TO: COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC FROM: Chris Burton
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: August 15, 2023
Approved Date
SUBJECT: DEVELOPMENT SERVICES PROCESS IMPROVEMENT AND
DASHBOARD REPORT
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the status report on the data dashboard including updates on the development process and recommendations for short and long-term improvements.
BACKGROUND
Pursuant to City Council direction in 2022, the Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement (PBCE) provides updates to the Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee on the development services process along with actions for improvements. These updates are provided bi-annually. The initial updates presented to the CED Committee in February 2022 and August 2022 focused on a static dashboard including 18 unique metrics across different stages of phases of the development permit process.
The original measures as part of the Development Services Dashboard update were replaced by the introduction of the PBCE Customer Service Charter (CSC) at the February 2023 CED Committee meeting. That presentation outlined the background and purpose of the CSC including definitions of the various dashboard components.
ANALYSIS
The Customer Service Charter was envisioned out of the PBCE Management Framework. The Management Framework is built around four key areas: 1) informed management decisions, 2) telling our story, 3) workforce, and 4) budget. Each of these areas is critical for improving the management and operations of the Department which is intended to produce excellent customer outcomes. A critical component to all of these core areas is the recognition that a new paradigm around customer service was required that aligned the front-line, customer-facing activities with CED AGENDA: 8/28/23
FILE: CC 23-175
ITEM: (d)2
8/21/23
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
August 15, 2023
Subject: Development Services Dashboard Update
the high-level outcomes desired for PBCE customers. To help accomplish this the Policy and Procedure Hub (described later in this memorandum) was added as a foundational element alongside the Customer Service Charter of the Management Framework.
Customer Service Charter Dashboard Updates
Since PBCE’s last presentation to the CED Committee in February 2023, there have been several notable updates to the dashboards. First, the description of each measure’s goal was added to the description section of the dashboard which provides context as to why the specific goal was selected for each operation. The second major update is the addition of “Historic Disruptions” that describe why there are fluctuations in the outcome of each measure. To explain both of these updates in detail, the Building Division’s Inspection Counts Dashboard will be used as an example. This measure details the average daily number of inspection counts conducted across all building trades. An “inspection count” is equal to one-half hour of inspection time assigned to construction projects. Multiple counts may be assigned to the same project depending on size and what needs to be inspected.
The dashboard now includes a “Goal Description” that details how the goal of 420 counts per day was determined. The goal is based on the number of inspectors in the field (35) multiplied by their ability to complete 13 counts per day. In addition, several new inspectors are at half capacity while they train resulting in 21 additional counts per day. This results in a total capacity of 476 counts per day; however, typically approximately five employees are on vacation or sick leave per day reducing total capacity by 65 counts.
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
August 15, 2023
Subject: Development Services Dashboard Update
The second notable update is the addition of “Historic Disruptions” which outlines the cause of fluctuations in the measure’s outcomes over time. These disruptions are identified in the Department’s bi-weekly review of the measures as managers provided informed insights into what is causing the variations seen in the line chart on the bottom left of the dashboard. In the Inspection Count example, the team identified how the training conducted in the spring and early summer caused a reduction in team capacity below the target goal. “Historic Disruptions” like these are added over time as notable events or service impacts arise.
Vacancy Dashboard
Another major update to the PBCE Customer Service Charter is the creation of a Vacancy Dashboard that provides weekly updates on the staffing levels in the Department. The main component of the dashboard is the Vacancy Rate line chart in the bottom left corner showing the rate by division since late February 2022. The total number of vacancies by division is also shown in the top right corner giving more context to the scale of vacancies (based on the relative size of each division). Finally, in the bottom right the dashboard shows the average tenure staff are in their position. It is important to note that the Years in Positions is reset when staff advances within their classification. An example is a Planner I staff member who advances to the Planner II level and will have the clock reset for this graphic. This disproportionally impacts Planning as the largest classification for that division, as the Planner position has four levels.
When the PBCE department reported to CED Committee in February 2023, the Planning Division had the highest vacancy rate at 31%, followed by the Building Division at 26%, and the Code Enforcement Division at 21%. Since February, the Planning and Code Enforcement Divisions dramatically reduced their vacancy rate with the Code Enforcement Division achieving
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
August 15, 2023
Subject: Development Services Dashboard Update
the target of below 15% vacancy. The Building Division’s vacancy has remained stable over the past six months due to challenges filling engineer positions. Partially causing an increase in the vacancy rate for Building was the approval of four (4) new customer service positions in the Permit Center in the FY23-24 budget.
