(a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is essential that detectable warning and directional surfaces comply with the California Building Standards Code in order to ensure that those products are adequate to meet the safety and accessibility needs of the blind and visually impaired.

(b) All detectable warning products and directional surfaces installed after January 1, 2001, shall be evaluated by an independent entity, selected by the Department of General Services, Division of the State Architect, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development when the products and surfaces may be mandated for use in residential housing, that shall issue and register a two-year product approval, renewable upon reevaluation at two-year intervals thereafter. The approval shall include conformation with architectural standards published in the California Building Standards Code as well as durability criteria appropriate for the type of installation, established by the Department of General Services, Division of the State Architect, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development when the products and surfaces may be mandated for use in residential housing. The codes developed by the Department of General Services pursuant to this section shall ensure that shape, color fastness, confirmation, sound-on-cane acoustic quality, resilience, and attachment will not degrade significantly for at least five years. The Department of General Services, Division of the State Architect, shall impose fees to recover administrative and code development costs, as necessary, to develop standards and administer the registration and approval program. The fees shall be paid by manufacturers of detectable warning products and directional surfaces. All fees shall be deposited in the Access for Handicap Account created pursuant to Section 4454 and may be expended for costs incurred by the Department of General Services, Division of the State Architect, in performance of the requirements of this section.

As used in this section, “significant degradation” means that the product maintains at least 90 percent of its approved design characteristics. The Department of General Services may provide exceptions to this section for justifiable cause pursuant to Section 4451.

(c) The independent entity selected by the Department of General Services, Division of the State Architect, shall be recognized as having appropriate expertise in determining whether products governed by this section comply with the California Building Standards Code.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 386, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2000.)