An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 17 – Construction

Generally, entities contracting with schools for construction of school facilities need not submit fingerprints to the Department of Justice if they are properly separated from students or supervised by school personnel. 2333 Architects are not considered an exempt entity as “construction” is not part of an architect’s professional service. 2334 Consequently, if a school determines the architect and its employees will have more than limited contact with pupils, it can require they be fingerprinted. The architect must then provide the school written certification that none of its employees who may come into contact with pupils have been convicted of a felony. 2335 If a school will require its architect to be fingerprinted, it should include a provision in the architect agreement stating that the architect agrees to comply with the provisions of Education Code section 33192 and submit employee fingerprints to the Department of Justice and undergo criminal background checks. The provision should clarify that the architect will pay all costs associated with this process and that the architect will not permit any employee to have contact with pupils until they have received the appropriate clearance. B. C ONSTRUCTION M ANAGER A GREEMENT A school utilizing a construction manager for its construction project should enter into a written agreement with the construction manager to clarify the terms of the relationship. The following are examples of provisions that should be included in a standard construction management contract:

 Detailed description of duties, responsibilities, and scope of work during the various phases of the project, including project close-out. These provisions should outline the construction manager’s responsibilities to, and relationships with, the school, the architect, any inspectors, and the contractors. These provisions should also require the construction manager to coordinate the work of all parties on the project.  Amount of compensation and expected work hours, including when the school will make payments, and a requirement that the school must pre- approve extra services.  The name, address, and license number of the construction manager. There is no legal requirement that construction managers have a contractor’s license if they will not perform construction work on the project. 2336  Duties to maintain all construction and project documents, including any change order, as-built, or record drawing documentation, and clarification that all documents are owned by the school.  Indemnification, defense, and hold harmless provisions.  School’s right to terminate the contract for cause and for convenience.  Insurance in the form of commercial general and automobile liability, professional liability, and workers’ compensation. (See discussion in Section 6.)

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 561