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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 AUTHORIZATION FOR PROFESSIONAL BUILDING PLAN CHECK & INSPECTION SERVICESAgenda Item 5 AGENDA REPORT RCtyManaager Finance Director �A MEETING DATE: DECEMBER 20, 2016 TO: JEFFREY C. PARKER, CITY MANAGER FROM: ELIZABETH A. BINSACK, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR SUBJECT: AUTHORIZATION FOR PROFESSIONAL BUILDING PLAN CHECK AND INSPECTION SERVICES RECOMMENDATION That the City Council approve the consultant services agreements with the companies of Scott Fazekas & Associates Inc., CSG Consultants, Inc., Anderson Penna} Willdan Engineering, and Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. and authorize the Community Development Director to execute said agreements subject to final approval of the contracts by the City Attorney's office. FISCAL IMPACT Each firm has agreed to a negotiated, uniform fee schedule that ensures that plan check and inspection services will be provided economically and consistently, in conjunction with the City's adopted fee schedule. Currently, plan check services are charged as high as 80% of the fee collected. The proposed contract would limit future plan check costs to a maximum of 70% of the fees collected, with a reduced fee for larger projects (50% for projects of $5 Million in valuation), and residential tract homes (15% for duplicate models checked). The remaining portion of the plan check fee collected is used to cover administrative and overhead costs of the City. There is no fiscal impact to the City as the costs of the consultant services are fully paid by the project applicantideveloper. DISCISSION The Community Development Department is responsible for managing public and private development and construction activities in the City by enforcing State and locally adopted Building Standards Codes. The Department employs professional staff to perform plan check and inspection services, but has historically supplemented that staff with contract plan check and inspection services when needed to address periodic increases in construction activity, such as that currently being experienced at Tustin Legacy. Ongoing, development activities at Tustin Legacy and other areas of Tustin will continue to require additional staffing and the need for specialized services into the foreseeable future. The contracted services include pian review and inspection of buildings, and other temporary contract services. City Council Report December 20, 2016 Plan Check and Inspection Services Page 2 The Department has operated utilizing contracts originally approved by the Tustin City Council in 2004 and extended administratively each year without any increase in rates. However, it has become increasingly difficult to secure contract personnel services at the rates originally approved in 2004. A rate increase is justified and warranted to ensure that the City is able to attract and secure experienced and knowledgeable contract staff. It is also prudent for the City to reduce plan check rates paid to consultants (recognizing economies of scale, and the repetitive nature of checking residential tract homes) in order to maximize the amount retained by the General Fund to offset Building Division personnel and administrative costs. On August 30, 2016, the Community Development Department released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for plan check and inspection services to six (6) firms and posted the RFP on the City's website. Five (5) firms responded with proposals that were determined to be responsive and acceptable. Four (4) of the five (5) firms (Anderson Penna, CSG Consultants, Inc., Scott Fazekas & Associates Inc., and Interwest Consulting Group, Inc.) are currently contracted with the Community Development Department to provide plan check and inspections services. The remaining firm (Willdan and Associates) had previously provided these services to the Department until their previous contract with the City expired in 2012. All five (5) firms have proven experience, qualification, and expertise. In addition, each firm has agreed to a negotiated, uniform fee schedule that ensures that the services will be provided economically and consistently, in conjunction with the City's adopted fee schedule. Each proposal also proposes to provide temporary staff in a variety of positions, allowing the Department flexibility to meet periodic increases in construction activities or development proposals, and then reduce that assistance when the need has subsided. The Community Development Department has historically entered into multiple agreements for these services because it provides the flexibility to match a consultant's expertise to a unique project, assign projects in a manner that will ensure that temporary staffing needs and plan check time commitments can be met, accommodate multiple project submittals, and encourage competitiveness in performance. The City does not incur any additional costs by executing multiple agreements. The proposed contract is for an initial three (3) years with an option of one (1) year extensions through mutual agreement. Dana L. Ogdon, AICIIIIJ Assistant Director — Building Elizabeth A. Binsack Director of Community Development Attachment A: Consultant Services Agreement for Scott Fazekas & Associates, Inc. Attachment B: Consultant Services Agreement for CSG Consultants, Inc. Attachment C: Consultant Services Agreement for Willdan Engineering Attachment D: Consultant Services Agreement for Anderson Penna Attachment E: Consultant Services Agreement for Interwest Consulting Group, Inc.