The State Board of Education shall adopt a uniform statewide building code for the planning and construction of public educational and ancillary plants by district school boards and community college district boards of trustees. The code shall be entitled the State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction. Included in this code shall be flood plain management criteria in compliance with the rules and regulations in 44 C.F.R., parts 59 and 60, and subsequent revisions thereto which are adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Wherever the words "Uniform Building Code" appear, they shall mean the "State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction." It shall not be the intent of the Uniform Building Code to inhibit the use of new materials or innovative techniques; nor shall it specify or prohibit materials by brand names. The code shall be flexible enough to cover all phases of construction which will afford reasonable protection for public safety, health, and general welfare. The department may secure the service of other state agencies or such other assistance as it may find desirable in the revision of the code.

(1) UNIFORM BUILDING CODE.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), all public educational and ancillary plants constructed by a district school board or a community college district board of trustees shall conform to the State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction, and such plants are exempt from all other state, county, district, municipal, or local building codes, interpretations, building permits, and assessments of fees for building permits, ordinances, road closures, and impact fees or service availability fees. Any inspection by local or state government shall be based on the Uniform Building Code as prescribed by rule. Each board shall provide for periodic inspection of the proposed educational plant during each phase of construction to determine compliance with the Uniform Building Code.

(b) A district school board or community college district board of trustees may conform with local building codes and the administration of such codes when constructing ancillary plants which are not attached to educational facilities, provided that such plants conform with the space size requirements established in the Uniform Building Code.

(2) CONFORMITY TO UNIFORM BUILDING CODE STANDARDS REQUIRED FOR APPROVAL. A district school board or community college district board of trustees shall not approve any plans for the construction, renovation, remodeling, or demolition of any educational or ancillary plants unless these plans conform to the requirements of the Uniform Building Code. Each district school board and community college district board of trustees may adopt policies for delegating to the superintendent or community college president authority for submitting documents to the department and for awarding contracts subsequent to and consistent with board approval of the scope, timeframes, funding source, and budget of a survey-recommended project. It shall also be the responsibility of the department to develop, as a part of the Uniform Building Code, standards relating to:

(a) Prefabricated or factory-built facilities which are designed to be portable, relocatable, demountable, or reconstructible; are used primarily as classrooms; and do not fall under the provisions of ss. 320.822-320.862. Such standards shall permit boards to contract with the Department of Community Affairs for factory inspections by certified Uniform Building Code inspectors to certify conformance with law and State Board of Education rule.

(b) The sanitation of educational and ancillary plants and the health of occupants of educational and ancillary plants.

(c) The safety of occupants of educational and ancillary plants as provided in s. 235.06.

(d) The physically handicapped.

(e) Accessibility for children, notwithstanding the provisions of s. 553.512.

(f) The performance of life-cycle cost analyses on alternative architectural and engineering designs to evaluate their energy efficiencies. 1. The life-cycle cost analysis shall be the sum of: a. The reasonably expected fuel costs over the life of the building that are required to maintain illumination, water heating, temperature, humidity, ventilation, and all other energy-consuming equipment in a facility; and b. The reasonable costs of probable maintenance, including labor and materials, and operation of the building. 2. For computation of the life-cycle costs, the department shall develop standards that shall include, but not be limited to: a. The orientation and integration of the facility with respect to its physical site. b. The amount and type of glass employed in the facility and the directions of exposure. c. The effect of insulation incorporated into the facility design and the effect on solar utilization of the properties of external surfaces. d. The variable occupancy and operating conditions of the facility and subportions of the facility. e. An energy consumption analysis of the major equipment of the facility's heating, ventilating, and cooling system; lighting system; and hot water system and all other major energy-consuming equipment and systems as appropriate. 3. Such standards shall be based on the best currently available methods of analysis, including such methods as those of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other federal agencies and professional societies and materials developed by the Department of Management Services and the department. Provisions shall be made for an annual updating of standards as required.

