Guide · California permitting · 7 min read · Updated September 22, 2026
DSA plan review: check a school or college set before you submit
California public schools and community colleges are not permitted by the city. Their drawings go to the Division of the State Architect. Here is what DSA reviews, why sets come back, and what to check before submittal.
The Division of the State Architect (DSA) reviews the drawings and oversees construction of California K–12 public schools, community colleges, and certain state buildings for structural safety, fire and life safety, and accessibility. DSA expects a set that is 100 percent complete and coordinated across all disciplines on the day you submit it. An incomplete set is rejected at intake and has to register for a new date, six to eight weeks out. Checking the set before submittal is the cheapest way to avoid that.
Who DSA is, and which projects it reviews
DSA is part of California's Department of General Services. According to DSA's own description, it "provides design and construction oversight for K–12 schools, community colleges, and various other state-owned and state-leased facilities to ensure that they comply with all structural, accessibility, and fire and life safety codes."
| Project | What DSA reviews |
|---|---|
| K–12 public schools | Structural safety, fire and life safety, and accessibility, with construction oversight under the Field Act |
| Community colleges | The same, under the community college Field Act sections |
| State-owned and state-leased essential services buildings | Review under the Essential Services Building Seismic Safety Act |
| Publicly funded buildings, including state-funded UC and CSU work | Accessibility only (DSA clients) |
DSA's plan review page lists four review disciplines: accessibility, fire and life safety, structural safety, and sustainability (CALGreen). Some projects also need energy review.
Why the review is strict: the Field Act
The Field Act was passed after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. It is now in the Education Code starting at Section 17280 for K–12 schools and Section 81130 for community colleges. It puts the state in charge of the design and construction of school buildings. The plans must meet Title 24, and the building must be built to the approved plans.
The Field Act covers more than plan review. A DSA-certified project inspector, employed by the district, watches the work. The architect, engineer, contractor, and inspector file verified reports, as described in DSA procedure PR 13-01, and DSA certifies the project at the end. A 2019 Department of General Services report states that there has never been a loss of life, serious injury, or major structural failure in a Field Act school because of an earthquake. That record is why DSA holds sets to a high bar.
How the code is tagged, and DSA's own documents
California's building code (Title 24, Part 2) is based on the International Building Code. State agency amendments are marked with a tag in brackets:
- [DSA-SS] is DSA structural safety, the standard structural tag for DSA projects. Its requirements mostly live in the "A" chapters, such as 17A (tests and special inspections) and 18A (soils and foundations).
- [DSA-SS/CC] is structural safety for community colleges, an alternative a college district can choose at submittal. It uses the regular Chapters 16, 19, 21, and 22 with DSA amendments in place of their "A" versions, while Chapters 17A and 18A apply to both, as explained in PR 21-01.
- [DSA-AC] is access compliance. It governs Chapter 11B, which applies to publicly funded buildings as well as public accommodations and commercial facilities.
DSA also publishes its own documents on its publications page. Read them with the code:
- IR (Interpretation of Regulations): clarifies what a code provision means. For example, IR A-22 covers exemptions and IR A-11 covers submitting a project in increments.
- PR (Procedure): how a step works, such as registration (PR 17-03), electronic submittal (PR 18-04), and back check (PR 24-01).
- BU (Bulletin), PL (Policy), and GL (Guideline): announcements, policies such as over-the-counter review (PL 07-02), and design guidance.
- Forms: the DSA 1 application, the DSA 3 project submittal checklist, and the DSA 103 list of required structural tests and special inspections.
Policy Intent Notices (PINs) and Code Application Notices (CANs) are HCAI documents for healthcare, not DSA documents. See the HCAI (OSHPD) plan review guide.
How a submittal moves through review
PR 24-01 describes four stages:
- Registration. Register the project six to eight weeks before the submittal date. DSA assigns an application number and schedules reviewers (PR 17-03). Submit more than a day late and the project is returned. Submit on time and plan review starts within five working days.
- Intake. DSA runs a "readiness for plan review" check. A set that is not complete, coordinated, and construction ready is sent back as incomplete.
- Plan review. Structural safety, access compliance, and fire and life safety reviewers each comment. The design team gets all the comments once every discipline is done.
- Back check. Phase 1 is a desk back check that happens only once per project. If the set is still incomplete or not compliant, Phase 2 happens in person at the regional office, as many times as needed. DSA expects to send the approval letter within five business days after back check ends.
After approval, DSA oversees construction, reviews change documents and inspection reports, and certifies the project. Simple projects, mostly single-story relocatable buildings using pre-checked designs, can go over the counter in one appointment.
What a comment round costs the team
DSA does not publish a standard review time. Its plan review page says review time "depends on the size of the project and the number of projects pending review." The procedures still show where time goes:
- Rejected at intake: the project goes back to registration, six to eight weeks before a new submittal date (PR 17-03).
