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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 07 12 Regular 500 r 07 I 204_ COMM _ Regular_ COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM 500 Consent Informational Public Hearing Regular X July 12.2004 Regular Meeting / Mgr. / Dept. Authorization REQUEST: City Manager requesting the Commission to accept a report from the Building Permit Study Committee regarding recommended improvements to the permitting process in the City. PURPOSE: This agenda item is needed for the Commission to receive and adopt recommendations of the Study Committee. CONSIDERATIONS: On October 13, 2003, the City Commission adopted Resolution 2003-42 establishing the Building Permitting Improvement Committee and approved a contract with Government Services Group to provide technical assistance to the Study Committee. The Committee has completed its work as charged in the Resolution and is prepared to publish its report with the Commission. FUNDING: Funding for recommendations have been spread over a two year period within projected permit revenues. 071204_COMM_Regular_ RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the Commission accept the report from the Study Committee and provide any direction it deems appropriate. ATTACHMENTS: 1) Committee Report 2) October 13, 2003 Agenda Item 504. COMMISSION ACTION: COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM 504 Consent Information Public Hearing Regular X October 13.2003 Meeting MGR. !?tJl1j'/Dept. REQUEST: City Manager requesting the City Commission to approve Resolution 2003-42 providing for an evaluation of the City's building code related services, and approving a contract with Government Services Group to provide technical assistance to the City in the performance of the study. PURPOSE: This agenda item is needed to provide formal authorization for a cooperative joint study of the City's building related services to be performed by the City and the building industry, and to approve a contract with Government Services Oroup to provide technical services to the City in the performance of the study. CONSIDERATIONS: In the June 16,2003 Commission Workshop the Commission directed the City Manager to move ahead with a study of the Building Department including employment of a competent consultant. Since that time there have been numerous discussions with the members of the building industry regarding the study. We have also negotiated a contract with the Government Services Group to perform the study for the City. G.S.G. was chosen for their experience in building related studies with local government and the knowledge they have already gained of the City through the recently completed Development Services Cost Allocation and Overhead Study. 1 101303 _ COMM _Regular _504_ Building_ Service_Study Page 2 FUNDING: The contract with G.S.G. will be a not to exceed contract amount of $50,000. No additional funds requests are anticipated for the study. The source of funds for the study will be the Development Services Enterprise fund. RECOMMENDA TIONS: It is recommended that the Commission approve Resolution 2003-42 and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with G.S.G. to perform the Building Services Study in an amount not to exceed $50,000. ATTACHMENTS: Attachment "A" Resolution 2003-42/ Exhibits "A" and "B". Attachment "B" G.S.G. Contract. Attachment "c" June 16, 2003 Commission Workshop Minutes. IMPLEMENTATION: See Exhibit "B". COMMISSION ACTION: 2 ATTACHMENT "A" RESOLUTION NUMBER 2003-42 RESOLUTION 2003-42 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA PROVIDING FOR AN EVALUATION OF THE CITY'S BUILDING PERMITTING SERVICES. WHEREAS, the City of Winter Springs is known for vigorous regulations of development and construction within the City to ensure compliance with all land development and building codes, to protect the financial investment of property owners, and to maximize the health and safety of the. property owners and visitors in Winter Springs, and WHEREAS, the construction related industries have offered criticism relative to the efficiency and level of customer service provided in the City's building regulation services, and WHEREAS, the City Commission has expressed an interest in entering into a cooperative evaluation of the City's building related services with the building industry. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, in accordance with Exhibits "An and "B" attached hereto, the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs authorizes the City Manager and representatives of the building industry to jointly perform an evaluation of the City's Building Regulatory Services to determine what recommendations, if any, can be made to improve the efficiency and level of customer service offered by the City's Building Regulation Department without compromising in any way the integrity, level of code compliance, or level of public safety currently provided by these departments. ADOPTED and approved this _day of September 2003 by the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs, County of Seminole, Florida. John F. Bush, Mayor ATTEST: Andrea Lorenzo-Luaces, City Clerk EXHIBIT" A" PROJECT STRUCTURE ,.,\.;;:;~.