Plan Review

The Division of the State Architect (DSA) reviews plans for public school construction and certain other state funded building projects to ensure that plans, specifications, and construction comply with California's building codes (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations).

For qualified historical buildings or structures, Part 8 of Title 24 visit the State Historical Buildings Safety Board page.

• Disciplines - DSA devotes specifically trained technical staff to review and approve projects in the following "disciplines" (or aspects of design and construction).
  • STRUCTURAL SAFETY - One of DSA's primary roles is the Structural Safety (SS) review of public schools (under the Field Act) and State Essential Services buildings.
  • FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY - see the DSA Fire and Life Safety page.
  • ACCESS COMPLIANCE - see the DSA Access Compliance page.
  • ENERGY - see the DSA Energy page.
• High Performance Incentive Program - HPI page
• Project Tracking and Changes - Tracker
• Electronic Plan Review - Electronic Submittal/Plan Review Policy (PDF - 51 KB)
• DSA forms and publications regarding plan review are listed below.

Plan Review Forms

See the DSA Forms page for cited forms.

• DSA-1: Application for Approval of Plans and Specifications
• DSA-3: Project Submittal Checklist
• DSA-145: Record Set Handling Instructions
• DSA-403: 2008 Energy Code Compliance Checklist

Plan Review Publications

See the DSA Publications or IR Manual page for current versions of cited documents.

• Bulletin 09-07: Collaborative Process for Community College Projects
• Bulletin 09-04: BU 09-04: DSA Project Priority
• Bulletin 08-02: Flood Design for Projects Submitted Under the 2007 CBC
• IR A-4: Geological Hazard Report Requirements
• IR A-18: Use of Construction Documents Prepared by Other Professionals
• IR A-19: Design Professional's Signature and Seal (Stamp) on Construction
• IR A-20: New Projects Associated With Existing Uncertified Projects
• IR N-1: Pre-Check (PC) Designs Energy Compliance Review
• Policy 07-02: Over-The-Counter Review of Pre-Check Approved Designs
• Policy 06-01: Record Sets Policy
• Procedure 07-01: Pre-Check (PC) Approval Process
• Project Submittal Guidelines
  • GL-1: Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems (AFSS)
  • GL-2: Fire Alarm & Detection Systems
  • GL-3: Structural Plan Review
  • GL-4: CALGreen Mandatory and Voluntary Measures
• Structural Plan Review Reminder List (PDF - 515 KB)
• Example Statement of General Conformance and Signature Block per IR A-18 (PDF - 36 KB)
• Rehabilitation of Nonconforming Buildings for Public School and California Community College Use (PDF - 464 KB)