| (viii) Projects must reasonably comply with the industrialized
housing and building rules as adopted by the Texas Commission of Licensing
and Regulation in accordance with TOC, Chapter 1202.
(2) Third-party code compliance requirements.
(A) A school district shall require the prime design
professional of a capital improvement project to submit to the school
district a report identifying any construction code requirements that
the prime design professional believes, to the best of their knowledge
after performing research, will not be enforced by a state or local
authority having jurisdiction.
(B) A school district shall contract with a third-party
code compliance officer to enforce any construction code requirement
identified by a prime design professional pursuant to subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph as not enforced by a state or local authority
having jurisdiction and shall adjust the scope of services provided
by the third-party code compliance officer if an error is discovered
in the prime design professional's report.
(C) A school district shall hire a third-party code
compliance officer to have all of the duties and powers of a building
official, as defined by the required construction codes and to the
extent allowable by state law, to ensure compliance with any required
construction code provisions identified as not enforced by a state
or local jurisdiction with authority pursuant to subparagraphs (A)
and (B) of this paragraph.
(D) In the manner specified by TGC, §2269.058,
a school district shall procure the services of a third-party code
compliance officer required by subsection (j) of this section as a
professional service in accordance with the Texas Professional Services
Procurement Act, as established in TGC, Chapter 2254.
(E) A third-party code compliance officer must not
be a design professional responsible for the design of any portion
of the project, anyone employed by a design professional responsible
for the design of any portion of the project, a contractor responsible
for constructing any portion of the project, or anyone employed by
a contractor responsible for constructing any portion of the project.
A third-party code compliance officer may be a peer reviewer that
performs a peer review required for any storm shelters that are part
of the project.
(F) A third-party code compliance officer must have
a Certified Building Official designation from the International Code
Council (ICC). A third-party code compliance officer must also have
at least ten years of experience or equivalent experience as an architect,
engineer, inspector, contractor or superintendent of construction,
or any combination of these, at least five years of which have been
supervisory experience.
(G) A plan review performed by or under the supervision
of a third-party code compliance officer must be performed by a qualified
design professional or an independent third party qualified to certify
plans through the ICC for the appropriate building, mechanical, electrical,
or plumbing trade. Plan reviews performed under the supervision of
a third-party code compliance officer must be performed by a person
with at least five years of experience as an engineer or an architect.
(H) The following shall apply to a storm shelter where
a required construction code has a provision requiring a storm shelter
for certain projects.
(i) For the purposes of determining if a storm shelter
is required for a specific building area, a school district shall
require a third-party code compliance officer to accept, as a modification
of the code in lieu of meeting the requirement to provide a storm
shelter for that specific area, any written justification submitted
by the school district that purports that the intended use of the
specific building area that would be served by a storm shelter is
not used for educational purposes during normal school hours when
attendance is mandatory.
(ii) Where a storm shelter is required for new construction,
a school district shall require a third-party code compliance officer
to allow the occupant load for storm shelter design to be 110% of
maximum instructional capacity, as stated by the designated representative
of the school district in writing, even if this is significantly less
than the total occupant load used for other purposes such as fire
egress.
(iii) Where a storm shelter is required for additions,
a school district shall require a third-party code compliance officer
to allow the occupant load for storm shelter design to be based on,
prorating where only a portion of the school facility is considered,
110% of maximum instructional capacity, as stated by the designated
representative of the school district in writing, even if this is
significantly less than the total occupant load used for other purposes
such as fire egress.
(iv) For the purposes of determining if a storm shelter
can serve the occupants of a building that is located at a distance
from the storm shelter that is greater than a code-required maximum
distance, a school district shall require a third-party code compliance
officer to accept, as a modification of the code in lieu of meeting
the specific distance requirement, any written emergency operations
plan submitted by the school district that purports to provide early
notification to those occupants. School districts may use protections
provided in TEC, §37.108, to protect sensitive information.
(v) For the purposes of determining if a storm shelter
is required to be constructed at a school facility where applicable
construction codes require a storm shelter and a modular building
be installed as part of the project, a school district shall require
a third-party code compliance officer to consider as new construction
any modular building that is installed as part of the project, regardless
of whether it is relocatable.
(3) Other requirements.
(A) A capital improvement project for a school facility
subject to the standards in this section must comply with the 2010
Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design as
well as the Texas Accessibility Standards of 2012.
(B) A school district shall notify a design professional
in writing of any construction-related standard or expectation of
the school district for the project that is not otherwise established
or required by an applicable construction code as required in this
subjection. Where a school district contracts with a design professional
and that design professional subcontracts another design professional,
the school district need only notify the design professional that
has a contract with the school district.
(C) A school district shall consider as part of a capital
improvement project the use of designs, methods, and materials that
will reduce the potential for indoor air quality problems. A school
district may use the voluntary indoor air quality guidelines adopted
by the Texas Department of State Health Services under Texas Health
and Safety Code, Chapter 385; the "Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools"
program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
or some other updated state approved guidelines or standards for indoor
air quality in response to communicable disease related public health
issues.
(D) A school district shall consider as part of a capital
improvement project the use of sustainable school designs. A sustainable
design is a design that minimizes a facility's impact on the environment
through energy and resource efficiency.
(k) Safety and security standards.
(1) Compliance requirements applicable to all instructional
facilities campus-wide. A capital improvement project of a school
district or an open-enrollment charter school must include campus-wide
implementation of the following provisions.
(A) Communications infrastructure. In accordance with
TEC, §37.108, a school district or an open-enrollment charter
school shall:
(i) develop a multi-hazard plan that provides measures
to ensure that school district communications technology and infrastructure
are adequate to allow for communication during an emergency;
(ii) implement measures to ensure every classroom and
portable classroom provides district employees, including substitute
teachers, access to a telephone, cellular telephone, or other electronic
communications device to allow immediate contact with district emergency
services or emergency services agencies, law enforcement agencies,
health departments, and fire departments; and
(iii) develop site plans and floor plans for a school
facility in accordance with TEC, §37.108(f).
(B) Access control. A school district or an open-enrollment
charter school shall develop a document that designates each exterior
door of each instructional facility campus-wide as either primary,
secondary, or non-designated entrances and shall ensure that the documented
designation of all exterior doors becomes part of the long-range facility
plan prior to commencement of construction of a capital improvement
project.
Cont'd... |