~~;t'(~::~~~;';/L:;~'~~;,8i~:i;~fGJNf!M~tStsij):;t~i~:~j:~f{';(;;;jit):~i':3:~~~J:L :\~t;:':\~':~~::~~i~;~,~;~;~;;;~1~~f'~5~:' ~'.g:,:g?; t.,'),q~~"'J" r:..i;:~\\;;~v;r;":"~'B;;'}~8'1;i)~'~~;r:::; . , .... ".... .., " , . ',<, ' " ,,~~~~~~J:~6~~~~~~~~~r:;~k~~~ ~~,~R~;v',~~~.~:A'rq~'m:c(s~;~d,9Pt~~~(ir;~Re, .' '~'~T,eaiiP~8~c;omtti&6d~t.i0'r!l~~; ::/+'~';,'~::}~~~i ;:);~.:i;, ~~~ ;{~": ~&~t~ ;~.:;:~:~. ~~~.:~i~~:.~:i~;,;J:~;;3t:)~i~~Jb!:,;f;1~@:;jY' ~f~~~!!,~j~~~~!W!~~~~~~"~0~~~1, ,,': " .;....;. <OJft.,:.G)ty:MClm~,ger;lRp'1lJrv.19te'1@pre.,.. . .;""...': ..:.... if:y:::t,;:,:n~~tfStMd~!~;1~~~ig~r;.~I'~BR.?!6!~~K;~::;j:'..~"'::,,;:~ l,:<'.:;f1'iB.~A:~fWiC~?RlieSJaemt-7~o:r:m,~,t;;0:g~rrnar:sii:\o.:. 'i. :.;'.~: :~~~i.~"o.A}B~'G1<.:&\,(";:IR ;'-";d~'y.~ii::';~vf''' R~R;~w;i': <,:;~:~;.', :~:; . "': -" ':., :., .,;',c/.;". ,1.ce,...~r~$,I,'.~,I1lJ':. .' pr., ",,~ .:.,Yle ",.,,,_, '~. :~,. ~~(~...,~,;:~,~~~~:' i>'~'.f..~>' :.'.~,:'"~~' ~:'~ 1?":'-c-_~~"}- ~-~;~~:-.? .:.:~';I-:~:.\;:',;:.,,'; :~-"~:~:O;~~~r,,::':,~'~ ~.,,,.,,",,, :-'~ .:1-:.... '"'-'_"'. ;.<-".: ~~ .~... _.' - ~~, ~. """'-"~""- ~ ....___ ~".~ "'. ~i"~'L '", ~'. \ - "_...;0 . .':.Provid.e~GuiClarfce'-arid;eirectio'r,iJo -Prdje'ct,Tear;tj".. '>~ -'~:'-: I!.-';;.:.i :;~"t'~~f~~~~~}).; -_' ~Ti '2:_~! ,-_:,;~,~~,-,-:,,;_:::,,'::. ,,":':':~J.:~_'~~~.:.:~.::..:.<_~< - .":'--~ - .;"~~ .:J~':~~ ~~. ;= ".'. .;.}": .... ' '. ._.,_~r~:."~:t:~~~>~;:_':;;:':~;;~-,~_-_,~~I";,.,_ -~,":"",':.lf '\,.1 '" CitY' 'PhjJed~Gbnsl:lltahl-'1ra" ;.0:,.:', ! ': ,.; }...~:~~q.:;gtS"~h~~~~t~'~'.:;L~.:~: ;~ :';}~.~:~': .j-;;" '. .Pr:oMides.q;:ec~r;licaliAss!star;rc~; :;, ,j..::/ .. ... ". _ ,- "~oj_ ....~,' _:~., ;:'".'"."',-'r.':'-' ',_,-:'. f-,_.._ ;..'~~' ....', .:"'h'"_ ",'-,:, ~"'; -".,.... ~ _ .;, ., ., ,', . "':<',~I1Wt~~~~~1.~?'~.~~:;).~;l~'::~_k";!,~;;}. 4/il\::;:~{;":;.~;y;:;';:i;,y;~!,~~~~~~:f~'~~:.i.::~t:~Y;~ :~:~:\: (..... c";." ',",'-'> . '.- .: -'.:.: ~:_ .\"~.. ,_10 ~.:_: ~'.". ~.t' ",,;:~:~,;.!i~' J. '; ~'.;~ . (.:~l"~-~{:?' . . .:-:: ,.-.. . qu~t~l]le[::='f?,roj~:~t ~oljisci'lia.r;lt-:~~.;~:.: ,; .', -"E3':@.F~Execlltiv,e f>ire"dtor '~'Bob.Mc<D0rmicK' -. . ~:ili~']itliiill~jl[~~ :,'i-;:(;::"i~BernGtlmatks{<;l.l!ld~S.el;ltlcezSJ<;lndards:~' ,::~: ~ ~!'1~r/~i~~!-tl~l~i1~.;Bl} .~ ,'~ ~. ~ ~ .~. ::: 'y.o ~ ;.~ EXHIBIT "B" WORK FLOW SCHEDULE Phase 1. Organization Completion Date - October 1, 2003 Goal: The goal of this phase is to develop a consensus regarding the methodology under which the project will be undertaken including the following. 1) Staffing. 2) Assignments of Responsibility. 3) Work Flow. 4) Time Frames. 5) Formal Commission Charge Resolution. Phase 2. Issue Analysis Completion Date - December 1, 2003 Goal: The goal of this phase is to develop a clear understanding of the issues underpinning the need for this study and forming the framework of the study including the following. 1) Definitions of service area concerns. 2) Vision statement describing the overall ideal conditions that can be achieved through the resolution of issues. 3) Benchmarking and establishing desired outcomes in service area. 4) Performance standards for service activities. 5) Commission Workshop Number "1". WORK FLOW Page 1 of2 EXHIBIT "B" Phase 3A. Operations Analysis Completion Date - April 2004 Goal: The goal of this phase is to analyze the resources and structures by which the organization operates in order to come to a consensus of what resources and structures amendments are needed to meet desired benchmarks and performance standards including the following. 1) Organizational culture. 2) Organizational structures. 3) Process analysis. 4) Financing. 5) Commission Workshop Number "2". Phase 3B. Operations Analysis Completion Date - May 1, 2004 Goal: The goal of this phase is to finalize operational analysis indicated from workshop Number "2". Phase 4. Publication Phase. Completion Date - June 1, 2004 Goal: The goal of this phase is to complete the formal report of the project team and to publish the report with the Commission. WORK. FLOW Page 2 of2 CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS BUILDING CODES ADMINISTRA TION PROGRAM OPERA TIONAL ISSUE ANAL YSIS REPORT JUNE 2004 Prepared by: Government Services Group, Inc. 1500 Mahan Drive, Suite 250 Tallahassee, Florida 32308 (850) 681-3717 Page Executive Summary. ....... ............................. ...... .......... ......... .................... .......... ....... 