Building Division
The Overdue Project Dashboard gives insight into the adequacy of the staffing levels on the Building Plan Review team. Each application or project submitted to the City for building permits has a set timeline within which the review is to be completed. These timelines are based upon categories of scopes of work, such as single-family residential new construction, singlefamily residential remodels, new commercial construction, commercial tenant improvements, high rises, etc. Along with the impact of the Plan Review team’s vacancy rates, some projects, such as affordable housing projects with specific permitting deadlines tied to funding, or those with state-mandated timelines for review, affect the ability to deliver all projects within the stated timelines.
The vacant positions in the Plan Review team have been difficult to fill despite repeated recruitments. As the dashboard shows, the number of overdue projects hit a peak of over 400 projects in early December 2022. At the end of November 2022, a new contract was executed for peak staffing resources for the Plan Review team. As a direct result of this new contract, a significant and steady decline in overdue projects is visible in the graph, down to just over 100 at the end of July 2023. This measure is closely monitored so that as the backlog is eliminated and staff can manage the flow of submitted projects (ideally as new staff are brought on board), the use of the peak staffing resources will be reduced or eliminated. Continued monitoring past that point will advise when the additional resources need to be reinstated.
Planning Division
Since the implementation of the Customer Service Charter dashboard in February 2023, the Planning Division has seen significant changes to two measures: Building Permit Conformance Review Processed and 45-Day Letters Completed On-Time.
The Building Permit Conformance Review by the Planning Division in simple terms is done to ensure that what was approved through the Planning permit process is what is being built or if a Planning permit is not required, then what is being built is consistent with Zoning Ordinance development standards (e.g., setbacks and height). The review also provides the framework for subsequent inspection during construction and approval of a certificate of occupancy. The Planning permit team currently completes approximately 70 conformance reviews per week on average. While this is below the goal of completing 97 reviews per week, it represents an improvement as compared to the past six months where the reviews were at 60 per week. This improvement in completion rate is a result of filling a vacant Supervising Planner and Planner position. While these filled positions bring the team closer to being fully staffed (with one vacant
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
August 15, 2023
Subject: Development Services Dashboard Update
position remaining), the team is reassessing its base Planning and Building review fees to align with actual initial review times and is exploring other ways to capture fees upfront to support additional staffing resources. The team must balance weekly trade-offs of time between conformance review, processing staff-level Planning permit applications, and responding to the public’s general zoning and planning questions.
The second measure that has seen significant shifts is the 45-day day letter measure. This measures the full comprehensive responses from Planning staff to applicants on the status of their development application, including comments that provide a path forward and information and revisions needed by other departments within development services. Currently, the team is sending almost 90% of these letters to applicants within 45 days. To maintain the high success rate, staff has utilized more checklists, comprehensive tracking, and additional coordination with other departments to ensure the 45-day target deadline is met.
Code Enforcement Division
The Code Enforcement Multiple Housing Program Dashboard includes three measures Number of Buildings Inspected, Number of Units Inspected, and Violations Closed. Tracking and evaluating these measures are critical in ensuring staff is achieving Code Enforcement’s mission of promoting and maintaining a safe and desirable living environment while also meeting annual program targets and providing the expected fee for service. As part of the three-tier model, Multiple Housing Buildings are inspected once every three, five, or six-year cycle. Currently, the Multiple Housing Program includes over 6,700 buildings and 103,000 units. Thus, annual targets must be met to ensure all buildings are inspected within their respective cycle. The Number of Buildings Inspected measure indicates how many buildings have been inspected each month concerning the monthly program goal to determine whether the team is on track to meet the overall annual goal or if adjustments to resources or work plans need to be made. The Number of Units Inspected is also monitored to understand how many units are inspected on average per building, how many units have been inspected overall as part of the routine annual inspections, and to provide insights into overall staff productivity and service delivery provided to our rental housing community. Lastly, the Violations Closed each month are measured to show how many violations that were previously identified for correction in a multiple housing unit have now been resolved. This is key to understanding the impact of Code Enforcement work on the rental housing community in improving substandard housing conditions, safety, and quality of the built environment.
