DATE: 06/18/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
2025-245
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENTS WITH BUREAU VERITAS NORTH
AMERICA, TRUE NORTH COMPLIANCE SERVICES, WILLDAN ENGINEERING, AND
VCA CODE, FOR PLAN CHECK, INSPECTION, CODE COMPLIANCE, AND ON-SITE STAFFING SERVICES PURSUANT TO REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL 25-052MB EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to award Request for Proposal No. 25-052MB (RFP25-052MB) to Bureau Veritas North America, Inc., True North Compliance Services, Inc., Willdan Engineering, and The Code Group, Inc. DBA VCA Code for building plan checks, inspection, code compliance, and on-site staffing services. The Planning and Development Department maintains the use of consultants for the aforesaid services to meet its daily responsibilities and service review times associated with structural plan reviews, other miscellaneous plan reviews, and building inspection appointments. The City’s current professional services agreements with its consultants will expire on June 30, 2025.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Award the Request for Proposal 25-052MB to Bureau Veritas North America, Inc. of Houston TX, True North Compliance Services, Inc. of Long Beach CA, Willdan Engineering of Riverside CA, and The Code Group, Inc. DBA VCA Code of Orange CA, for Plan Check Consulting, Inspection, Code Compliance, and On-Site Staffing Services in the amount of $500,000each, per fiscal year with an initial award period of July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028.
b. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the agreements with Bureau Veritas North America, True North Compliance Services, Willdan Engineering, and VCA Code of Orange, and authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to extend the agreements for an additional three year period after the initial award period per CMC 3.08.070(I).
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to issue an annual purchase order to Bureau Veritas North America, True North Compliance Services, Willdan Engineering, and VCA Code in the amount of $500,000 each, per fiscal year. d. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to negotiate and execute any amendments to these agreements that are non-substantive or are otherwise in compliance with the City Council actions hereunder.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The Planning and Development Department uses qualified consultants to meet its daily responsibilities associated with the structural building plan review process and other complex plan reviews related to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations. The department’s plan review time is provided in Table 1. Consultants are also used to temporarily backfill vacant positions in inspection services, and front counter permit operations. The department currently has contracts with five consulting firms, Bureau Veritas North America, Interwest Consulting Group, VCA The Code Group, TRB and Associates, and Advanced Applied Engineering, providing off-site and on-site staffing services related to building plan review and inspection services. The current contracts with all five companies have been in place for six years and will expire on June 30, 2025.
Table 1
Building Plan Review Times
First plan review 10 days
Second and subsequent plan reviews 5 days
On March 27, 2025, the City circulated Request for Proposal 25-052MB (RFP25-052MB) for Plan Check Consulting, Inspection, Code Compliance, and On-Site Staffing Services.
The RFP was formally advertised on the PlanetBids/City of Corona website and distributed to firms that specialize in providing these services to planning and building departments at local agencies. The submittal period closed on April 28, 2025, and the City received proposals from 12 firms. Table 2 identifies the firms that submitted a proposal to the City, in the order ranked based on the staff’s evaluation of the proposals.
The proposals were evaluated according to the following criteria outlined in the City’s RFP: a) Completeness of Response (Pass/Fail), b) Qualification of the Firm (25%), c) Qualifications of Personnel (25%), d) Work Plan/Project Understanding and Approach (25%), and e) Value (25%).
Table 2
Consultant Ranking
Rank Consultant
1 BVNA, Inc.
2 Willdan Engineering
3 True North Compliance Services
4 VCA Code
5 (tie) CSG Consultants, Inc.
5 (tie) BPR Consulting Group
6 Transtech Engineers, Inc.
7 Shums Coda Associates, Inc.
8 RKA Consulting Group
9 Freedom Support Services, Inc.
10 J Lee Engineering
11 FEI Associates Consulting Engineers
ANALYSIS:
The four highest scoring firms were selected for professional service agreements with the City. All four firms have agreed to execute the City’s Professional Services Agreement without modifications to the terms and conditions contained therein. The firms have also agreed to provide plan check services according to the City’s cost structure, which is 55 percent of the City’s collected plan check fee. That means 55 percent of the fee collected from project proponents will be paid to the consultant with the remaining 45 percent going into the City’s General Fund. The 45% retained by the City covers staff review of the building plans from other City departments and the processing of the review by the permit technicians. The fee includes the first plan check review and two subsequent reviews.
Plan checks requiring a fourth review and beyond will be performed at an hourly rate as listed in each firm’s cost proposal. This review is generally applied when previous plan review corrections remain unaddressed by the project proponent, generating additional plan reviews.
Table 3
Plan Review Cost Structure
Consultant City Services - Vendor Services - City
Bureau Veritas N.A. Houston, TX 55% of fee 45% of fee
True North Compliance Long Beach,
CA
55% of fee 45% of fee
Willdan Engineering Riverside, CA 55% of fee 45% of fee VCA Code Orange, CA 55% of fee 45% of fee
As-needed building inspection, code compliance, or permit technician services will be paid on an hourly basis based on the rates established in the agreements. The City will select from the companies offering the best rates for these services.
The initial term of each agreement is three years, July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028.
After the initial term, the agreements have the option of being extended for another three years as authorized by the City Manager or the Planning and Development Director. Each agreement shall not exceed $500,000 per fiscal year unless authorized according to the City’s purchasing regulations in CMC Chapter 3.08.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The consulting services will not negatively impact the General Fund as the City collects plan check fees and building permit fees from project proponents based on the City’s adopted fee schedule to cover the costs associated with the review of plan checks, inspections, and permit technician services. The contract costs for Fiscal Year 2026 were included in the Adopted FY 2026 Planning and Development Department’s operating budget within General Fund 110.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. There is no possibility that this action will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: CHRIS MILOSEVIC, BUILDING OFFICIAL
REVIEWED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – Professional Services Agreement with Bureau Veritas North America, Inc.
2. Exhibit 2 – Professional Services Agreement with True North Compliance Services, Inc.
3. Exhibit 3 – Professional Services Agreement with Willdan Engineering
4. Exhibit 4 – Professional Services Agreement with The Code Group, Inc. DBA VCA Code