City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: February 24, 2026
Agenda Item: 4.G
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jing Yeo, Director, Building & Safety
Subject: Award RFP #453 to 4LEAF, Inc., CSG Consultants, Inc., and TRB and Associates, Inc. for Contractual Services Related to Plan Review Services for the Building and Safety Division
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of signification effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
2. Award RFP# 453 to CSG Consultants, Inc. for plan review services for the Community Development Department;
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with CSG Consultants, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $250,000 over a three-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval;
4. Award RFP #453 to 4LEAF, Inc. for plan review services for the Community Development Department;
5. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with 4LEAF, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $250,000 over a three-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval;
6. Award RFP# 453 to TRB and Associates, Inc. for plan review services for the Community Development Department; and
7. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with TRB and Associates, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $250,000 over a three-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
As part of the City of Santa Monica’s (City) Realignment Plan, the Building and Safety Division is implementing improvements to the permitting process to support timely development review. This includes establishing a bench of qualified on-call vendors to provide plan review services, expanding organizational capacity and improving service 2 of 4
delivery. In addition to the three vendors currently contracted for these services, staff recommends executing contracts with, CSG Consultants, Inc. (CSG), 4LEAF, Inc. (4LEAF), and TRB and Associates, Inc. (TRB), for a total bench of six vendors.
Discussion
At the October 28, 2025, meeting, Council approved $400,000 in annual funding to support outside contract services in the Community Development Department, $250,000 of which was allocated to the Building & Safety Division. This funding allows the Division to expand its bench of pre-qualified, on-call plan review consultants, ensuring that plan check turnaround times are met even during staffing shortages and ensuring more complex plan reviews can be prioritized by City staff while routine reviews are handled by outside vendors.
Maintaining a bench of pre-qualified vendors provides the Division with operational flexibility, ensuring that plan review services are available to meet fluctuations in workload. Using outside consultants for less complex plan checks allows City staff to concentrate on more complex projects, improving efficiency and turnaround times. This approach also reduces the Division’s reliance on any single vendor.
The Building and Safety Division issued a Request for Proposal (RFP #453) for plan review services in June 2025. Staff recommends awarding the RFP to the top three firms and authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute contracts to provide plan review services. The proposed awardees are:CSG, 4LEAF, and TRB. A committee of three Building and Safety staff members evaluated all RFP responses and ranked them according to the criteria listed in the table below. The top three firms were selected in a ranked award whereby the top-ranked firm, CSG will be the primary consultant and will receive all plan review work covered under this contract. If the volume of work exceeds CSG’s capacity, then work can be sent to 4LEAF. If 4LEAF’s capacity is exceeded, then work can be sent to TRB. Staff recommends executing contracts with the recommended vendors, each with a not-to-exceed amount of $250,000 over a three-year term.
Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified 1. CSG Consultants 2. 4LEAF, Inc. 3. TRB and Associates 3 of 4
Firms
Evaluation
Criteria
Experience/Technical Competence, project team, project approach, cost, and quality control.
Municipal
Code
SMMC 2.24.190
RFPs Received
4LEAF BPR Consulting Grp Bureau Veritas CSG Consultants Interwest Consulting JAS Pacific J Lee Engineering m6 Consulting Shums Coda The Code Group Transtech Engnrs. TRB and Assoc.
UpAvanti Urban37 Willdan Engineer.
RFP Data
Posted On Posted On
Advertised In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
06/24/2025 City's Online
Bidding Site Santa Monica Daily Press 52 08/04/2025
Justification to Award
Based on the evaluation criteria, in compliance with SMMC 2.24.190, staff scored CSG, 4LEAF, and TRB as the top three best qualified firms to provide plan review services.
These three firms received the three highest scores from the evaluation committee of three Building and Safety staff members. All three firms excelled in the overall experience/technical ability of the firm, the team they are able to bring to the project, and the approach to the project outlined in their responses. The evaluation committee recommends a ranked award for these best qualified proposals.
Environmental Review
The agreement is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, Section 15061(b)(3), which states that CEQA does not apply where there is no possibility that this project may have a significant effect on the environment. The agreement would provide for plan review services, and therefore, would have no physical impacts on the environment and no further environmental review is required. 4 of 4
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the General Fund to award agreements with 4LEAF, Inc. (4LEAF), CSG Consultants, Inc. (CSG), and TRB and Associates, Inc. (TRB) for on-call plan review services.
While staff recommends executing contracts with 4LEAF, CSG, and TRB, each with a total not-to-exceed amount of $250,000 over a three-year term, incurred expenses during the performance period will not exceed the department’s adopted budget authority each fiscal year.
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Kevin Purcell, Principal Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. CSG - Levine Act
B. CSG - Oaks
C. 4LEAF - Levine Act
D. 4LEAF - Oaks
E. TRB - Levine Act
F. TRB - Oaks