plan check services - City of Norwalk

CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
TO:
FROM:
Honorable City Council
Ernie V. Garcia, City Manager
Date: June 16, 2009
BY:
Kurt H. Anderson, Director of Community Development
Anthony Weimholt, Building and Safety Manager
Kathy Tai, Management Analyst I
SUBJECT: AWARD OF CONTRACT TO PROVIDE PLAN CHECK SERVICES
Background:
Building construction plan check is an essential public service and a significant aspect
of the City Building & Safety Division’s review process. This process is vital in
delivering a level of service that meets the needs of the City in the enforcement of all
local ordinances and State and Federal laws that pertain to building activities, and
specifically to the adopted California Building Codes. Fees collected for plan check
offset the City’s expense to process and track plans as well as conduct over the counter
planning approvals.
A request for proposals to provide plan check services was issued on March 25, 2009.
The proposal opening date was April 16, 2009. Seven firms submitted proposals:
Bureau Veritas; CSG Consultants, Inc.; D & J Municipal Services; EsGil Corporation;
Harris & Associates; Scott Fazekas & Associates, Inc.; and Willdan Associates.
Evaluation of Proposals
The Community Development management staff evaluated the information provided in
the proposals using estimated expenditures and revenues for FY 2008/09 as well as
plan check activity from calendar year 2008 to make an accurate comparison of plan
transmittal process, location, review time, plan check fees, over the counter plan review,
and rates for inspection services and as well as other services the City may need during
the duration of the contract.
1. Courier, Location, and Training/Handouts. Courier refers to the service (or
personnel) used for pick up and delivery of plans to and from the City. Location

City Council June 16, 2009
Award of Contract to Provide Plan Check Services Page No. 2
is where the firm is situated and training/handouts refers to the firms’ ability to
provide training and develop handouts. The comparison of courier, location, and
training/handouts is provided in the following table:
COURIER, LOCATION, AND TRAINING/HANDOUTS
Firm Courier Location Training/Handouts
Bureau Veritas Courier or staff Corona Yes/Hourly Fee
CSG Courier or staff Santa Ana Yes/No Fee
D & J Municipal FedEx or Cal Overnight Diamond Bar Yes/Hourly Fee
EsGil FedEx or Cal Overnight San Diego Yes/Hourly Fee
Harris FedEx or Cal Overnight Irvine Yes/Hourly Fee
Scott Fazekas UPS or Cal Overnight Irvine Yes/No Fee
Willdan Cal Overnight or staff Industry Yes/No Fee
2. Review and Recheck Time. Review time is the time period required to initially
review plans and other pertinent information. Recheck time is the time period
required to review the plans after the initial corrections and other subsequent
requirements have been made. In the City’s request for proposals, initial review
time was requested at 10 days and five days for rechecks. Neither the review or
recheck times include the transmittal time to or from the consultant which is
usually one day each way. The comparison of review and recheck time is
provided in the following table:
PLAN CHECK TURNAROUND TIME
Firm Review Time Recheck

City Council June 16, 2009
Award of Contract to Provide Plan Check Services Page No. 3
One consultant proposed a fee of $85 per hour for projects valued less than
$100,000 and a percentage fee for all other projects. Two to six hours are
normally needed to complete the plan review for smaller projects. Time spent
will increase if the plans are poorly drawn. The comparison of fees is provided in
the following table showing how much each firm would collect per project with the
City retaining the balance:
PLAN CHECK FEES
PROJECTS < $100,000 PROJECTS < $500,000 PROJECTS > $1M
Fee Rate Value $50,000 Fee Rate Value $193,500 Fee Rate Value $1,500,000
Firm City Fee Collected - $592 City Fee Collected - $1,451 City Fee Collected - $7,571
Bureau Veritas $85/hr $340 1 67% $972 65% 2 $4,921
CSG 75% $444 75% $1,088 75% $5,678
D&J Municipal 70% $414 70% $1,016 70% $5,300
EsGil 50% $296 50% $725 50% $3,786
Harris 70% $414 70% $1,016 70% $5,300
Scott Fazekas 65% $385 65% $943 65% $4,921
Willdan 80% $473 80% $1,161 70% $5,300
1 Fee varies with quality of plans and designers’ response. Estimate based on four-hour average time.
2 Bureau Veritas charges 67% for projects valued less than $500,000 and 65% for projects valued
greater than $500,000.
4. Over the Counter Plan Check Services. Staff inquired about the firms’ availability
to provide on-site plan check to help customers at the Building counter. Firms
provided hourly rates and staff calculated the annual fees based on eight, 16,
and 20-hour work weeks, as shown below.
HOURLY RATE FOR COUNTER PLAN CHECK
Firm Hourly Rate 8 Hours per Week 16 Hours per Week 20 hours per Week
Bureau Veritas $85 $35,360 $70,720 $88,400
CSG $95 $39,520 $79,040 $98,800
D & J Municipal $70 $29,120 $58,240 $72,800
EsGil $86 $35,776 $71,552 $89,440
Harris $115 $47,840 $95,680 $119,600
Scott Fazekas $70-75 $29,120 - $31,200 $58,240 - $62,400 $72,800 - $78,000
Willdan $115 $47,840 $95,680 $119,600

