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3. Authorize the City Manager to approve amendments to the agreements with CEL
<br /> Consulting, Inc., 4LEAF, Inc., Shums Coda Associates, TRB + Associates, Inc.,
<br /> and West Coast Code Consultants, Inc., if required, to meet service demand.
<br /> 4. Authorize the Director of Community Development to approve adjustments to the
<br /> allocated contract amounts between the different consultants, provided the
<br /> aggregate of all contracts is equal to the amount approved by Council, or the
<br /> aggregate as modified by the City Manager.
<br /> FINANCIAL STATEMENT
<br /> The consultant plan review fee is a "pass-through," meaning that the City collects fees
<br /> from applicants that are then used to cover the cost of the service and our
<br /> administration of the service. Applicants pay the full plan review fee whenever building
<br /> plans are submitted for review. When plan reviews are assigned to consultants, the City
<br /> retains 35 to 60 percent of that plan review fee, and the consultants earn the remaining
<br /> 40 to 65 percent of that fee. When revisions and/or additional reviews are required, the
<br /> applicant is then billed at the hourly rate. Inspection and/or permit center counter
<br /> coverage by consultants is paid from Building Permit revenue, and represents
<br /> approximately 0.3% of that revenue for this current fiscal year. Fire Permit plan review
<br /> services are also administered through these agreements, but funded separately from
<br /> the LPFD fire plan review revenue account.
<br /> BACKGROUND
<br /> The City currently has agreements with West Coast Code Consultants, Inc., 4LEAF,
<br /> Inc., Interwest Consulting Group and RK Associates, Inc., all of which expire on June
<br /> 30, 2017. Contract plan review provides flexible service levels to handle variations in
<br /> construction activity and plan review workload, as well as expertise in a wide variety of
<br /> construction specialties, including projects ranging from multi-story residential
<br /> developments and high-tech commercial offices to remodeling of historic structures.
<br /> The City has historically utilized on-call contract services to review plans and building
<br /> permit documentation for compliance with the provisions of the City's Building,
<br /> Residential, Fire, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, Green and Housing Codes; related
<br /> Building Division policies; and State and local laws. In addition, these consultants may
<br /> provide backup Permit Center counter coverage, inspections and investigations as may
<br /> be required by the City's Ordinances and duly adopted policies to help facilitate the plan
<br /> review and building permit processes. These contracts authorize payment to our
<br /> consultants for on-call plan review, inspection and counter services for up to five fiscal
<br /> years.
<br /> Building plan review revenue for FY14/15 was approximately $1,706,000, with a
<br /> consultant expense of $846,000. Building plan review revenue for FY15/16 was
<br /> approximately $2,350,000, with a consultant expense of $1,335,000. Building plan
<br /> review revenue for this current fiscal year is budgeted at $2,100,000, with a consultant
<br /> budget expense of $1,200,000. Field inspection and counter services are requested as
<br /> needed, utilized to backfill in-house position vacancies, and paid from permit fee
<br /> revenue.
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