1 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 Issue Areas .......................................................................................................... 1 Potential Remedies ........... ............. ... ........ ... .......... ........ ...... ...... .................... ...... 2 Estimated Additional Costs.................................................................................. 4 I ntrod uction ................................................................................................................ 5 Preface................................................................................................................. 5 Methodology......................................................................................................... 5 Operational Issues ... .......... .............. .... ....... ...... ........... ..... ......... ........................... ..... 7 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 7 Issue Discussion.................................................................................................. 7 Potential Remedies............................................................................................... 12 Funding Issues ............. ................. ............. ...................... ........... ........ ........ ............... 16 I ntrod uction..................................................................................................................... 16 City Funding......................................................................................................... 16 1m plementation........................................................................................................... 21 I ntrod uction............................................................................................ ......................... 21 Tables Table 1 Operational and Performance Enhancements ........................................... 4 Table 2 FY 2002-03 Crossover Costs ................................................................. 17 Table 3 Operational and Performance Enhancements .......................................19 Table 4 Fiscal Year 2002-03 Actual and 2003-04 Projected Revenues ..............19 Table 5 Fiscal Year 2002-03 Actual and 2003-04 Projected Fund Balance......... 20 Table 6 Implementation Schedule. ......................................................................21 Appendices A: Seminole County Plan Review Standards B: Proposed City of Winter Springs Development Services Department Organization GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC I, c ~~A~' ,~.&ECfiTlVESUMiv[ARY . . ,';... ,',;' ',:;Cd. ,'k"...." ...... " ..~ .- " ._'. . ,'.. ;. < "... , I , . .~.... <' On October 13, 2003, the City of Winter Springs Commission adopted Resolution 2003-42, providing for an evaluation of the City's Building Permitting Services. The Commission authorized the City Manager and representatives of the building industry to jointly perform an evaluation of the City's Building Regulatory Services to determine what recommendations, if any, could be made to improve the efficiency and level of customer service offered by the City's Building Regulation Department without compromising, in any way, the integrity, level of code compliance, or level of public safety currently provided by these departments. A project leadership group was appointed soon after adoption of the resolution by the City Commission, held an organizational meeting and initiated the evaluation. INTRODUCTION Government Services Group, Inc. (GSG) served as staff to the leadership group and conducted a review of the City's building code administration program operations. The results of this review were documented in an Operational Profile published in December 2003. This information served as a foundation for the project leadership group's identification and analysis of issues that led to the recommendations provided in this report. II ISSUE AREAS II Opportunities for building codes administration program operational improvements fell into the following areas: , ~ Automation ~ Inspection Request Process ~ Plan Review Process ~ Assignment of Building Codes Administration Responsibilities Within the City ~ Applicant Interaction with Department Regarding Issues and Interpretations ~ Mechanism for Payment of Revision Fees ~ Process for Single Contact for Obtaining Final Inspections and Automatic Request for Permanent Electric ~ Potential Policy regarding "Plan Dumping" ~ Department Management and Administration GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC, 1 POTENTIAL REMEDIES While there may be a number of ways of addressing the operational issues, it was recommended that the City consider the following: Automation ~ Acquiring KIVA technical services to increase the functionality and effectiveness of the KIVA system. ~ Acquisition of Accela Wireless for use by Inspectors in the field. ~ Using existing KIVA System's "correction codes." ~ Enabling the feature of existing KIVA System's automatic notification. ~ Acquisition of KIVA NET to provide Internet access to data in the KIVA System. ~ Discontinuing the use of Non-KIVA applications for the maintenance of building permit data. Inspection Request Process ~ Having inspection requests taken by Customer Service with a live person during normal City business hours and via KIVA NET and extending the intake period for requests for next day inspections until midnight. Plan Review Process ~ Dedicating additional staff to performing plan review. ~ Establishing standards regarding the timeliness of review for both residential and commercial building plans performed by the City similar to those adopted by the County. ~ Providing additional resources to the current planning review of commercial and multi-family building plans. Assignment of Building Codes Administration Responsibilities Within the City ~ Delineating the responsibilities of the Customer Service Center, Building Division and Planning and Environmental (Arbor) Division to include the provision of administrative services and support to both technical divisions 1 as well as provides for the central intake of permit applications, plans, etc. and their processing, tracking and file maintenance. 1 Building and Planning and Environmental/Arbor. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP. INC. 2 ~ Assigning the Customer Service Center with inspection intake, building permit and plan file maintenance and archiving responsibilities and freeing the residential inspector up to perform inspections. ~ Defining the role of City Code Enforcement staff and Building Division staff relating to complaints involving building-related activities. ~ Developing a hardcopy brochure and an automated web accessible information piece for City residents to access to answer frequently asked questions regarding building in the City. Applicant Interaction with Department Regarding Issues, Interpretations, etc. ~ Advertising a pre-established day, time and location each week or bi-weekly period during which the Chief Building Official or other senior Building Division staff will be available to meet with permitees regarding building code interpretations or any other building code administration matters. Mechanism for Payment of Revision Fees ~ Allowing permitees to place on deposit with the City, an amount to be used for plan revision and letter fees. Process for Single Contact for Obtaining Final Inspections and Automatic Request for Permanent Electric ~ Assigning the Customer Service Center as the single point of contact for requesting final inspections and submitting requests for permanent electric utilities to the power company. Need for Establishment of a Policy Regarding "Plan Dumping" ~ Establishing a policy to preclude the practice of building "plan dumping" or submitting more than a reasonable number of building permit applications in a specified time period. Department Management and Administration ~ Assigning a high priority to the recruitment of a Community Development/Development Services Director to oversee the Department. ~ Establishing a viable cross training program within the department to assure the continuity of workflow when key department personnel are away from the workplace. ~ Developing a reformatted integrated Development Services Report available to the public via the internet. GOVERNMENTSERWCESGROU~INC 3 ~ ESTIMATED ~ ADDITIONAL COSTS Table 1 provides a summary of cost of funding the potential remedies2 ($371,924) for the City's 2004-05 Fiscal Year: TABLE 1 OPERATIONAL AND PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS Amount Category Item Recurrina Non-recurrina Automation Accela Wireless Software, licenses, trainino, etc. $15,000 $86,368 Handheld/tablet PC's $16,100 Additional server $11,000 Wireless service $4,200 KIVA NET $7,500 $47,500 KIVA Support $50,000 $50,000 Process 2 Clerical Positions $71,256 $4,000 BrochurelWebsite document $9,000 Total $143,756 $228,168 2 An implementation schedule with responsibility assignments is included in Section V. Implementation. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. 