City Council June 16, 2009
Award of Contract to Provide Plan Check Services Page No. 4
5. Ability to Provide Interim Inspection Services. The comparison of inspector rates,
based on the rate of 2,000 hours per year, is provided in the following table:
INSPECTOR RATES
Firm Hourly Rate Contract Hours (2,000 hours/year) Mileage
Bureau Veritas $59-75 $118,000-$150,000 IRS Rate 2
CSG $80 $160,000 Included
D & J Municipal $60-65 $120,000-$130,000 $0.55 per mile
EsGil $83 $166,000 IRS Rate 2
Harris 1 - - -
Scott Fazekas $40-70 $80,000-$140,000 IRS Rate 2
Willdan $70-90 $140,000-$180,000 IRS Rate 2
1
Harris does not provide inspection staff.
2
Current IRS rate is $0.55 per mile.
6. Certified Access Specialist Program. SB 1608 established the Certified Access
Specialist Program (CASp) to increase compliance with laws providing equal
public access in places of business to individuals with disabilities. The legislation
requires that a CASp be on staff or as a consultant in building inspection offices
by July 1, 2010. Although CASp will not be needed in FY 2009/10, the plan
check services contract is an extendable contract that would overlap the CASp
requirement start date. The following is a chart of the firms’ CASp rates:
Company Overview
CERTIFIED ACCESS SPECIALIST RATES
Firm
Hourly Rate
Bureau Veritas $120
CSG $130
D & J Municipal 1 -
EsGil $105
Harris 1 -
Scott Fazekas $100
Willdan $125
1
D & J Municipal and Harris do not provide CASp services.
Community Development staff interviewed representatives from each firm and inquired
about their quality of work and level of customer service, confirmed turnaround time,
and asked questions to clarify the responses contained in their proposals.

City Council June 16, 2009
Award of Contract to Provide Plan Check Services Page No. 5
Bureau Veritas (BV) is located in Corona and quoted a rate of $85 per hour for projects
with less than $100,000, 67% for projects less than $500,000, and 65% for projects
greater than $500,000. Commonly, plan checks are completed after the initial check
plus two rechecks, however, the review time is dependent on the quality of the plans
submitted. If plan checks are completed within an estimated time of four hours per plan
check, BV’s fee averages $340 per project, placing it in the lower range. If review time
increases to six hours, the fee would be $510 per project. BV has median prices for
inspectors at $59 to $75 per hour and $85 per hour for counter plan check services.
The firm provides CASp services for $120 per hour. BV’s turnaround time is 10 days for
one to two story buildings, however, it quoted 15 days to review plans for complex
buildings. Their recheck turnaround time is within five days.
CSG Consultants, Inc. proposed at 75% and is located in Santa Ana. The turnaround
time proposed is 10 days for the initial plan check and five days for rechecks. Counter
plan check services is $95 per hour. In addition, CSG does not charge additional fees
for multiple rechecks or developer and staff meetings. CSG inspector cost is at the
upper range at $80 per hour. CSG provides CASp services but, at $130 per hour,
proposed the highest rate of all the firms for this service.
D & J Municipal Services proposed at 70% and is located in Diamond Bar. Rates for
inspector is $60 to $65 per hour making it the second lowest provider for inspection
services. D & J Municipal does not currently have CASp services. D & J Municipal
meets the City’s expected turnaround time for small projects but quoted 14-day review
periods for multi-residential and commercial additions and 20 days for new commercial
and industrial projects. Turnaround time for rechecks is seven days.
EsGil Corporation is located in San Diego and proposed at 50% making it the lowest
cost plan check service provider. The turnaround is 10 days for new non-residential
projects and seven days for all other projects. The period proposed for plan rechecks is
five days. EsGil provides inspection services at $83 per hour making it one of the more
expensive providers for this service. It proposed $86 per hour for counter plan check
services, which is the median rate, and quoted the second lowest for CASp services at
$105 per hour. While the cost of providing plan check services is low, the firm’s location
may limit the accessibility to meet with developers and the local design community.
Harris & Associates is located in Irvine and proposed at 70%. It provides a 10-day
turnaround time for the initial check and a five-day turnaround on the rechecks. Harris
provides plan check services, but does not provide inspection services. The counter
plan check services rate is $115 per hour, which is the most expensive of all the
consultants. Harris also does not currently have CASp services.
Scott Fazekas & Associates, Inc. is located in Irvine and proposed the second lowest
plan check rate at 65%. Overall, it has the fastest turnaround time for both the initial

