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.