4 NTRODuct/ON' 'f.; II On October 13, 2003, the City of Winter Springs Commission adopted Resolution 2003-42, providing for an evaluation of the City's Building Permitting Services. The Commission authorized the City Manager and representatives of the building industry to jointly perform an evaluation of the City's Building Regulatory Services to determine what recommendations, if any, could be made to improve the efficiency and level of customer service offered by the City's Building Regulation Department without compromising in any way the integrity, level of code compliance, or level of public safety currently provided by these departments. PREFACE II Government Services Group, Inc. (GSG) specializes in providing management consulting services to local governments utilizing computer based technology and process oriented analysis. GSG has developed special experience in performing operations and performance analysis for state and local governmental agencies in Florida. . The City of Winter Springs (City) entered into a professional services agreement with GSG to provide specialized services in performing an operations and performance review of the City's Building Codes Administration Program in a manner consistent with the resolution. This document is the operational analysis report that is the second published project deliverable specified in the scope of services incorporated in the professional services agreement between the City and GSG. The purpose of this document is to describe, analyze and propose solutions to issues identified during development of the operational profile portion of the project and as a result of interviews conducted with City staff, local builders and others involved in the building codes administration process in the City. METHODOLOGY In preparing this analysis report, GSG performed the following: );> Obtained and reviewed existing documents, publications, forms, etc. currently used the City in performing the building codes administration function. );> Interviewed staff of the Information Systems, Human Resources, Community Development, Fire and Public Works/Utility Departments. );> Observed building inspectors, plans examiner, and Customer Service Center staff in the performance of their routine duties. );> Obtained and analyzed financial data relating to the City's building codes administration program. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. 5 )> Reviewed building permit application tracking logs maintained by the Customer Service Center. )> Interviewed several local builders with active projects in the City. This report will be provided in three (3) parts. The first part will deal with operational issues such as issues pertaining to the building codes administration process as it currently exists within the City and will pose potential remedial actions to improve efficiency and level of customer service. The second part will deal with financial/funding issues related to the building codes administration process and the third part will address implementation of the recommended building codes administration program improvements. GOVERNMENTSERWCESGROU~/NC 6 I: . ;;1"'" "/:riF .rOPEBA.TIONAL/S$IJES " .i The primary complaint from local homebuilders that led to the City's decision to undertake a review of the operations and performance of the City's building codes administration process was that while the City's building plans review and permit fee rates were among the highest3 in the area, the timeliness of plans review and building inspection services was among the poorest in the area. INTRODUCTION During the research and data gathering phase of the project, a number of issues were identified as directly affecting the manner in which the City administers the building codes administration process that appeared to provide opportunities for improvement. These issues generally fall within the following categories: ~ Automation ~ Inspection Requests ~ Plan Review Process ~ Assignment of Responsibilities ~ Access to Building Administration Staff Regarding Interpretations ~ Payment of Plan Revision Fees ~ Final Inspection Request Process ~ Need for Policy Regarding "Plan Dumping,,4 ISSUE DISCUSSION The paragraphs that follow provide a description of the individual issues included within each of the eight issue categories listed above. Automation While City staff performing building codes administration responsibilities have office automation equipment available at their workstations at City Hall, a City website exists providing information to the public regarding the roles and responsibilities of City Departments, and an automated database/permit tracking system (KIVA) exists for use in the building codes administration process; there are a number of potential 3 The Homebuilders Association of Metro Orlando contend that the City's building plans review and permit review fees are the highest, by a significant margin, in the mid-Florida area. 4 "Plan dumping" is the process of submitting an excessive number of building plans at one time causing a bottle neck in the City's plans review process. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. 