The Multiple Housing Program has had a significant increase in the number of routine annual inspections completed and violations closed since the last CED Committee report primarily due to a reduction in staff vacancies. During Fiscal Year 2022-2023, the Code Enforcement Division onboarded ten new Code Enforcement Inspectors and a total of 19 Inspectors since October 2021 reducing the overall vacancy rate to 4% by June 2023. With the increase in staffing, there are more inspectors available to conduct inspections, identify violations, provide support, and work
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
August 15, 2023
Subject: Development Services Dashboard Update
with customers to resolve violations and conduct re-inspections to confirm compliance. Issues such as missing smoke detectors, unpermitted water heaters, hazardous electrical wiring, dilapidated flooring, and faulty plumbing are some of the common substandard housing and health and safety violations addressed by the Program. Staff anticipates that the increase in staffing will allow the Multiple Housing Program to not only continue to see improvement in these key performance measures but also reduce the routine inspection backlog incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Improvement Initiatives
In addition to analyzing the performance depicted in the above dashboard measures, PBCE continues to identify initiatives to improve the permit process. Two notable improvements near deployment will have a significant impact on the Building permit application process.
The first is the newly created Best Prepared Designer (BPD) program. This program shortens and streamlines the building permitting process for design professionals who meet minimum qualifications by allowing them to take full responsibility for building code compliance on certain limited-scope, low-risk projects. Once accepted into the program, professionals who hold BPD privileges can bypass the standard building plan review process for verified eligible commercial and single-family residential projects. The Building Division will audit approximately 20 percent of the projects each designer submits for permitting under the program, and a designer’s BPD privileges may be suspended or revoked if their plans are found to contain code violations or deficiencies exceeding allowable thresholds.
The second major initiative is the upcoming transformation improvement to the Building permit process with the launch of electronic plan review (SJePlans) and self-starting permits for all Building permit applications. Customers submitting applications that require plan review will be required to start their applications on SJPermits.org and able to upload their plans into SJePlans, the City’s new electronic plan review software. This new procedure will overhaul how Building permits are processed by giving applicants extensive control and transparency of their permit application. Applicants using SJePlans will have all documents, comments, and building plan markups organized in one place with clear information on application status and process steps.
Both of these technology and process improvements will be launched later in the fall.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
Staff will continue to update the CSC measures biweekly which will automatically update the public dashboards. PBCE leadership will review these measures frequently and the improvement initiatives that impact them. Additional measures and improvements to existing dashboards will be made and presented in the next report to the CED Committee in February 2024.
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
August 15, 2023
Subject: Development Services Dashboard Update
COORDINATION
The report was coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office. /s/
CHRIS BURTON
Director, Planning, Building and
Code Enforcement
For questions, please contact Alex Powell, Chief of Staff, Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, at (408) 535-1258 or [email protected].
ATTACHMENT: PBCE Customer Service Dashboard Measures
Attachment: PBCE Customer Service Dashboard Measures
Division Team Measure/Dashboard
PBCE
Main Dashboard PBCE CSC Dashboard
Initiatives Improvement Initiatives
Vacancy Dashboard Vacancy Dashboard
Building
Building Building CSC Dashboard
Call Center
Total Calls Answered Per Month
Average Call Duration
Hang Up Percent
Inspection
Inspection Counts
Inspection Utilization
Next Available inspection
Plan Review
Number of projects in queue (New submittals)
Number of projects with overdue project cycles
Time from application received to 1st Comments sent (SFR Add/Alt) Time from application received to 1st comments sent (SRF New) Time from application received to 1st comments sent (CI/TI) Permit Center
Permits Issued by Staff
Permits Issued on SJPermits
Total Permits Issued
Total Appointments Scheduled
Appointments Held with Customers
Manual Intakes
Time to next available appt
Planning
Permit Center
Public Inquiries received (emails)
Inquiries Answered (emails)
New Applications Submitted
Applications Completed
Building Permit Conformance Review Referrals
Building Permit Conformance Review processed
Building Permit Conformance Reviews Completed
Building Permit Conformance Reviews Completed on Time
Development Review
Permit Appointment Availability
Development Review initial comment letters sent within 30 days Development Review initial comment letters sent within 45 days Environmental
Number of Administrative Draft Reviews Completed
Percentage of Administrative Draft Reviews Completed per Target Review Times
Major Environmental Documents Approved
Average Review Times for Major Environmental Review Documents Citywide Citywide Project Dashboard
Code
Enforcement
General Code
Investigate within target response time - Emergency
Investigate within target response time - Priority
Investigate within target response time - Routine
New Cases
Closed Cases
Total Active Caseload
Multiple Housing /
Residential Occupancy
Program
Number of Buildings Inspected
Number of units inspected per month
Violations closed per month