- Phase 1 back check fails: the project moves to in-person Phase 2 sessions until every comment is closed.
- Changing drawings during Phase 1: any change stops the back check, and it is rescheduled no sooner than two weeks later.
- Changing documents after approval can lead to cancellation of the approval, extra fees, or a delay (PR 24-01).
Weeks lost here come straight off the construction schedule. The design team also pays in hours: every comment needs a fix, the affected sheets need re-coordinating, and every reply has to hold up at back check.
The most common reasons sets get comments
DSA does not publish a list of its most frequent comments. It does publish what a complete submittal must contain, and what gets a set rejected.
The completeness standard. The DSA 3 submittal checklist requires "one-hundred percent complete Construction Documents, finalized, completely detailed, coordinated across all disciplines and ready for construction." Items it lists include:
- A code analysis on the title sheet, and a sheet index
- A list of deferred submittals
- DSA application numbers for existing buildings in the scope of work
- Path-of-travel improvements for accessibility, and an exit analysis
- Rated walls cross-referenced to their details
- Distance from each elevator to the top and bottom stair nosings
- Fire alarm voltage-drop and battery calculations
- The DSA 103 list of required structural tests and special inspections
File rules that cause rejection. Under PR 18-04, noncompliance "will be cause for rejecting the submission." The set is a single PDF of 500 MB or less. The sheet index must give a total sheet count that matches the PDF page count. The PDF needs bookmarks and page labels. Every sheet needs a blank stamp area in the upper right corner. No PDF security or digital signatures.
Most of these are coordination checks, not design questions: does the index match the set, does every rated wall point to a real detail, is every deferred item listed, do the calculations match the drawings.
How we help: a check before you submit
We check the set the way a careful reviewer would before it goes to DSA. You upload the drawings and the documents that govern them, and we return findings shown on the drawings at the exact location.
- Coordination across the set: sheet and detail references that don't resolve, an index that doesn't match the sheets, schedules that disagree with the plans, tags that don't match, and information one discipline needs that another never drew.
- Checks against the code and DSA documents you provide: the CBC chapters that apply, including Chapter 11B and the "A" chapters, plus the IRs, PRs, and the DSA 3 checklist you upload.
- Evidence you can act on: each finding shows the sheet, the location, and the source it was checked against, so the architect or engineer in responsible charge can decide quickly.
We are not part of DSA and don't approve anything. DSA still reviews the set, and your design team still decides every answer. We help you submit a set with fewer gaps. See how this works for architects, structural engineers, and plan reviewers, and on K–12 school projects.
Pre-submittal checklist you can use today
- Confirm DSA has jurisdiction and which disciplines apply. Check IR A-22 if you think the work may be exempt.
- Register six to eight weeks ahead, and plan to submit on the registered date.
- Walk the set against the current DSA 3 checklist, item by item.
- Check that the sheet index lists every sheet with the same number and title, and that its sheet count matches the PDF page count.
- Check that every detail and section callout points to a real detail on a real sheet.
- Trace every rated wall on the plans to a wall type and a detail.
- Compare door, room, equipment, and finish schedules with the plans that tag them.
- List every deferred submittal in one place, and complete the DSA 103.
- Show path-of-travel improvements and check them against Chapter 11B. The accessibility plan review checklist covers the plan checks.
- Combine the set into one bookmarked PDF under 500 MB, with page labels, a blank stamp area on every sheet, and no security settings.
- Before back check, answer every comment and freeze the drawings. Changing sheets during Phase 1 restarts the clock. See how to respond to plan check comments.
Keep reading
Related pages
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
What does DSA review?
The Division of the State Architect reviews plans and oversees construction of California K–12 public schools, community colleges, and certain state-owned and state-leased buildings. It checks structural safety, fire and life safety, and accessibility, and reviews accessibility for other publicly funded buildings.
What is the Field Act?
A California law passed after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. It puts the state in charge of school building design and construction: DSA reviews the plans, a DSA-certified inspector watches the work, and DSA certifies the finished project. It is in the Education Code starting at Section 17280 for K–12 schools and Section 81130 for community colleges.
What happens if DSA finds my submittal incomplete?
DSA returns it with a letter listing what is missing, and the project has to register again for a new submittal date six to eight weeks out.
What is the difference between DSA-SS and DSA-SS/CC?
Both are DSA structural safety tags in the California Building Code. DSA-SS is the standard structural tag for DSA projects. DSA-SS/CC is an alternative for community colleges that the district chooses at submittal, and it uses the regular structural chapters for some topics instead of the "A" chapters.
Can Groundbook get my school project approved by DSA faster?
No one outside DSA can promise that. We are not affiliated with DSA and don't approve anything. We check the set before you submit it, so gaps that would cause a rejection at intake or an extra back check can be fixed first.
Check your school set before you submit
Upload the drawing set and the DSA documents that apply. We'll show what we find on the drawings, so you can fix it before intake.