TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director - Planning, Building & Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Christina Adamson, Deputy Director - Planning, Building & Environmental Services
SUBJECT: Approval of Amendment No. 2 to Agreement No. 170591B with West Coast Code Consultants and Amendment No. 4 to Agreement No. 200066B with CSG Consultants Inc.
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve and authorize Amendment No. 2 to Agreement No. 170591B with West Coast Code Consultants and Amendment No. 4 to Agreement No. 200066B with CSG Consultants to extend the term of the agreements to June 30, 2026, to assist with building plan review, inspections and fire prevention services as needed with no change to the annual maximums. (No Fiscal Impact; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
West Coast Code Consultants
On November 8, 2016, the County entered into an agreement with West Coast Code Consultants to assist with the review of building plans and code compliance inspections. In June of 2022, the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to extend the terms of this agreement through June 2023 with an automatic renewal extending through June 2025, with no change in the annual maximum of $100,000.
CSG Consultants
On July 10, 2019, the County entered into an agreement with CSG Consultants to assist with the review of building plans, inspections and fire prevention services. In November 2019, the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to increase the annual contract maximum to $185,000. In May 2021, the Board approved Amendment No. 2 increasing the yearly contract maximum to $215,000. In May 2022, the Board approved Amendment No. 3 to extend the term of the agreement through June 2023 with an automatic renewal extending through June 2024, with no change in the annual maximum of $215,000.
West Coast Code Consultants and CSG Consultants have been essential in the ability to retain plan review performance goals and has proved to the County over the years that they are able to provide competent and timely services. The option to use a contractors when needed provides flexibility to handle staffing and response times for the spikes in permitting, plan review, and field construction inspections.
West Coast Code Consultants and CSG Consultants are not a sole source contracts. In recent years, the level of construction activity has been fairly high and the availability of experienced plans examiners has been very limited. Staffing levels can be unpredictable based on staff leaves, shifting resources, and turnover; and the availability of consulting resources to fill temporary gaps has been critical to maintaining services. Planning Building and Environmental Services (PBES) currently has a standing contract with another building plan review firm, Interwest Consulting Group. This has provided staff with options in an effort to process applications quickly, by routing them to available consultants when our staffing levels don’t support timely responses. If the workload significantly decreases and/or increases in the coming year, we can easily adjust the use of these contracts, as there is no guaranteed minimum amount, and rather a set maximum amount annually.
The Building Division collects a plan review fee from the applicant which fully covers the cost of these outside plan review services.
Requested Action:
1. Approve and authorize Amendment No. 2 to Agreement No. 170591B with West Coast Code Consultants to extend the terms of the agreement to June 30, 2026, with an automatic renewal for no more than two (2) additional years, to assist with building and code compliance plan review as needed with no change to the annual maximum.
2. Approve and authorize Amendment No. 4 to Agreement No. 200066B with CSG Consultants to extend the terms of the agreement to June 30, 2026, with an automatic renewal for no more than two (2) additional years, to assist with building plan review, inspections, fire prevention services as needed with no change to the annual maximum.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Consequences if not approved: |
Building Plan Review and inspections response times and performance goals may not be consistently met when there are fluctuations staffing levels and/or workload volume. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.