REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
August 9, 2018
FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director
Public Works Department
JENNIFER K. CLARK, AICP, Director
Development and Resource Management Department
BY: Shannon M. Mulhall, NIC, ACTCP, Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator
Public Works Department, Administration
SUBJECT
Title
Award three consultant agreements for Certified Access Specialist (CASp) Inspection Services for the Accessible Fresno Small Business Initiative to Lars Andersen & Associates, Inc., SZS Engineering Access, Inc., and The Taylor Group Architects for an amount not to exceed $105,000 (Citywide).
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve and award three (3) consultant agreements not to exceed $105,000 for services for Accessible Fresno Small Business Initiative (Accessible Fresno), each consisting of an initial one-year term, with three one-year extension options available for each. Staff recommends the award go to Lars Andersen & Associates, Inc., SZS Engineering Access, Inc., and The Taylor Group Architects.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff is recommending the award of three (3) contracts to the consultants that were the best value to the City for the Request for Proposals for Accessible Fresno. The selection of these three (3) consultants will enable the City to take advantage of each consultant’s individual strengths and experience in working with the diversity of small businesses in the City.
Accessible Fresno is a new proactive program to encourage businesses within the City of Fresno to take steps toward construction-related accessibility compliance. Under the direction of the Accessible Fresno program administrator, each consultant will provide eligible small businesses with Certified Access Specialists (CASp) inspection services, reports, disability access inspection certificates, and inspection support services. The City is contracting with multiple qualified consultants for these services, which have each been selected based on their qualifications. Funding for Accessible Fresno comes from Disability Access and Education (Government Code Section 4467) fees, which must only be used to increase the retention of CASps and for programs that facilitate construction related accessibility compliance for businesses.
Staff recommends the approval of a one-year agreement not to exceed $105,000 with the option for extensions to Lars Andersen & Associates, SZS Engineering Access, Inc. (formerly SZS Consulting Group), and The Taylor Group. The agreements have been approved as to form by the City Attorney’s Office.
BACKGROUND
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination of individuals with disabilities and requires all facilities used by the public (public accommodations) to be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
The ADA states that businesses must remove barriers to accessing goods and services that are easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense. This requirement is known as “readily achievable barrier removal.” The ADA contains no grandfathering provisions.
If a business is sued for accessibility violations, lawsuit-related expenses and costs usually exceed the construction costs. If a claim is substantiated they will be responsible for the costs of making the required improvements to correct violations, the plaintiff’s legal fees, and statutory damages.
According to the 2017 California Commission on Disability Access Annual Report:
• The Central Valley has the third highest construction-related physical access complaints in the state.
• Statewide, 2,365 court filings and demand letters for construction-related physical access complaint were filed.
• The top three places of public accommodation where alleged violations occurred were sales/rental establishments (38%), service establishments (35%), and food or drinks establishments (19%).
Many accessibility issues are simple to fix if a business knows what it needs to do. Each small step in improving access potentially reduces a business’ exposure to a lawsuit. Courts look favorably upon proactive businesses that have a plan of action to fix their building, even if the plan is not yet finished.
A CASp is a professional who has passed an examination and has been certified by the State of California to have specialized knowledge of state and federal construction-related accessibility standards. A CASp can inspect a business site for compliance issues, provide an inspection report and Disability Access Inspection Certificate, and assist a business in establishing a reasonable compliance schedule. A CASp inspection provides legal benefits that may reduce a business’ financial liability in a lawsuit.
Businesses that have had a CASp inspection prepared in accordance with Construction-Related Accessibility Standards Compliance Act (CRASCA) and are working toward compliance are eligible for “qualified defendant” status under CA state law. A business that is a “qualified defendant” may have their damages and legal fees reduced if they receive a lawsuit for accessibility violations. The business’ commitment to achieving compliance is demonstrated by the adherence to the correction schedule developed with the CASp inspection report. An inspection report provides “qualified defendant” status only if the client has not yet been served a summons and complaint of a construction-related accessibility claim for the property.
Accessible Fresno will provide eligible businesses with CASp inspection services at no cost to the business. Accessible Fresno is administered in-house by the ADA Coordinator (Program Administrator).
There is no cost to the business to apply or participate in Accessible Fresno. Interested businesses that apply are selected by the Program Administrator. Eligible businesses will meet the following criteria:
• Small for-profit business ($1 million or less annual gross revenue) located in the City of Fresno
• Current valid business tax certificate
• Place of Public Accommodation, as defined in ADA Title III. Targeted places of public accommodations include:
o Sales or rental establishment
o Establishment serving food or drink
o Service establishment
• Has not yet been served a summons and complaint of a construction related accessibility claim for the property site
• Business public use area is 4,000 square feet or less
• Individual business site (not a multi-business complex. Businesses that are located in a multi- business complex are eligible; however the multi-business complex itself is not eligible.)