(3) ENFORCEMENT BY BOARD. It is the responsibility of each district school board and community college district board of trustees to ensure that all plans and educational and ancillary plants meet the standards of the Uniform Building Code and to provide for the enforcement of this code in the areas of its jurisdiction. Each board shall provide for the proper supervision and inspection of the work. Each board is authorized to employ a chief building official or inspector and such other inspectors, who have been certified by the department or certified pursuant to chapter 468, and personnel as may be necessary to administer and enforce the provisions of this code. Boards may also utilize local building department inspectors who are certified by the department to enforce this code. Plans or facilities that fail to meet the standards of the Uniform Building Code shall not be approved.

(4) ENFORCEMENT BY DEPARTMENT. As a further means of ensuring that all educational and ancillary facilities hereafter constructed or materially altered or added to conform to the Uniform Building Code standards, each district school board and community college district board of trustees which undertakes the construction, renovation, remodeling, purchasing, or lease-purchase of any educational plant or ancillary facility, the cost of which exceeds $200,000, may submit plans to the department and receive the approval of the department.

(5) APPROVAL.

(a) Before a contract has been let for the construction, the department, the board, or the board's authorized review agent must approve the phase III construction documents. A board may reuse prototype plans on another site, provided the facilities list and phase III construction documents have been updated for the new site and for compliance with the Uniform Building Code and any laws relating to firesafety, health and sanitation, casualty safety, and requirements for the physically handicapped which are in effect at the time a construction contract is to be awarded.

(b) In reviewing plans for approval, the department, the board, or its review agent as authorized in s. 235.017, shall take into consideration: 1. The need for the new facility. 2. The educational and ancillary plant planning. 3. The architectural and engineering planning. 4. The location on the site. 5. Plans for future expansion. 6. The type of construction. 7. Sanitary provisions. 8. Conformity to Uniform Building Code standards. 9. The structural design and strength of materials proposed to be used. 10. The mechanical design of any heating, air-conditioning, plumbing, or ventilating system. Typical heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems preapproved by the department for specific applications may be used in the design of educational facilities. 11. The electrical design of educational plants. 12. The energy efficiency and conservation of the design. 13. Life-cycle cost considerations. 14. The design to accommodate physically handicapped persons. 15. The ratio of net to gross square footage. 16. The proposed construction cost per gross square foot.

(c) The board shall not occupy a facility until the project has been inspected to verify compliance with statutes, rules, and codes affecting the health and safety of the occupants. Verification of compliance with rules, statutes, and codes for nonoccupancy projects such as roofing, paving, site improvements, or replacement of equipment may be certified by the architect or engineer of record and verification of compliance for other projects may be made by an inspector certified by the department or certified pursuant to chapter 468 who is not the architect or engineer of record. The board shall maintain a record of the project's completion and permanent archive of phase III construction documents, including any addenda and change orders to the project. The boards shall provide project data to the department, as requested, for purposes and reports needed by the Legislature.

(6) STATE BOARD OF APPEALS. The State Board of Education shall be the final board of appeals for all questions, disputes, or interpretations involving the Uniform Building Code, and any objections to decisions made by the inspectors or the department shall be submitted in writing.

(7) BIENNIAL REVIEW AND UPDATE; DISSEMINATION. The department shall biennially review, update, and revise the Uniform Building Code. The department shall publish and make available to each district school board and community college district board of trustees at no cost copies of the code and each amendment and revision thereto. The department shall make additional copies available to all interested persons at a price sufficient to recover costs.

(8) LEGAL EFFECT OF CODE. The State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction shall have the force and effect of law and shall supersede any other code adopted by a district school board or community college district board of trustees or any other building code or ordinance for the construction of educational and ancillary plants whether at the local, county, or state level and whether adopted by rule or legislative enactment. All special acts or general laws of local application are hereby repealed to the extent that they conflict with this section.

(9) EDUCATION FACILITIES AS EMERGENCY SHELTERS.