7 opportunities for improving access and timeliness of permit data for permitees through the use of automation. They include the following: ~ There exists a need for real time inspection data accessible to permitees as soon after an inspection occurs as possible. This will preclude the need for a building superintendent to be on location at each inspection and will facilitate the ability of a permitee to correct any existing deficiencies at the earliest possible opportunity, if desired. ~ Consistent with the issue above, the use of the existing KIVA System's correction codes should expedite the process of identifying and listing inspection deficiencies for building inspectors and should reduce the potential for errors in communication between City inspection personnel and permitees. ~ The existing KIVA system possesses a permitee notification feature that automatically notifies the permit applicant that an action (plan review or permit) has occurred via phone call or e-mail message. This feature allows permitees to know of actions by the City building codes administration staff on their particular application or permit at the earliest possible moment. ~ The KIVA System contains vital data regarding construction activity within the City. This information may be of interest to permit applicants and permitees as well as others in the construction industry. More and more, this data is being likened to the data maintained by County Property Appraisers, which is readily accessible over the internet throughout the State. Automation can provide both all the data existing in the KIVA System as well as individual application/permit data. ~ The existing KIVA System possesses significant functionality beyond that currently used by City staff. In addition, City staff performing building code administration responsibilities are maintaining redundant back up systems in word processing or spreadsheet software applications. This is due to a preference for the format of the word processing or spreadsheet system and due to concerns regarding the reliability of KIVA System data especially during power failures, etc. In addition, special reporting requirements are often taken from the word processing or spreadsheet data due to the perceived lengthy time requirements involved in obtaining such information from KIVA. Inspection Request Process ~ The existing inspection request line is a standard land line based voice mail system that features a prerecorded message identifying the information required in order to schedule an inspection. While the system does include a bypass. feature, the prerecorded message does not mention it. Although the KIVA system includes a feature that would provide for inspection requests over the internet, the lack of internet accessibility to the system precludes it. In addition, the current process provides for the cut off of inspection requests for the next day, if made after 5 p.m., unless such has been prearranged. This has led to GOVERNMENTSER~CESGROU~/NC 8 complaints from builders that would prefer that requests be answered by a live person, if made during normal business hours, as well as, bye-mail or via the KIVA system if after hours. In interviews, builders requested that, where feasible, requests for inspections made after 5 p.m., but possibly before midnight, should be scheduled the next day. Plan Review Process ~ Based on builder interviews, it takes a longer period of time to obtain plan reviews in the City than in the County or other surrounding Cities. It was contended that the same goes for plan revisions and letters. During the observation period while preparing the operational profile, the times varied from five to 32 work days with an average of almost 14 days. Of course, this sample included many plans that were initially rejected and ultimately approved after resubmittal, which was at the applicant's discretion. In a few instances, plans in the sample were rejected and resubmitted on more than one occasion. ~ Unlike several other surrounding Cities and Counties, the City does not have any published standards regarding how long a typical commercial or residential plan review should take therefore, the public has no measure of how long it should take to get plans approved. ~ Commercial and multi-family plans require an initial review by current planning to assure that they are consistent with development agreements, subdivision regulations, etc. The City's Current Planner consistently maintains a backlog of work resulting in delays in processing building plans. This contributes to longer plan review times for commercial and multi-family plans. Assignment of Building Codes Administration Responsibilities Within the City ~ The City has adopted a Customer Service Center approach to administering its building codes administration responsibilities. The concept is to have a single point of entry for all building permit, plans review, subdivision regulation, zoning amendment, etc. requests within the City. The concept is intended to simplify the permitting process for City residents. It also allows for both the growth management (planning, zoning, environmental) and building administration programs to use the same central