Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

The State of California has a compelling interest in the development of facilities for community-based programs that assist persons with a developmental disability living in an institutional setting to transition to more independent living arrangements. In order to meet this sign…

(a) Loans of under three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) for any single facility for six or fewer developmentally disabled shall have priority for obtaining loan insurance. (b) The total amount of loans that may be insured pursuant to this article shall not exceed one hundred…

If any provision of this article or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this article that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the…

The department may insure, pursuant to this article, loans to nonprofit borrowers that are not licensed to operate the facilities for which the loans are insured, provided that the borrower has entered into a long-term residency lease agreement with a service provider selected by…

It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to assist rural hospitals that play a vital role in the health delivery system. The Legislature recognizes the difficulties rural hospitals encounter meeting urban hospital standards while serving a small, rural, or tou…

In each even-numbered year, the department shall contract for an actuarial study to determine the reserve sufficiency of funds in the Health Facility Construction Loan Insurance Fund. The study shall examine the portfolio of existing insured loans and shall estimate the amount of…

(a) In each odd-numbered year when the reserve balance in the fund is projected to be in excess of that actuarially needed, the department may, subject to authority in the Budget Act, grant excess reserve funds to rural hospitals. (b) Whenever the department administers the grant…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Community Health Center Facilities Loan Insurance Law.

(a) “Community health center facilities,” as used in this article, means those licensed, nonprofit primary care clinics as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1204. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (i) of Section 129050, any loan in the amount of five million do…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that hospital buildings that house patients who have less than the capacity of normally healthy persons to protect themselves, and that must be reasonably capable of providing services to the public after a disaster, shall be designed and c…

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.

“Architect” means a person who is certified and holds a valid license under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5500) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.

“Construction or alteration” includes any construction, reconstruction, or alteration of, or addition to, any hospital building.

“Director” means the Director of the Department of Health Care Access and Development.

“Engineering geologist” means a person who is validly certified under Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 7800) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.

(a) (1) “Hospital building” includes any building not specified in subdivision (b) that is used, or designed to be used, for a health facility of a type required to be licensed pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2. (2) Except as provided in paragraph…

(a) Space for the following functions shall be considered “outpatient clinical services,” when provided in a freestanding building that is separated from a hospital building where inpatient hospital services are provided: administrative space; central sterile supply; storage; mor…

“Light steel frame construction” means building construction using bearing walls composed of light gauge steel studs for its primary vertical support systems.

“Department” means the Department of Health Care Access and Information.

“Structural engineer” means a person who is validly certified to use the title structural engineer under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.

The department shall observe the construction of, or addition to, any hospital building or the reconstruction or alteration of any hospital building, as it deems necessary to comply with this chapter for the protection of life and property.

The governing board of each hospital or other hospital governing authority, before adopting any plans for the hospital building, shall submit the plans to the department for approval and shall pay the fees prescribed in this chapter.

The department shall use, to the extent possible, information technology to facilitate the timely performance of its duties and responsibilities under this chapter.

(a) Except as set forth in subdivision (b), the application for approval of the plans shall be accompanied by the plans, including full, complete, and accurate specifications, and structural design computations, which shall comply with the requirements prescribed by the departmen…

(a) The department shall pass upon and approve or reject all plans for the construction or the alteration of any hospital building, independently reviewing the design to assure compliance with the requirements of this chapter. The department shall review the structural systems an…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), plans submitted pursuant to this chapter for work that affects structural elements shall contain an assessment of the nature of the site and potential for earthquake damage, based upon geologic and engineering investigations an…

The engineering investigation shall be correlated with the geologic evaluation made pursuant to Section 129775.

(a) (1) The department shall determine an application filing fee that will cover the costs of administering this chapter. For a hospital facility, as defined in subdivision (a), (b), or (f) of Section 1250, the fee shall not exceed 2 percent of a project’s estimated construction …

(a) The payment of the filing fee described in Section 129785 may be postponed by the department if all of the following conditions are met: (1) The proposed construction or alteration has been proposed as a result of any event that has been declared to be a disaster by the Gover…

The department shall propose specific space, architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical standards for correctional treatment centers in cooperation with the Board of Corrections, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of the Youth Authority.

All fees shall be paid into the State Treasury and credited to the Hospital Building Fund, that is hereby created and continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years for the use of the department, subject to approval of the Department of Finance, in carrying out this cha…

The director shall request the Department of Finance or the Auditor General to perform an audit of the uses of fees collected pursuant to Section 129785. This audit shall include, but not be limited to, an accounting of staff resources allocated to hospital plan reviews by the de…

(a) All plans and specifications shall be prepared under the responsible charge of an architect or a structural engineer, or both. A structural engineer shall prepare the structural design and shall sign plans and specifications related thereto. Administration of the work of cons…

Before commencing any construction or alteration of any hospital building, the written approval of the necessary plans as to safety of design and construction, by the department, shall be obtained.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may utilize an over-the-counter plan review process.

Any permit or authorization issued or provided pursuant to this chapter shall be subject to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 15374) of Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

No contract for the construction or alteration of any hospital building, made or executed on or after January 1, 1983, by the governing board or authority of any hospital or other similar public board, body, or officer otherwise vested with authority to make or execute the contra…

(a) The hospital governing board or authority shall provide for and require competent and adequate inspection during construction or alteration by an inspector satisfactory to the architect or structural engineer, or both, and the department. Except as otherwise provided in subdi…

From time to time, as the work of construction or alteration progresses and whenever the department requires, the architect or structural engineer, or both, in charge of construction or registered engineer in charge of other work, the inspector on the work, and the contractor sha…

Upon written request to the department by the governing board or authority of any hospital, the department shall make, or cause to be made, an examination and report on the condition of any hospital building subject to the payment by the governing board or authority of the actual…

Subsequent to the occurrence of any earthquake, the department may make, or cause to be made, studies of health facilities within the area involved.

Except as provided in Sections 18929 and 18930, the department shall from time to time make any regulations that it deems necessary, proper, or suitable to effectually carry out this chapter. The department shall also propose and submit building standards to the California Buildi…

Written rules and regulations by the department to clarify the application of the California Building Standards Code pursuant to this chapter shall be made available to the public upon request.

(a) The person or entity requesting a copy of construction documents maintained by the department shall bear the actual cost of producing the copy of those documents, including staff time spent retrieving, inspecting, and handling the documents, copying costs, and shipping costs.…

The department may enter into any agreements and contracts with any qualified person, department, agency, corporation, or legal entity, as determined by the department, when necessary in order to facilitate the timely performance of the duties and responsibilities relating to the…

(a) Contingent on an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, the department shall establish a program for training fire and life safety officers. The goal of this program shall be to provide a sufficient number of qualified persons to facilitate the timely performance of the depa…

Construction or alterations of buildings specified in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 129725 shall conform to the latest edition of the California Building Standards Code. The department shall independently review and inspect these buildings. For purposes of …

(a) Notwithstanding Section 129875, projects for the construction or alterations of buildings specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 129725 that are single-story, wood-frame or light steel frame construction and buildings specified in paragraphs (2) and (3) of s…

(a) The department may exempt from its plan review process construction or alteration projects for hospital buildings and buildings described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 129725 with estimated construction costs of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or le…