§36-35  State educational facilities repairand maintenance account.  (a)  There is created in the state general fundunder EDN 400 (school support) the state educational facilities repair andmaintenance account, into which shall be deposited legislative appropriationsto the account designated for use solely to eliminate the backlog of schoolrepair and maintenance projects, including the repair or replacement offixtures, furnishings, and equipment, existing on June 30, 2000.  Expendituresfrom the account shall be subject to sections 37-31 and 37-33 to 37-40.  Basedon the prioritization approved by the department of education as prescribed bysection 302A-1505, appropriations or authorizations from the account shall beexpended by the superintendent of education.

(b)  The department of education shall reviewthe existing condition of school facilities and establish specific vision plansfor each school complex based on current repair and maintenance requirementsand overall repair and maintenance priorities.

(c)  Criteria used to establish current repairand maintenance requirements may include:

(1)  The remaining useful life of the school facilityand its major components;

(2)  The adjusted life of the school facility and itsmajor components after repair or maintenance; and

(3)  The current and future repair and maintenancerequirements of the school facility and its components based on establishedindustry standards or product manufacturer recommendations;

provided that demolition of a facility or any of itscomponents may be recommended if the cost of the repairs do not justify theadjusted life or remaining life of the facility.

(d)  Criteria used to establish overall repairand maintenance requirements may include:

(1)  Whether a school facility will continue to beused for the next twenty-five years; and

(2)  Whether a repair or maintenance project isrequired:

(A)  For health or safety reasons;

(B)  To comply with legal mandates;

(C)  To comply with current building codes; or

(D)  For preventive maintenance reasons;

provided that in developing criteria, considerationshall be given to school facilities that were more than twenty-five years ofage on July 1, 2000.

(e)  The expenditure of funds for any projectwith an estimated total cost of less than $100,000 shall be exempt from section464-4; provided that:

(1)  The superintendent of education shall developinternal policies and procedures for the procurement of goods, services, andconstruction, consistent with the goals of public accountability and publicprocurement practices;

(2)  Insofar as is practical, and based onspecifications developed, adequate and reasonable competition of no fewer thanthree proposals shall be solicited for each project, based on rules adopted bythe superintendent of education;

(3)  Considering all factors, including quality,warranty, and delivery, the award shall be made to the vendor with the mostadvantageous proposal;

(4)  The procurement requirements shall not beartificially divided or parceled so as to avoid competitive bidding orcompetitive proposals; and

(5)  Formal design for projects shall be done whenthere is a clear need to preserve structural integrity, health and safety, orto clearly communicate construction requirements.

For all projects, the superintendent ofeducation shall develop a strategy for the efficient and cost-effective use ofgovernment and private-sector workforces and consider increased flexibilitythrough public-private partnering, design-build options, cost plus, job ordercontracts, performance-based contracts, request for proposals, and any othermeans to improve communications and accelerate repairs while preserving thequality of the repairs.

(f)  The superintendent of education shallensure that all repair and maintenance projects achieve maximum cost-efficiencyby emphasizing functional or performance criteria, uniformity of design, andcommonality of products, and by avoiding unique or custom requirements thatincrease costs.  The superintendent of education shall develop projectspecifications based on generic specifications or prescriptive specificationsusing standard commercial products.  Prescriptive specifications may include aqualified product list.

For the purposes of this subsection:

"Generic specification" means atechnical specification that is written in a clear, unambiguous, andnonrestrictive manner establishing:

(1)  Design, performance, or functional requirementsto identify the work to be performed; and

(2)  Material standards to be used on a project.

"Prescriptive specification" means atechnical specification:

(1)  Establishing that the required work to beperformed is written in a clear, unambiguous, and nonrestrictive manner; and

(2)  Listing manufacturers or products that areacceptable for use on the project.

"Standard commercial product" means aproduct or material that in the normal course of business is customarilymaintained in stock by, or readily available for marketing from a manufacturer,distributor, or dealer.

This subsection shall not apply to any schoolfacility designated a historic property pursuant to section 6E-5.5.

(g)  The superintendent of education shallsubmit an annual report to the legislature, which shall include a financialstatement of the account and the status of repair and maintenance projectsundertaken pursuant to this section, no later than twenty days prior to theconvening of each regular session.  Expenditures for repair and maintenanceprojects undertaken pursuant to this section shall be posted electronically on theInternet by the department of education within thirty days of each project'scompletion.

(h)  This section shall be repealed on July 1,2020. [L 2001, c 316, pt of §2; am L 2002, c 115, §2; am L 2003, c 188, §4; amL 2004, c 51, §50 and c 216, §6; am L 2005, c 189, §3]