REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL December 15, 2016 FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director Development and Resource Management Department THROUGH: MIKE SANCHEZ, Assistant Director Development and Resource Management Department BY: BRIAN T. LEONG, Building and Safety Services Manager Building and Safety Services Division SUBJECT ..Title Approve an amendment not to exceed $200,000 to the contract with Interwest Consulting Group, to conduct professional plan check services for Building and Safety customer projects. ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approving the amendment to the contract with Interwest Consulting Group in an amount not to exceed $200,000 to conduct professional plan check services for Building and Safety customer projects. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Interwest Consulting Group is a professional consulting firm that performs third party plan check and inspection services and was originally contracted on February 23, 2015, to provide plan check services for the Building and Safety Division for customer development projects. Due to the volume of new development projects along with an increasing volume of submittals triggered by State mandated enforcement of the 2016 California Building Standards Codes, there is a need to continue services with said consultant to meet acceptable processing timelines. BACKGROUND On January 2015, the need for an additional resource to provide plan check services arose due to an increase in volume of new residential development projects and increased activity at the public permit counter. Due to limited staff availability to perform both plan check services and customer service at the public counter, processing timelines have been dramatically impacted. With projects not meeting their scheduled process timelines, and new project submittals increasing, it was determined that a third party consultant should be retained for plan check services to supplement the increasing backlog. Furthermore, effective January 1, 2017, enforcement of the new 2016 Building Standards Codes are mandated by the State of California, which means all approved "Standard Plans" for tract homes are no longer valid and will need to be revised and updated to address the new code requirements before additional permits to construct can be granted. A survey of the number of said approved "Standard Plans" revealed 179 individual plans from various developers that would be required to be updated and plan checked for conformance to the 2016 California Building Standards Codes. Along with other custom home and residential addition and remodel projects, as well as any new models that developers wish to submit for approval, this will create a challenge to meet reasonable response timelines to the industry as outlined in the Business Friendly Fresno Initiative, even with the use consultant services. On June 30, 2016 the original contract was amended to allocate additional funds and extend the term of the contract. Given the increased volume anticipated due the Code change and existing staffing levels, a third amendment to allocate additional funds in the amount of $137,000 for services is needed. The additional funds proposed will amend the original contract to an amount not to exceed $200,000. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 the amendment of an agreement does not qualify as a "project" for the purposes of CEQA. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not implemented because this item is an amendment to an existing contract. FISCAL IMPACT No additional fiscal impact as DARM's existing appropriations will be utilized for this contract amendment. Attachment: Third Amendment to Agreement 01160.0007/256668.1