Section 129785.

(a)  (1)  The office 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 cost. For a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility, as defined in subdivision (c), (d), (e), or (g) of Section 1250, the fee shall not exceed 1.5 percent of a project's estimated construction cost. Application filing fees shall be established in accordance with applicable procedures established in Article 5 (commencing with Section 11346) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(2)  Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the minimum application filing fee in any case shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250).

(b)  The office shall issue an annual permit upon submission of an application, pursuant to Section 129765, for one or more projects of a hospital facility, as defined in subdivision (a), (b), or (f) of Section 1250, if the total estimated construction cost is fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or less per fiscal year. The fee for the annual permit shall be five hundred dollars ($500) and shall be in lieu of an application filing fee. The annual permit shall cover all projects undertaken for a particular hospital facility up to a total estimated construction cost of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) during the state fiscal year in which the annual permit is issued. If a hospital facility chooses not to apply for an annual permit to cover a project or projects costing fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or less in total, the hospital facility may instead submit the project or projects for review and approval as otherwise specified in this chapter, including paying the application filing fee determined under subdivision (a).

(c)  The office shall issue an annual permit upon submission of an application, pursuant to Section 129765, for one or more projects of a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility, as defined in subdivision (c), (d), (e), or (g) of Section 1250, if the total estimated construction cost is twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or less per fiscal year. The fee for the annual permit shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250) and shall be in lieu of an application filing fee. The annual permit shall cover all projects undertaken for a particular skilled nursing or intermediate care facility up to a total estimated construction cost of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) during the state fiscal year in which the annual permit is issued. If a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility chooses not to apply for an annual permit to cover a project or projects costing twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or less in total, the skilled nursing or intermediate care facility may instead submit the project or projects for review and approval as otherwise specified in this chapter, including paying the application filing fee determined under subdivision (a).

(d)  If the actual construction cost exceeds the estimated construction cost by more than 5 percent, a further fee shall be paid to the office, based on the above schedule and computed on the amount that the actual cost exceeds the amount of the estimated cost. If the estimated construction cost exceeds the actual construction cost by more than 5 percent, the office shall refund the excess portion of any paid fees, based on the above schedule and computed on the amount that the estimated cost exceeds the amount of the actual cost. A refund is not required if the applicant did not complete construction or alteration of 75 percent of the square footage included in the project, as contained in the approved drawings and specifications for the project. In addition, the office shall adopt regulations specifying other circumstances when the office shall refund to an applicant all or part of any paid fees for projects submitted under this chapter. The regulations shall include, but not be limited to, refunds of paid fees for a project that is determined by the office to be exempt or otherwise not reviewable under this chapter, and for a project that is withdrawn by the applicant prior to the commencement of review by the office of the drawing and specifications submitted for the project. All refunds pursuant to this section shall be paid from the Hospital Building Account in the Architecture Public Building Fund, as established pursuant to Section 129795.

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 186, Sec. 2. Effective July 23, 2004.)