(a) (1) The Department of General Services under the police power of the state shall supervise the design and construction of any school building or the reconstruction or alteration of or addition to any school building, if not exempted under Section 17295, to ensure that plans and specifications comply with the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this article and building standards published in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, and to ensure that the work of construction has been performed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, for the protection of life and property. Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow a school district to perform work with its own forces in excess of the limitations set forth in Sections 17595 and 17599. In calculating the cost of any project of reconstruction or alteration of, or addition to, any school building for the purpose of determining the applicability of the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this article and building standards published in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, the Department of General Services shall not include, as an element of that cost, any expenses of air-conditioning equipment or insulation materials for that building, or of installing the equipment or materials.

(2) In the alternative, for a leased or purchased building, a school district may comply with this section by complying with Section 17280.5.

(b) Whenever repairs due to fire damage, not including any damage caused by wind or earthquake, must be made to any school building previously approved by the Department of General Services, the approved plans and specifications used in the original work under then existing rules, regulations, and building standards may be used without modification, providing all other provisions of this article are carried out.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no school district shall be authorized to construct or reconstruct any school building, regardless of the source of funding, unless and until the governing board of the district, by resolution, has indicated the agreement of the district that any school building construction or reconstruction that exceeds those construction costs and allowable area standards or any allowable building area computed for an attendance area pursuant to Section 17041 shall, in the event of the district’s subsequent application for state funding for school facility construction, be deducted from the allowable building area for which the district would otherwise have been eligible, which restriction shall not be subject to waiver or exception as otherwise may be provided by law.

(d) If it is determined that, for any reason, a school district failed to comply with the requirement of this section, the district shall not be eligible for any additional building area pursuant to Section 17049 and may be denied any time priority established for the particular project pursuant to Section 17016.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 33, Sec. 28. Effective April 29, 2002.)