intake, tracking, facilitation, filing, etc. services of a Customer Service Center entity. This form of providing central services to the building and planning disciplines is fairly common today and, although almost always an evolving process, typically takes many various forms. In addition to a single point of entry for all permits, applications, petitions, etc. within a City, these operations typically allow the very technical planning and building staff of a City to focus on their particular areas of expertise while the staff of the Customer Service Operation focuses GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC 9 on maintaining files, databases, tracking, facilitating requests for inspections, etc. and archiving of records. The City's Chief Building Official has expressed that the manner in which the Customer Service Center is currently operating poses some operational challenges for the Building Division primarily in the area of administrative and clerical support. According to the Customer Service Center Manager, a lack of clerical staff preclude the ability to provide optimal levels of administrative and clerical support. ~ In addition to the above relating to the roles of the Customer Service Center and Building Division, the Building Division currently handles the intake of inspection requests and is responsible for the maintenance of current and archived hardcopy building permit and plans files. The staff person primarily responsible for these responsibilities is the residential building inspector. These responsibilities would appear to require far less technical knowledge and would be more in line with the skills of a file clerk. At issue is whether the responsibilities should be transferred to the Customer Service Center and a file clerk hired there to provide the services or maintained in the Building Division and a file clerk hired there. ~ The Building Division indicated that a significant amount of time is dedicated to investigating and disposing of Code Enforcement Complaints regarding building code violations. These issues are typically resolved by homeowners or contractors submitting to the building permit process. These cases typically do not result in a formal Code Enforcement proceeding. These investigations are currently being handled primarily by the Chief Building Official and the Residential Building Inspector. In many other locations, these complaints are investigated by Code Enforcement staff and the Building Inspection staff are only brought into cases when there is a need for application or interpretations of the building code. Typically Code Enforcement Operations are housed within Community Development Departments although in their own division (separate from Building). However, in the City, Code Enforcement staff are housed within the Police Department and this appears to have influenced the handling of Code Enforcement complaints involving the building area. ~ The Building Division staff appear to spend a significant higher amount of time in. handling building related code enforcement cases than we have experienced in other cities and counties. Typically, we find a functionally separate code enforcement entity which has responsibility for administratively processing these cases. When code enforcement cases require building inspection or interpretations of the building code, building codes administration staff perform these inspections or make these interpretations. However, the cases are still administered by the codes enforcement entity. ~ Individual homeowners who often times are less than knowledgeable of the Florida Building Code or a particular City's building codes administration process can consume a considerable amount of building codes administration GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP. INC 10 staff time at the Customer Service desk, with an Inspector over the phone, or on-site regarding proposed construction plans. Many communities use both hard copy and web accessible "how to" brochures to provide basic information to such individuals. The City used such a hard copy publication in the past (It appears in the Appendices of the Operational Profile Report); however, it is severely in need of updating. Applicant Interaction with Department Regarding Issues, Interpretations, etc. ~ While there is nothing to preclude builders, homeowners, etc. from contacting the City Building Department regarding discussion of building code interpretations made by City building plans review and inspection staff, builders indicated during interviews, that predetermined meeting dates, times and locations would probably result in better communication and a better understanding between the City building inspection staff and local builders. Mechanism for Payment of Revision Fees ~ Currently, permitees are required to pay an additional fee each time they require