I am strongly opposed to Assembly Bill 2966 for the following reasons: This bill will cost the state of California millions. Assembly Bill 2966 states,The Office shall be reimbursed for the actual cost of performing the inspection only.This statement implies that the State of California will not be reimbursed for administrative cost. If the state contracts out all of the work they will not be able to bill the hospitals for the millions that it will cost to administer this task. According to the bills latest analysis there will be annual staffing costs of more than $1.5 million for OSHPD to provide staff to manage between 600 and 800 IORs and several thousand individual hospital contracts. Because contract management may not be part of the inspection cost, it does not appear that these costs would be reimbursed by hospitals. This bill will cause delays. Hospitals have been built using the same methods of inspection for the last 25 years we are working toward a deadline of 2013 with most hospitals racing to complete work in order to achieve goals by 2013. Changing the rules this close to the finish line will cause chaos and result in delays. This bill would require OSHPD to either put out to bid or somehow choose the IOR after plan approval, and before a building permit could be issued. That means that the start of every project would be further delayed by OSHPD. OSHPD review delays is already the number one compliant by hospitals. There is no conflict of interest. The intent of this bill is to eliminate an alleged conflict of interest between the hospital and the IOR.This alleged conflict does not exist. The IOR works for the owner not the contractor to make sure that the contractor follows codes and does not cut corners. The contractor cutting corners does not benefit the owner. The evidence shows that hospitals built under OSHPD and inspected by IORs hired by responsible owners are the safest buildings in the state. Currently hospital inspectors have to be approved by the Architects and Structural engineers who design the building. This bill eliminates the role of the designers to choose the inspector resulting in hospitals being less safe in earthquakes. The unintended consequences of this bill far outweigh any benefit. No one knows the potential consequences of this bill or even how it would be implemented if passed. This bill has the potential to cost tens of millions of dollars without solving any problems. Sincerely, William M. Koenig WMK Construction and Inspection Services, Inc 6326 Whaley Drive San Jose CA 95135 415 531-3158

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