Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout19D - RFQ - BUILDING INSPECTION SRVSREQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: MARCH 7, 2017 CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY: TITLE: APPROVED El AUTHORIZE ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST El FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR EXPEDITED El El BUILDING INSPECTION SERVICES Q {STRATEGIC PLAN NO. 3,3) RECOMMENDED ACTION As Recommended As Amended Ordinance on 1 e1 Reading Ordinance on 2nd Reading Implementing Resolution Set Public Hearing For CONTINUED TO FILE NUMBER Authorize the Planning and Building Agency to release the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to qualified consulting firms to provide expedited building inspection services. DISCUSSION Development activity in the City has been trending upward since 2011 and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. There has been a negative impact on inspection turnaround time as the inspection staffing has not kept pace with said activity for 24 hour response time to as much as 3 weeks. The effects of which are: • Overall delayed construction timelines which is particularly detrimental to medium to large commercial, industrial, or mixed -use projects as delays drive up construction costs and retards revenue to the general fund. • Constant service requests by developers for expedited inspections or dedicated inspectors for their projects which is currently non - existent other than through in -house staff overtime which is unsustainable. • Rogue construction due to contractors not able to afford waiting for inspections that will have life- safety implications and will necessitate costly future remediation. • Reduction in the quality of inspections due to unrealistic staff workloads. • A service level not in synch with the cost allocated for said service based on the 2008- 2009 fee study it was assayed. Securing contract inspection staffing will provide a means by which projects may be expeditiously serviced without having to wait up to three weeks. Moreover, it will assist in reducing response time for inspection of general work load by permanent in -house staff. This expedited service will be funded via an additional pass through service fee based on contract rates established and agreed upon by the successful Consultant and the City. There is also the added benefit of previewing potential staff in the event that permanent future positions are made available. 1913-1 Request for Qualifications for Expedited Building Inspection Services March 7, 2017 Page 2 With approval from the City Council, staff anticipates issuing the RFQ on March 8, 2017. Consultants will have 14 days to respond, with a deadline of March 22, 2017. Once the RFQ deadline has passed, a Review Team made up of City staff will evaluate the submittals and will present them, along with a recommendation(s) to enter contracts, for consideration by the City Council on April 18, 2017. City staff intends to issue the RFQ primarily via digital means. The RFQ will be advertised on the City's website and posted on social media sites, and emailed to all consultants providing contract building inspection services. STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT Approval of this item supports the City's effort to meet Goal #3 - Economic Development, Objective #3 (Promote a solution -based customer focus in all efforts to facilitate development and investment in the community). FISCAL IMPACT Typically, it costs 40% more to hire outside inspectors to perform the job that would otherwise be done by the City inspectors. Therefore, presently, staff is proposing to "contract out" and pass the entire cost of outside staff, plus a nominal administration surcharge, to interested applicants. If the upward trend in application continues, staff will present alternatives at the time of budgetary reviews. Therefore, at this time, there is no fiscal impact associated with the issuance of an RFQ. One or more consultants may eventually be selected once the entire solicitation process is complete. A fiscal impact, if any, will not be known until such time that the City Council reviews and selects a proposal and consultants to provide expedited building inspection services. Hassan HaghP i, Albs Executive Director Planning and Building Agency SM:rb SM:RFCA — Expedited Building Inspection Services — March 2017 Exhibit: 1. Request for Qualification 19D-2 REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) FOR BUILDING INSPECTION SERVICES Issued By: CITY OF SANTA ANA BUILDING DIVISION, M -19 20 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA POST OFFICE BOX 1988 SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA 92702 The City of Santa Ana reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals, to waive any informality in any Proposal, and to select the Proposals that best meet the City's needs. EXHIBIT 1 19D-3 NOTICE By way of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ), the City of Santa Ana Building & Safety Division ( "City ") intends to pre - qualify a limited number of full service firms to provide professional services for the inspection of construction projects within the City of Santa Ana. Work under this RFQ would include the following types of tasks, but are not limited to, inspection services, residential, commercial and government buildings and structures for verification of compliance with the most current adopted versions of the California Building Standards Code, City of Santa Ana Municipal Code, relevant State and Federal Laws, the approved construction documents, and coordination between City agencies, designers, and builders in the community. Firms responding to this RFQ should be able to demonstrate that the personnel that they employ on behalf of the City possess certifications and /or licenses relevant to the work they are performing