By Hilbert H.B. No. 1140
74R3970 MLR-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certification of municipal building inspectors and
1-3 approval of building plans and specifications under the law
1-4 relating to architectural barriers.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 5(d), Article 9102, Revised Statutes, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (d) Except as provided by Subsection 5(f)(3), all <All>
1-9 plans and specifications for construction or for the substantial
1-10 renovation, modification, or alteration of a building or facility
1-11 that has an estimated construction cost of $50,000 or more and that
1-12 is subject to the provisions of this article shall be submitted to
1-13 the department for review and approval prior to the time that
1-14 construction or that substantial renovation, modification, or
1-15 alteration on the building or facility begins in accordance with
1-16 rules and regulations adopted by the commissioner. Plans and
1-17 specifications related to the building or facility shall be
1-18 submitted to the department by the architect, interior designer, or
1-19 engineer who has overall responsibility for the design of the
1-20 constructed or reconstructed building or facility. The owner shall
1-21 submit the plans and specifications to the department if there is
1-22 no architect, interior designer, or engineer with that
1-23 responsibility. Likewise, any substantial modification of approved
1-24 plans shall be resubmitted to the department for review and
2-1 approval. The plans and specifications that are not approved or
2-2 disapproved by the department within 30 days from the receipt of
2-3 the plans and specifications are automatically approved. If an
2-4 architect, interior designer, or engineer required to submit or
2-5 resubmit plans and specifications to the department fails to do so
2-6 in a timely manner, the commissioner shall report the fact to the
2-7 Texas Board of Architectural Examiners or the State Board of
2-8 Registration for Professional Engineers, as appropriate.
2-9 SECTION 2. Section 5(f), Article 9102, Revised Statutes, is
2-10 amended by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
2-11 (3) The commissioner shall adopt certification
2-12 requirements for relevant municipal building standards and
2-13 specifications under this article. If the commissioner certifies a
2-14 municipality's building standards and specifications and the
2-15 standards and specifications are at least as stringent as those
2-16 required by the state, the commissioner may not require that:
2-17 (A) an inspector certified by that municipality
2-18 comply with other qualification or certification requirements to
2-19 perform duties under a contract entered into under this section; or
2-20 (B) plans and specifications subject to
2-21 Subsection (d) of this section be submitted to the department for
2-22 review and approval if that municipality has approved those plans
2-23 as being in compliance with the municipality's building standards
2-24 and specifications.
2-25 SECTION 3. The commissioner of licensing and regulation
2-26 shall adopt certification requirements for municipal building
2-27 standards and specifications as required by this Act not later than
3-1 January 1, 1996.
3-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-8 passage, and it is so enacted.