REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL June 30, 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 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 for the revised term and in an amount not to exceed $100,000 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 anticipation of the adoption 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 a long term medical condition of existing staff that perform both plan check services and customer service at the public counter, processing timelines were dramatically impacted. With projects falling further behind 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, with impending changes to the current Building Standards Codes which are mandated for adoption by the State of California, volume will increase even more due to projects submitted for approval to current standards before the mandated implementation of new Code requirements on January 1, 2017. On October 2015 the original contract was amended to allocate additional funds and extend the term of the contract. Given the increase volume anticipated due the Code change and existing staffing levels, a second amendment to allocate additional funds and extend the term to December 31, 2017 is needed. The additional funds proposed will amend the original contract to an amount not to exceed $150,000. 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 General Fund appropriations are required for this contract amendment. Attachments: Exhibit A: Contract Agreement Exhibit B: First Amendment to Agreement Exhibit C: Second Amendment to Agreement 01160.0007/256668.1