HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-02-2019 Item 06 - RFP - Building and Safety, Engineering Dev Rev, Fire Plan Rev and Inspection Services
Department Name: Community Development
Cost Center: 4006
For Agenda of: April 2, 2019
Placement: Consent
Estimated Time: N/A
FROM: Michael Codron, Community Development Director
Prepared By: Eric Hagen, Chief Building Official
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – BUILDING AND SAFETY, ENGINEERING
DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, FIRE PLAN REVIEW AND INSPECTION
SERVICES, SPECIFICATION NUMBER 2019-4006-01
RECOMMENDATION
1. Approve a Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide plan check services to supplement
building resources, engineering development review, fire plan review and inspection services
to maintain processing times per Specification No. 2019-4006-01; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute agreements with the selected consulting firms; and
3. Authorize the Finance Director to execute and amend Purchase Orders for individual
consultant service contracts in an amount not-to-exceed the authorized project budgets.
DISCUSSION
In order to meet published cycle times for plan review, the Building and Safety Division and Fire
Department currently require the use of contract plan check services to supplement efforts of in-
house resources. The proposed Request for Proposals (Attachment A) for on-call consultants is
to assure that the City’s best economic interests are served. Going out to bid in a competitive
market will expand the pool of consultant firms to choose from in order to meet published cycle
times for plan review. Community Development offers customers the ability to select the
consultant that their plans will be reviewed by and this feature of the plan check service can
improve communication between the customer and consultant performing the plan check service.
On-call consultants have been providing plan check services to the City for the last five years
and can seamlessly keep the workflow moving. Building and Safety currently has two on-call
consultants that provide plan check services at a cost of 55% - 65% of the applicant’s cost of
service fee with the remainder of the fee covering all other city costs. The additional city costs of
managing the contracts and consultants are covered by the portion of fees for service retained by
the City (35%-45% of the collected fee). The contract scope also includes an applicant-
requested option for expedited plan check service where a plan check consultant provides a
premium accelerated plan check for time sensitive projects. In such cases, the applicant pays the
consultant a higher fee in accordance with their contract for accelerated plan checks. This
process would remain available under the proposed contract scope.
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Engineering development review and inspection services are included with this RFP in order to
have that capacity should the need arise. On-call consultant services for engineering review have
not been required or utilized over the past few years for these purposes because the City has
found it more cost effective to hire temporary staff to perform the work during periods of high
permit activity. In some cases, applicants may prefer for a plan check to be conducted by a
consultant to expedite the plan check. By having consultants on call, the City can accommodate
those requests.
FISCAL IMPACT
Budgeted: Yes Budget Year: FY 2019-21
Funding Identified: Yes
Funding
Sources
Total Budget
Available
Current Funding
Request
Remaining
Balance
Annual
Ongoing Cost
General Fund N/A
State
Federal
Fees
Other:
Total
Existing contracts and industry standard cost for consultant building permit plan check service is
65% of the amount the City collects for the service provided. In addition to the plan check
service, total cost to the City includes overhead and administrative requirements associated with
management and oversight of the consultant plan check process. Consistent with the City’s
budget policies, the Community Development Department sets fees to accomplish 100% cost
recovery for this service. Therefore, the recommendation to issue a RFP and enter into
agreements with consultants for plan check services has no fiscal impact on the City’s general
fund.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Maintain Current Status. This alternative is not recommended because of the current
limited number of outside resources (consultants) under contract. Continuation of this
approach may result in increased plan check review times and a decline in customer service
should there be an increase in building permit activity or decrease in the ability of a
consultant to perform in a timely manner. Limited capacity to deliver expedited plan check
services may also result in diminished customer service and satisfaction. In addition,
customers often prefer some choice in the consultant plan check process. This RFP will allow
additional consultants who may have specific strengths or value-added services that would be
appreciated by customers.
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2. In-house Approach. Council could direct staff to complete more of the work in-house.
Consultants would only be used on larger projects when existing staff resources are
exceeded. This approach is not recommended because it would result in significantly
extended plan check cycle times and could have a negative impact on the City’s General
Fund . This would result in diminished customer service. In addition, all structural reviews
must be performed by a licensed architect or engineer. This will result in all structural
reviews being assigned to the Chief Building Official, a licensed architect, which would also
significantly extend the plan check cycle time as compared with the consultant service.
Attachments:
a - Council Reading File - RFP Plan Check Services 2019 Specification Number 2019-4006-
01
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