pursuant to Section 18949.28 of the California Health and Safety Code. The City is committed to non - discrimination and equal opportunity. No person will be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation. i0 The City of Santa Ana Building and Safety Division is responsible for building inspections of commercial, residential, and government construction projects within the City of Santa Ana. For many years the Building Division met or exceeded a turnaround time of next business day for over 90 percent of Building Inspections. This level of service compared favorably with surrounding municipalities and represented the generally accepted performance goal for Building Inspections. This has been in part accomplished by maximum capacity staff and overtime during especially high volume months to inspect projects and assist customers. Beginning in 2009, budget constraints resulted in the reducing the amount of full time building inspectors. While these reductions negatively impacted inspection turnaround times, the impact was lessened by the concurrent reduction in building inspections required due to the economic downturn. Increased activity from the building industry as the economy continues to recover combined with current building inspection turnaround exceeding acceptable service levels has resulted in an increasing number of projects requesting accelerated building inspections. The City is interested in contracting with one or more qualified firms to provide accelerated building inspection services on an as- needed basis in order to improve building Inspection turnaround times as well as provide greater flexibility for applicants wishing to take advantage of accelerated building inspections. RFQ: Building Inspection Services Page 2 of 7 1901-4 PURPOSE The purpose of this Request for Qualification Proposals ( "RFQ) is to solicit competitive proposals from qualified persons and /or firms to provide building inspection services and customer assistance for the City of Santa Ana. The City's intent is to minimize response time and improve customer service by supplementing in -house staff with consulting services for building Inspection Services. III. RULES FOR PROPOSALS The signer of the RFQ must declare in writing that the only person, persons, company or parties interested in the proposal as principals are named therein; that the proposal is made without collusion with any other person, persons, company or parties submitting a proposal; that it is in all respects fair and in good faith without collusion or fraud; and, that the signer of the proposal has full authority to bind the principal proposer. IV. SCOPE OF SERVICES The City is soliciting a Statement of Qualifications ( "SOQ ") from interested firms with the intent of creating a list of pre - qualified proposers. Proposers will be pre - qualified based on the process set forth in the "Selection Process and Award" of this RFQ. The City intends to have several firms qualified for these services. Proposers will be selected based upon their competency, experience and availability to conduct the work in a timely manner. The ability to provide in -house temporary staffing is desirable. Once a qualified proposer list is created, the City will utilize this list and enter into inspection service contracts. The list of prequalified proposers shall remain active for a three (3) year period. V. SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS All Proposals shall include the following information: Letter of Introduction - Briefly describe the firm; e -mail, and phone number of the contact person the respondent's understanding of the scope approach to the scope of services. The letter officer of the respondent's firm authorized commitments made in the proposal. The letter must be addressed to: Gerald Caraig Building Official City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza (M -19) P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 and the name, address, as well as a summary of of services and overall should be signed by an to bind the firm to all 2. Firm Profile Provide a brief description of your firm's size and organization structure. RFQ: Building Inspection Services Page 3 of 7 19D -5 l M Relevant Experience and Qualifications Provide a description of your firm's relevant experience and qualifications of key individuals that may be involved in providing Building Inspection services your firm has completed over the last three years. Specifically list any work conducted with governmental entities. Provide resumes for all key personnel. Rate Structure Provide a sheet showing proposed hourly rates of firm's staff and equipment utilized for Building Inspection Services at various levels of inspectors. References - Provide at least three (3) references (names and current phone numbers) from recent work that may be contacted for verification of the respondent's experience and qualifications. CONFLICT of INTEREST Proposer agrees that, for the term of this contract, no member, officer or employee of the City of Santa Ana, or a public body within Orange County or member or delegate to the Congress of the United States, during his /her tenure or for one year thereafter, shall have any direct interest in contracts or any direct or material benefit arising therefrom. Proposers must provide a list of any potential conflicts of interest in working for the City of Santa Ana. This must include, but is not limited to, a list of your firm's clients who are the following: Private clients located or operating within the City of Santa Ana limits. Proposers must also identify any other clients that may pose a potential conflict of interest, as well as a brief description of work you provide to these clients. The list must include all potential conflicts of interest within the year prior to the release of this RFQ as well as current and future commitments to other projects. Principals