• No outstanding code violations on record
Interested businesses apply online to participate. Businesses that have applied and are determined to meet the eligibility criteria are prioritized and selected using a weighted scoring matrix. Upon selection and agreement, the program administrator provides a list of businesses with whom to work to the CASp consultant that best meet the needs.
Under no circumstances shall the City receive or review the CASp inspection report of a business. These reports and findings must be kept confidential between the service provider and the business owner or their designated representative.
Consultant Selection Process
The goal of the RFQ was to solicit qualifications from firms to perform CASp disabled access inspections and provide inspection reports of results to local businesses, as outlined in the Scope of Services. Proposers were advised that the City intended to award multiple non-exclusive contracts.
Desired attributes included:
• Five (5) years direct experience with providing CASp inspections,
• Experienced and trained in inspections and report writing,
• Strong understanding and knowledge of state and federal accessibility requirements,
• Comprehensive knowledge and experience performing CASp inspections and reports for establishments serving food or drink, sales or rental establishments, and service establishments,
• Good communicators who have the knowledge and customer service skills oriented to answering business owner questions about the inspection report, CRASCA, ADA Title III requirements, and readily achievable barrier removal, and
• Capability to conduct a high volume of inspections with a short turn-around time.
A notice inviting statements of qualifications was published on January 11, 2018. Eight (8) proposals were received and opened on February 8, 2018. The eight (8) agencies that submitted proposals were: Apollo Construction Services, CEL Consulting, Christopher Preciado, Jensen Hughes, Lars Andersen & Associates, Robina Wright Architect & Associates, SZS Engineering Access, Inc., and The Taylor Group. The Consultant Selection Committee (Committee) consisted of individuals from the following roles/departments/representation: CASp, ADA Coordinator, Building & Safety/Facilities Management, Finance, and an outside representative of the small business community. Once the SOQ review process was completed, the Committee determined that all firms should be offered the opportunity to interview with the Committee. The interviews were conducted on February 21 and 22, 2018.
At the conclusion of the interview process the Committee identified Apollo Construction Services, Lars Andersen & Associates, SZS Engineering Access, Inc., and The Taylor Group as the most qualified; however, Apollo Construction Services declined to engage in a contract with the City. These firms were selected based on their high level of professionalism, their successful past work, the ability to conduct a high volume of reports, and their ability to communicate effectively with the small business community. Summary of Findings attached.
Program Funding
Under California Government Code Section 4467, the City must collect an additional $1 with each business tax certificate application or renewal; 30% of the funds are collected by the Division of the State Architect and 70% of the funds are retained by the City. AB1379 increased the amount from $1 to $4 on and after January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2023. The amount of the fee will revert back to $1 on and after January 1, 2024 and continue indefinitely. January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2023 the City will retain 90% of the fees collected. The amount retained reverts back to 70% on and after January 1, 2024. Only a portion of the total revenue collected and retained by the City is used for Accessible Fresno CASp inspection services; other uses are related to CASp services, training, and certification.
Under the State requirements, these funds can only be used for:
• Increasing CASp services/training and certification
• Programs to facilitate compliance with construction-related accessibility requirements
• Related administrative services (maximum 5% of revenue)
Funding for this initiative is bound by conditions and limitations of California Government Code Section 4467.
It is estimated that within this budgeted amount approximately 40-70 businesses may be able to be served through Accessible Fresno in the contract year. To expedite service delivery and flexibility, the City is engaging multiple Consultant agreements for services not to exceed the total available program funds. The City may have contract extensions for all or some of the consultants dependent on program continuance.
The City anticipates that from 2018 through 2023 the amount collected and retained annually under the Disability Access & Education Fund will be around $170,000. This is factored based on the past five (5) years of collection totals and the increased collection amount mandated under AB1379. This will provide sustainability for Accessible Fresno as well as the CASp training and certification program.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This item is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because of state funding.
FISCAL IMPACT
There will be no General Fund impact associated with approving the consultant agreements as recommended by staff, because the funding for Accessible Fresno comes from Disability Access and Education fees, which must be used to facilitate access compliance and increase the retention of CASps. The initial budget is not to exceed $105,000 and is estimated to cover a 1-year time period. As of the writing of this report the account has total available funds in excess of $160,000. This initiative is consistent with the FY2019 budget as adopted by the Council.
Attachments:
CASp RFQ Summary of Findings
Lars Andersen & Associates, Inc. Contract
SZS Engineering Access, Inc. Contract
The Taylor Group Architects Contract