City Council June 16, 2009
Award of Contract to Provide Plan Check Services Page No. 6
plan check at seven days and rechecks at three days. Scott Fazekas proposed one of
the lowest rates for counter plan check services and inspection services and the lowest
rate for CASp services. It currently provides the City with plan checking services and
one contract Building Inspector at the rate of $35 per hour. Scott Fazekas does not
charge additional fees for multiple rechecks, expedited plan review, developer and staff
meetings, and staff training.
Willdan Associates is located in the City of Industry. It proposed at 80% for projects
with less than $1,000,000 valuations and 70% for projects greater than $1,000,000
valuations. Due to the high percentage of projects in the City under $1,000,000, a rate
of 80% for these projects makes Willdan’s fees one of the highest for plan check
services, but the fourth highest for inspection service rates. Plan check turnaround time
is 10 days for single-family additions (seven days for rechecks), 10 to 15 days for new
construction (10 days for rechecks), and 14 to 21 days for complex commercial projects
(14 days for rechecks). Willdan proposes $70 to $90 per hour for inspection services
and $115 per hour for counter plan check services. It proposed $125 per hour for CASp
services. Willdan meets the City’s request for a 10-day turnaround time except for new
construction quoted at 10 to 14 days and complex projects quoted at 14 to 21 days.
Summary
During calendar year 2008, 421 projects were valued under $100,000, 37 were projects
valued between $100,000 and $500,000, six projects valued between $500,000 and
$1,000,000, and one project valued over $1,000,000. Approximately 90% of all projects
were valued at less than $100,000. Based on this information and the projected FY
2009/10 revenue of $170,000, staff calculated approximate fees for plan check services.
This information along with the lowest quoted rate for counter plan check services are
shown in the following table to summarize these services for each consultant.
SUMMARY OF SERVICES
Plan Check Counter
Firm
Fees
Plan Check Grand Total
Bureau Veritas $153,795 1 $35,360 $189,155
CSG $127,500 $39,520 $167,020
D & J Municipal $119,000 $29,120 $148,120
EsGil $85,000 $35,776 $120,776
Harris $119,000 $47,840 $166,840
Scott Fazekas $110,500 $29,120 $139,620
Willdan $135,243 $47,840 $183,083
1
Fee varies with quality of plans and responsiveness of designer. Estimate based on four-hour
average per project. Bureau Veritas charges 67% for projects valued less than $500,000 and 65%
for projects valued greater than $500,000.

City Council June 16, 2009
Award of Contract to Provide Plan Check Services Page No. 7
CSG, EsGil, Scott Fazekas, and Willdan do not charge additional fees for plan rechecks
in excess of three checks. CSG, Harris, Scott Fazekas, and Willdan do not charge for
meeting with City or project designers while Bureau Veritas, D & J Municipal, and EsGil
charge hourly rates for attending these meetings. Harris and D & J Municipal currently
do not have CASp staff. Although this will not affect FY 2009/10, the City is required to
have a CASp staff or a consultant effective July 1, 2010 and this may affect contract
extension for these two firms.
If both off-site and counter plan check services are performed, staff will work with the
selected firm to ensure the City is not charged for both services for the same project.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis of the proposals, reference checks, and interviews with all
consultants, staff has concluded that the firms of Scott Fazekas & Associates, Bureau
Veritas, and CSG are the most qualified to meet the needs of the City at this time.
Fiscal Impact:
Plan check revenue is included in FY 2009/10 budget at an estimated $170,000 and
obtained from the currently adopted fee schedule. Plan check costs are directly
proportionate to the fees collected. Inspection and on-site plan check services will be
determined during the budget process.
Citizens Advised: N/A
Strategic Plan Implementation: Vision 6, Strategy 4
Recommended Action:
City Council to consider approving an agreement for plan check services with either
- Scott Fazekas & Associates ($110,500),
- Bureau Veritas ($153,795), or
- CSG ($127,500)
and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement in a form approved by the
City Attorney. Council may also consider an option to add over the counter plan check
services for an additional $30,000 to $40,000 depending on the consultant selected.
The initial contract term will end June 30, 2010, and may be extended for a maximum of
four one-year periods.
Attachments: N/A