and those performing work for the City of Santa Ana may be required to submit a California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Form 700: Statement of Economic Interests documenting potential financial conflicts of interest. SUBMITTAL of QUALIFICATIONS Your Submittal package shall include the following: • One (1) original and three (3) printed copies of your proposal. The proposal shall be in Times New Roman, Arial or some similar easily readable font. The size of the font shall not be smaller than 12. Proposals shall be submitted not later than the time and date indicated on the cover page of this RFQ. RFQ: Building Inspection Services Page 4 of 7 19D-6 • All submittals shall be submitted in a sealed envelope or container and clearly marked with the title of the RFQ on the outside of the parcel, `Request for Qualifications — Inspection Services' • Proposals must be submitted ONLY to: Gerald Caraig Building Official City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza (M -19) P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 • Faxed and /or emailed proposals shall not be accepted. • The City of Santa Ana shall not be responsible for proposals delivered to a person or location other than that specified hereinabove. • Late submittals shall not be accepted or considered. • All submittals, whether selected or rejected, shall become the property of the City of Santa Ana and will not be returned. • The City reserves the right to waive minor defects and /or irregularities in proposals, and shall be the sole judge of the materiality of any such defect or irregularity. • Once opened, all responses become public record and will be available to the public for review. • Cost incurred by the respondent in the preparation of the response to this RFP is the sole responsibility of the respondent, and will not be reimbursed by the City. • All proposals shall remain firm for one hundred twenty (120) days following the closing date of the receipt of proposals. • Proposals must be received and date stamped by no later than March 22, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. The City of Santa Ana has no authority to accept proposals submitted after the above date and time. Proposals received after the date and time specified in this RFQ will be rejected by the City as non - responsive. VIII. SUBMITTAL INFORMATION AND DEADLINE The following represents the tentative schedule for this project. Tasks Date Release of RFQ March 8, 2017 RFQ: Building Inspection Services Page 5 of 7 19D-7 IX. Deadline for Final Questions March 15, 2017 Proposal Submission Deadline March 22, 2017 Evaluation of Proposals TBD Interviews — (If Needed) TBD Selection and Notification of Proposer TBD List Please include the following in the submitted Response to RFQ: 1) Letter of Introduction - Briefly describe the firm; and the name, address, e -mail, and phone number of the contact person as well as a summary of the respondent's understanding of the scope of services and overall approach to the scope of services. The letter should be signed by an officer of the respondent's firm authorized to bind the firm to all commitments made in the proposal. 2) Relevant Experience and Qualifications - Describe relevant experience and qualifications of key individuals that may be involved in providing Building Inspection services your firm has completed over the last three years. Specifically list any work conducted with governmental entities. Provide resumes for all key personnel. 3) References - Provide at least three (3) references that may be contacted for verification of the respondent's experience and qualifications. 4) Rate and Service Structure (submitted in a separate sealed envelope) - Fee Structure for personnel specified as an hourly rate. 5) Insurance Requirements - All required insurance must be current and up- to -date in advance and renewed annually. A consultant my not work for the City of Santa Ana until the appropriate insurance has been provided and approved by the City Attorney. This shall be verified by City Staff. CONSULTANT SELECTION The City will review the responses to the RFQ and make a determination as to the most responsive, best suited and most qualified to provide the service being requested. Generally, the criteria will include, but not be limited to: • The responsiveness to the specific needs of the City and an understanding of the services to be provided. • Experience, expertise and knowledge particular to the City's needs, in providing services of a similar nature. • The skills, education and experience of the consultant(s). RFQ: Building Inspection Services Page 6 of 7 19D-8 • Local businesses preference. For purposes of selection criteria, local is defined as having a headquarters or branch office located in either the City of Santa Ana, or within Orange County. • References. • Service Cost/Rates. Following the review, the City will determine the final number of proposers to be included on the list of pre - qualified proposers. The City will notify all proposers of their pre - qualification status. The top four (4) firms will be awarded a three (3) year contract for on -call inspection services. X. QUESTIONS Prospective proposers shall direct all questions to: Gerald Caraig Building Official City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza (M -19) P.O. Box 1988 Santa Ana, CA 92702 Tel. (714) 647 -5896 Email: gcaraig@santa- ana.org XI. METHOD OF PAYMENT The Consultant shall submit a monthly invoice to the City for the services rendered in that month. The invoice shall include a summary as well as a detailed breakdown of the tasks, the hours, and hourly rates. Payment by City within 45 days of invoice. XIL REGULATIONS The selected consultant shall be expected to comply with all applicable federal, state, city regulations, and contract provisions. RFQ: Building Inspection Services Page 7 of 7 19D-9 19D -10