REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Planning and Development Department
BY: CHARLES CLARK, Building Services Manager
Planning and Development Department
NADIA SALINAS, Project Manager
Planning and Development Department
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to on-call plan check, back check, and inspection services.
1. Approve a consultant service agreement with Interwest Consulting Group, Inc in an amount not to exceed $150,000 for a performance term through December 31, 2025; and
2. Approve a consultant service agreement with BPR Consulting Group, LLC in an amount not to exceed $150,000; for a performance term through December 31, 2025.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends City Council authorize the City Manager or designee to sign the consultant services agreements with both Interwest Consulting Group, Inc and BPR Consulting Group, LLC in an amount not to exceed $150,000 each for a performance term through December 31, 2025.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Building and Safety Division (Division) of the Planning and Development Department has seen a continued increase in building permit applications and inspections as well as intermittent staff attrition. In order to efficiently process the increasing number of applications within acceptable timeframes, the Division has utilized the assistance of professional plan checking agencies. Staff executed a new solicitation for consultants to ensure the City is being provided with the best value, while increasing the capacity of the Division, to include Certified Access Specialist (CASp) review and inspection. The City is required to employ or retain a sufficient number of CASps, with at least one-half the CASps employed or retained being building inspectors. Currently the City does not meet this requirement. Staff recommends approving consultant agreements with Interwest Consulting Group (Interwest) and BPR Consulting Group in the amount not to exceed $150,000 each to provide these services.
BACKGROUND
Pursuant to the Mayor’s “We Work for you” vision for the City of Fresno, the Planning and Development Department has successfully utilized the assistance of on-call plan checking consultants to support the Division’s workforce in time of high employee attrition and high application volumes.
The Building Division of the Planning and Development Department historically processes on average 113 permit applications daily. Depending on the project, these permits may require construction plans to be reviewed by one or multiple development disciplines by the Division’s various Plans Examiners and Engineers. Depending on the project type, these disciplines can include solar, structural, building, grading, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, Title 24 compliance review, and CASp review. All plans are reviewed per the California Building Code standards that are renewed and adopted every three years and typically receive two inspections for compliance throughout the construction phase.
Additionally, California Civil Code § 55.53 (d)(2) states that “commencing January 1, 2014, a local agency shall employ or retain a sufficient number of building inspectors who are certified access specialists (CASps) to conduct permitting and plan check services to review for compliance with state construction-related accessibility standards by a place of public accommodation with respect to new construction, including, but not limited to, projects relating to tenant improvements that may impact access. If a local agency employs or retains two or more certified access specialists (CASps) to comply with this subdivision, at least one-half of the certified access specialists shall be building inspectors who are certified access specialists.” 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.
Currently the City does not meet this requirement. The City employs one (1) certified CASp professional, an Architect. The City is including CASp Services in this contract to fulfill the obligation to retain a sufficient number of CASps to meet the needs of the jurisdiction until such a time that a sufficient number of CASps are employed.
Therefore, to ensure the Division is maintaining with the increasing demand on the workforce and to accommodate for additional capacity for building inspections and CASp review, staff released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to solicit for new consultants in October 2023. In total, ten responses were received and reviewed by an evaluation committee. Of the ten responses, five were local firms and of those, two firms-Interwest and BPR Consulting Group-were found to be the best value for the City and are recommended for a contract award. Each consulting group will maintain a separate consultant service agreement.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, the approval of the agreements is not a “project’ as defined by CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was implemented, Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. and BPR Consulting Group, LLC meet the requirements of Municipal Code Section 4-109(b).
FISCAL IMPACT
The services will be funded by $300,000 departmental appropriations with each consultant agreement not to exceed $150,000.
Attachments:
Consultant Services Agreement with Interwest Consulting Group
Consultant Services Agreement with BPR Consulting Group