Administrative
Report
N.3., File # 23-5744 Meeting Date: 3/21/2023
To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: LUKE SMUDE, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER
TITLE
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING THE PURCHASE OF AN ONLINE
AUTOMATED BUILDING PERMIT AND INSPECTION SOFTWARE PROGRAM
APPROVE A PROJECT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH CITYTECH SOLUTIONS, A DIVISION OF CHARLES ABBOTT ASSOCIATES, INC., FOR THE PROVISION, IMPLEMENTATION AND
MAINTENANCE OF AN ONLINE AUTOMATED BUILDING PERMIT AND INSPECTION
APPLICATION FOR A THREE-YEAR TERM WITH TWO OPTIONAL ONE-YEAR RENEWALS, WITH $109,600 DUE IN YEAR ONE, AND ONGOING LICENSE AND MAINTENANCE COSTS OF $72,600
IN YEARS TWO AND THREE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Building & Safety Division is dedicated to supporting the community’s quality of life by ensuring safe development throughout the City and providing effective and efficient plan checking, permitting and inspection services. The COVID-19 pandemic created operational challenges for the Building & Safety Division. Over the counter services were halted, and staff transitioned to email-based online transactions. This allowed essential functions to continue, however, the haste with which these practices were developed created inefficiencies and increased wait times for our commercial and residential stakeholders.
Modernizing processes for the Building & Safety Division was identified by the Council as a strategic planning objective. To accomplish this goal, a multi-Department working group identified core requirements and researched software platforms available in the marketplace. CityTech Solutions’ Permits Pro application was identified by the working group as the preferred provider of a cloudbased building permit and inspection application that will provide the City with the tools necessary to improve operations and enhance services provided to our building community. The application will also serve the needs of other departments and divisions, moving all plan checks and a number of permit processes fully online where they can be managed in a user-friendly portal that provides accurate, timely and informative updates to applicants and internal staff.
BACKGROUND
The Building & Safety Division of the Community Development Department is committed to the mission of providing efficient, cost-conscious service to all property owners and businesses to fulfill their construction needs. For a number of years, the Building & Safety Division has used the Tyler Munis platform to manage and track all incoming building permit applications. While the finance application provides great value to the City overall, it was not designed with building functions in
N.3., File # 23-5744 Meeting Date: 3/21/2023
application provides great value to the City overall, it was not designed with building functions in mind. The processes necessary to complete plan checks, schedule inspections and issue permits are cumbersome, require duplicate data entry and create gaps in communication. As the volume of building permit requests has increased, stakeholders have experienced extended wait times and a general frustration has grown in the community.
To address this, the Council identified the strategic planning objective of replacing the City’s current building permit application with a modern, cloud-based platform that allows for online plan submission, processing, inspection, communication and fee payment. To accomplish this, a working group was assembled from key stakeholders from the Building and Planning Divisions, along with the Public Works Engineering Division to identify process gaps and discuss available applications that could address the functional needs of the City.
There are a wide range of applications available and staff conducted targeted outreach to colleagues in similarly sized jurisdictions to understand what might work well for Redondo Beach. Staff then contacted multiple software providers and found that not many platforms could provide an effective mix of functionality, implementation speed, overall cost and adaptability required by the City. It is common for systems to offer a permitting module as a piece of a larger platform that is not customizable and follows complex workflows that inhibit the City’s ability to provide both immediate improvement as well as a continued refinement over time.
Recognizing the limited pool of firms, staff concentrated on a small number of solutions, hosting online demonstrations with CityTech Solutions, OpenGov and Tyler EnerGov. Following the demonstrations, additional interviews were held with CityTech Solutions and OpenGov, with CityTech Solutions emerging as the desired partner for the City based on their ability to provide a cloud-based solution that is appropriately scaled for the staff size and permit volume of the City.
Other platforms can take well over a year to implement, while CityTech Solutions has committed to a six-month implementation timeline that will ensure the City is able to comply with the September 30, 2023 automated solar permitting program deadline established by California Senate Bill 379. The solution also meets requirements established by the California Energy Commission, which will allow the City to apply $60,000 in California Automated Permit Processing (CalAPP) grant funding to the overall cost of the Agreement.
The CityTech Permits Pro solution was developed by building and safety professionals specifically for plan checks, building permit issuance and inspection tracking. This makes it extremely well suited to immediately fix the issues experienced by the building community in Redondo Beach. The Agreement includes three on-site kiosks where applicants can input their information directly into the application where they will be automatically queued for staff to access their application and initiate the intake process. Applications can also be initiated online. In both cases, singular data entry saves time and reduces the potential for errors.
Applicants are notified through the online portal when updates to their submittals are made, and they will be able to access corrections and communicate directly with staff. All communications are recorded, simplifying recordkeeping and enabling quicker responses from staff through the online portal. Currently, requests for information are submitted through email, and information is stored in file folders as well as the Tyler Munis system. This requires staff to compile information from various sources, causing delays and opportunities for emails to be lost in individual mailboxes. Through the online portal, applicants will always have immediate access to the most up-to-date status, with the
N.3., File # 23-5744 Meeting Date: 3/21/2023
online portal, applicants will always have immediate access to the most up-to-date status, with the ability to view progress across multiple Departments, reducing the need to call or visit City Hall.
The software will also simplify and improve the plan check and inspection processes currently in place. With the online submission of plans, applications can be routed to multiple departments for plan check with each receiving an automated notification that there is an item in their queue. Each step in the process is recorded, eliminating the potential for items to age or be stuck at any step in the process. Inspections will also be automated, with applicants having the ability to schedule inspections through the online portal in advance, eliminating the current manual process where individuals call in and leave messages for staff to schedule inspections. On the City side, schedulers can access information and assign inspections, with Inspectors being able to access inspection records online. On-site, they will be able to collect information, take photos and compile corrections with their iPads without having to manually re-key the data they collect when they return to the office.
The proposed Agreement is for an initial three-year term with the option for two additional one-year renewals. Year one includes software implementation, data transfer, and training at a total cost of $109,600, with software license and maintenance fees totaling $72,600 for years two and three. A two percent fee increase will be applied to years four and five of the Agreement, should the optional renewals be exercised by the City.
COORDINATION
This item was coordinated with the Community Development Department, Public Works Department, Information Technology Department and the City Attorney’s Office.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for the first two years of the Agreement is available through a one-time general Fund Appropriation of $200,000 approved as part of Decision Package #57 in the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Budget. An additional $60,000 for the project is expected to be available through the California Energy Commission California Automated Permitting Processing (CalAPP) Program on a reimbursement basis. Future year software license and maintenance costs will be included in subsequent budgets.
APPROVED BY:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
· Agmt - CityTech Permits, a Division of Charles Abbott Associates, Inc. · Decision Package #57 - New Building and Plan Check Permitting Online Services