(a) In addition to any other inspection requirements pertaining to building standards of state and school district buildings used by the public, the construction of which are under the jurisdiction of the Office of the State Architect in the Department of General Services, accessibility to persons with handicaps may be inspected pursuant to subdivision (b) in state and school district buildings used by the public in order to determine if the building meets minimum state standards for accessibility to handicapped persons.

(b) Inspection and approval may be made on a voluntary basis by one or more persons who have physical disabilities or who represent the interests of physically disabled persons, who are familiar with the California access laws and standards, and who have been chosen by the Department of Rehabilitation. The Department of Rehabilitation may assign these volunteers to inspect those state and school district buildings used by the public specified in subdivision (a). If the volunteer inspector finds that a building does not meet minimum state standards for accessibility to handicapped persons, the volunteer shall report this information to the Department of Rehabilitation, which shall in turn report the information to the school district if a school building is involved, to the owning agencies if a state building is involved, and to the Office of the State Architect. When, after receipt of this information, the Office of the State Architect confirms that the building does not meet minimal state standards for accessibility to handicapped persons, the Office of the State Architect shall develop a plan to be filed with the jurisdiction owning the building that addresses the correction of the identified deficiencies.

(c) The provisions of this section shall only pertain to state and school district buildings used by the public for which building plans have been filed with the Office of the State Architect on or after January 1, 1985.

(Added by Stats. 1983, Ch. 1246, Sec. 2.)