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BACKGROUND The City of Pleasanton has historically utilized consultants to meet the plan review needs within the community. Consultant plan review services provide flexible staffing levels to handle variations in construction activity and plan review workload. Another advantage of consultant plan review services is access to expertise in a wide variety of construction specialties. The Building Division's plan review consultants have specialists to assist on plan review for a broad variety of construction projects ranging from new large custom homes and high -tech commercial offices to remodeling of historic structures. CSG Consultants, Inc. has provided fire plan review services for the City of Pleasanton for the past nine years. However, CSG Consultants, Inc. no longer has a fire plan review consultant who is familiar with the City's local fire requirements and no longer maintains an office in Pleasanton. Therefore, the Building Division is proposing to enter into a contract with Training Essential Safety Services (T.E.S.S.), a firm that has been performing fire plan review for the Livermore Pleasanton Fire Department (LPFD) in the City of Livermore. T.E.S.S. has a proven track record of providing prompt plan review turnaround times, over the counter fire plan review services, accurate plan reviews, and professional and friendly customer service. The plan review consultant will provide plan review services as described in Exhibit A, Scope of Work, of the attached Draft Professional Services Agreement. The consultant will review submitted plans and building permit documents for compliance with the provisions of the City's Building, Fire, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical and Housing Codes, the City of Pleasanton's Zoning Ordinances, and related Building and Safety Division policies, and State and local laws. The consultant will make such inspections and investigations as may be required by the City's Ordinances and duly adopted policies to help facilitate the plan review and building permit process. Such enforcement will include the duties related to the Chief Building and Safety Official as set forth in the Pleasanton Municipal Code and as described in the attached Draft Professional Services Agreement. The compensation for the consultant is shown on Exhibit B, Payment Schedule, of the attached Draft Professional Services Agreement. The contract is for one year with the option to extend the contract for three additional years. Prior consultant contracts were written for a three -year term (FY 2006/07 FY 2008/09) with a renewal provision for two additional years ending on June 30, 2011. The timeframe of the proposed contract is consistent with the timeframe of the previously approved contract. The City of Pleasanton anticipates that most of the consultants' compensation will be based on a percentage of the plan review fee (55 percent) versus an hourly plan review rate. However, the contracts also establish an hourly rate ($95.61 per hour and increasing three percent (3 per hour per year of the contract) for plan review projects, such as review of plan revisions, where a set plan review fee is not charged. Page 2 of 3