(a) The Department of Education shall, in consultation with boards and county and state emergency management offices, amend the State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction to incorporate public shelter design criteria into the Uniform Building Code. The new criteria must be designed to ensure that appropriate core facility areas in new educational facilities can serve as public shelters for emergency management purposes. The State Board of Education shall publish proposed amendments to the State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction setting forth the public-shelter criteria by July 1, 1995. A facility, or an appropriate core facility area within a facility, for which a design contract is entered into subsequent to the effective date of the inclusion of the public shelter criteria in the code must be built in compliance with the amended code unless the facility or a part thereof is exempted from using the new shelter criteria due to its location, size, or other characteristics by the applicable board with the concurrence of the applicable local emergency management agency or the Department of Community Affairs. Any educational facility located or proposed to be located in an identified category 1, 2, or 3 evacuation zone shall not be subject to the requirements of this subsection. If more than one educational facility is being constructed within any 3-mile radius, no more than one facility, which shall be selected on the basis of cost-effectiveness and greatest provision of shelter space, shall be required to incorporate the public shelter criteria into its construction.

(b) By January 31, 1996, and January 31 every even-numbered year thereafter, the Department of Community Affairs shall prepare and submit a statewide emergency shelter plan to the Governor and the Cabinet for approval. Such plan shall identify the general location and square footage of existing shelters, by county, and the general location and square footage of needed shelters, by county, in the next 5 years. Such plan shall identify the types of public facilities which should be constructed to comply with emergency shelter criteria and recommend an appropriate, adequate, and dedicated source of funding for the additional cost of constructing emergency shelters within these public facilities. [Footnote 2] After the approval of the plan, no board shall be required to build more emergency shelter space than identified as needed in the plan and decisions pertaining to exemptions pursuant to paragraph (a) shall be guided by the plan and the provisions of this subsection.

(10) LOCAL LEGISLATION PROHIBITED. After June 30, 1985, pursuant to s. 11(a)(21), Art. III of the State Constitution, there shall not be enacted any special act or general law of local application which proposes to amend, alter, or contravene any provisions of the State Building Code adopted under the authority of this section. History: s. 926, ch. 19355, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 892(312); s. 12, ch. 29754, 1955; s. 10, ch. 59-371; s. 117, ch. 65-239; s. 1, ch. 67-106; ss. 15, 18, 19, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 1, ch. 70-196; s. 6, ch. 70-399; s. 9, ch. 74-374; s. 1, ch. 77-280; s. 15, ch. 77-458; s. 1, ch. 78-290; s. 1, ch. 79-71; s. 103, ch. 79-400; s. 9, ch. 80-414; ss. 27, 50, 52, ch. 81-223; ss. 10, 14, ch. 82-240; s. 1, ch. 83-163; s. 3, ch. 83-224; s. 1, ch. 84-349; ss. 16, 26, 27, ch. 85-116; ss. 1, 4, ch. 86-1; s. 1, ch. 88-202; s. 5, ch. 89-226; s. 15, ch. 89-278; s. 13, ch. 90-172; s. 11, ch. 90-241; s. 55, ch. 90-288; s. 2, ch. 90-320; s. 169, ch. 92-279; s. 55, ch. 92-326; s. 6, ch. 93-211; s. 6, ch. 94-292; ss. 18, 35, ch. 95-269; ss. 6, 11, ch. 95-341. [Footnote 1] Note. Section 39, ch. 95-269, provides that "the Department of Education's review of phase III plans as provided for in chapter 235, Florida Statutes, as amended by this act, is authorized only to the extent funded by the Legislature." [Footnote 2] Note. As amended by s. 18, ch. 95-269. This sentence, as amended by s. 6, ch. 95-341, reads: After the approval of the plan, a school board is not required to build more emergency shelter space than identified as needed in the plan and decisions pertaining to exemptions under paragraph (a) shall be guided by the plan and the provisions of this subsection.