CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
June 17, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita Gutierrez, City Manager
Submitted By: Ata Khan, Deputy Director
SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF ON-CALL BUILDING AND SAFETY PLAN CHECK CONSULTING SERVICES AND MASTER AGREEMENT TO SUPPORT CURRENT BUILDING AND SAFETY PLAN CHECKS RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City council take the following actions:
Award three-year consultant agreements with two-year renewal options to BPR Consulting Group, Willdan Engineering, TBR and Associates, Inc. to provide on-call Building and Safety Plan Checks.
Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the agreement on behalf of the City, subject to review and approval as to form by the City Attorney.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This action establishes a bench of pre-qualified Building and Safety Consultants that will be available on an as-needed basis to augment City staff in the review of plans, drawings and documents for compliance with Building and Safety codes. Consultants will primarily be used for plan check consultant work, which will be funded by plan check fees paid by applicants.
SB1439/GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLICABILITY:
☐ When this box is checked, it indicates the agenda item is subject to the Levine Act SB1439 requirements. Councilmembers are reminded to check their campaign contributions and determine whether they have received a campaign contribution of $250 or more that would require disclosure and/or recusal from discussing or acting on this agenda item. Campaign contributions of $250 or more made 1) by any person or entity who is identified in the agenda report as the applicant or proposer or 2) on behalf of the applicant or participant, including a parent, subsidiary or otherwise related business entity, or 3) by any person who has a financial interest in the agenda item requires a councilmember to comply with SB1439.
FISCAL IMPACT:
A sufficient amount to cover this cost has been appropriated in the Adopted Fiscal Year 2024-25 operating budget, based on estimated Building and Safety revenue in account 101-2521-52930-00000 in the amount of $885,000 for augment third-party plan check services based on projected submittals and anticipated revenue. At any time during the fiscal year, additional appropriations are needed; staff will come back to council to increase revenue estimates and appropriations.
PUBLIC NOTICING REQUIREMENTS:
In accordance with Section 2-993.1 (4)a of the City’s Purchasing Ordinance, a public notice inviting bids was issued on the City’s electronic bidding platform (Planetbids) on January 31, 2024 and bids were due on February 29, 2024. Bids were opened on February 29, 2024.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
On December 19, 2022, the City Council brought back Building and Safety services in-house while significantly reducing contract services by at least 80% and augmenting it with as-needed contract services for the remainder, which helped to manage the fluctuation in market demands.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
No Environmental Impact
DISCUSSION:
The City of Pomona collects fees on the submission of Building and Safety plan check applications that are calculated from an established fee table based on the valuation of a proposed construction project, the cost of which is fully covered from plan check fees paid by the applicants prior to payment to consultants. It is estimated that in-house staff will conduct 20 to 40 percent of all plan reviews. The majority of complex plan submittals will be conducted by one of three (3) Consultant firms at a fee rate of 65 % of the project valuation. However, projects with a valuation of $10,000,000 will be at a plan check fee rate of 55%, which represents a 10% plan review savings. This enables the City to maintain budget savings while still responding quickly and effectively during peak periods of plan review activity.
On January 31, 2024, a Request for Proposal (RFP) No.2024-06- “BUILDING PLAN CHECK SERVICES” was issued on the City’s electronic bidding platform. The solicitation notified 97 potential suppliers, of which 36 suppliers downloaded the RFP, resulting in the City receiving nineteen proposals. Only 12 proposals met minimum qualifications and were then evaluated on a 240-point scale based on responsiveness and compliance qualifications, past performance, project approach. The top three highest-ranking proposals by the Evaluation Committee were as follows: BPR Consulting Group, Willdan Engineering, TRB & Associates, Inc. The proposed contracts would augment Building and Safety plan check service at 65% of fees generated under BPR consulting Group and TRB & Associates except when the valuation is greater than $10,000,000 then the Plan Check fee would decrease to 55% of fees collected under the Willdan Agreement.
Combined Scores
Building Plan Check Service
RFP No: 2024-06
Rank
Firm
RFP and Cost Proposal Scores
Total Possible Points
240
1 BPRConsulting Group
216.19
2 Willdan Engineering
212.38
3 TRB and Associates, Inc.
201.38
COUNCIL PRIORITIES AND GOALS:
This item supports the following 22-23 City Council Priorities and Goals: Goal B: Improve efficiency and effectiveness of City services to businesses and residents.
Prepared by:
Nancy Garcia
Management Analyst
Approval of On-Call Building and Safety Plan Check Consultant Services