-597, S. 4; 77-614, S. 73, 323, 587, 610; P.A. 87-496, S. 49, 110; P.A. 88-360, S. 44, 63; P.A. 90-256, S. 5, 9; P.A. 91-220, S. 6, 8; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 94-245, S. 5, 46; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 96-244, S. 30, 63; P.A. 98-249, S. 66, 67; P.A. 01-173, S. 28, 67; P.A. 03-76, S. 31; P.A. 11-8, S. 33; 11-51, S. 90, 129, 130; P.A. 13-247, S. 219; P.A. 17-202, S. 21.)
History: 1969 act required that plans be checked for compliance with standards for design and construction of public buildings to meet needs of disabled persons; P.A. 73-358 included reference to regional boards of education and required checking plans “to the extent appropriate for the phase ... for which final plans have been submitted” for conformity; P.A. 76-418 required written approval of phases checked and forbade bids before such written approval obtained, deleting previous provision for report which carried no authority to prevent bids or continuance of project; P.A. 77-597 required check for conformity with life-cycle cost analysis requirements; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of administrative services for commissioner of public works and, effective January 1, 1979, substituted department of health services for state department of health; P.A. 87-496 substituted public works for administrative services commissioner; P.A. 88-360 substituted “commissioner” for “state board” of education; P.A. 90-256 added Subsec. (b) re submission of final plans and specifications for certain projects to local officials; P.A. 91-220 in Subsec. (a) added references to state building code and federal standards and made technical changes, in Subsec. (b) increased the limitation from $100,000 to $1,000,000 and added Subsec. (c) re review procedures; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-245 amended Subsec. (b) to add energy conservation projects, effective June 2, 1994; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-244 amended Subsec. (a) to replace “State Fire Code” with “State Fire Safety Code”, effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 98-249 amended Subsec. (a) to add reference to new Subsec. (d), amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) to add exceptions for use of state contracts and added new Subsec. (d) re use of state contracts, effective June 8, 1998; P.A. 01-173 amended Subsec. (b) to include network wiring, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 03-76 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective June 3, 2003; P.A. 11-8 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective May 24, 2011; P.A. 11-51 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “Commissioner of Public Works” with “Commissioner of Construction Services”, and amended Subsec. (d) by replacing “Department of Public Works” with “Department of Construction Services”, effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “Commissioner of Education” and “Department of Education” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Construction Services” and “Department of Construction Services”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-247 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “Commissioner of Construction Services” with “Commissioner of Administrative Services”, amended Subsec. (c) by making technical changes and amended Subsec. (d) by deleting reference to “Department of Construction Services”, effective July 1, 2013; pursuant to P.A. 13-247, “Commissioner of Construction Services” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Administrative Services” in Subsec. (c), effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 17-202 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “disabled persons” with “persons with disabilities”.
See chapter 541 part III re safety requirements for public buildings.