a plan revision or architect's (or engineer or other design professional) letter. These fees pose a special problem for large builders who may not have a field financial disbursements function and who may have a number of such revisions or letters in process at once. Many other locations allow such builders to establish a lump sum account with the City from which such fees can be withdrawn until the account requires replenishment. Process for Single Contact for Obtaining Final Inspections and Automatic Request for Permanent Electric ~ The Operational Profile established currently requires permitees to contact City Building, Environmental, Engineering and Utilities to request a final inspection prior to issuance of a C.O. and submission of a request for permanent electric utilities. In many locations, a single call to the Customer Service Center will result in all inspections being scheduled, completed, a C.O. issued, and the request made for permanent electric utilities. Need for Establishment of a Policy Regarding "Plan Dumping" ~ While there is some evidence that this practice may have been situational, a past practice of at least one particular City builder resulted in an alleged 35 or more building permit applications and accompanying building plans being made with the City at a single time. This event resulted in an immediate bottle neck in the building codes administration process and adversely affected the building permit applications and plan review times of other applicants for city building permits at that particular time. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC 11 Department Management and Administration ~ The City's Community Development/Development Services Director position has been vacant for a prolonged period of time. A proactive Department Director could not only bring about improvements in the Department's Building Codes Administration Process, he or she could facilitate the integration of functionality, processes and procedures necessary to increase operational effectiveness and bring about increased operational efficiencies, while serving as a resource to assure consistent work flow in all department disciplines. ~ While in the Building Division, several staff persons possess the requisite education and experience to perform one another's responsibilities. There are some positions within the Department where this does not exist. Most notable are the position of Customer Service Manager, Current Planner and Environmental/Arbor Specialist. The Department should cross train appropriate departmental personnel in these areas so that when the incumbents in these positions are required to be away from the workplace, their work flow proceeds without disruption. ~ While the department currently produces a monthly report of building/development related data, additional useful data could be included and access to the report could be provided to the general public and building community. There are many ways of addressing the operational issues identified previously in this section of the Issue Analysis Report. However, based on information learned while developing the operational profile, working with the project leadership group, past experiences with the City of Winter Springs, and past experiences with other governmental entities on building code administration issues, the following are a list of potential remedies that would appear to address the issues in the most effective and efficient manner: POTENTIAL REMEDIES Automation ~ Consideration should be given to acquiring KIVA technical services to increase the functionality and effectiveness of the KIVA system. ~ Consideration should be given to the acquisition of Accela Wireless for use by Inspectors in the field. ~ Consideration should be given to implementing the use of existing KIVA System's "correction codes." ~ Consideration should be given to enabling the feature of existing KIVA System's automatic notification feature. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC 12 ~ Consideration should be given to the acquisition of KIVA NET to provide Internet access to data in the KIVA System. The feature of KIVA NET that allows inspection requests to be made by permitees over the web should also be enabled. ~ Consideration should be given to discontinuing the use of other applications for the maintenance of building permit data. Consider the use of backup electrical generation for all critical City functions such as the access to building code administration data via KIVA. Consider the appropriate staffing requirements to have an in house technical expert on the KIVA system capable of developing custom displays, reports, etc. Inspection Request Process ~ Consideration should be given to having inspection requests taken by Customer Service with a live person during normal City business hours and via KIVA NET. Consider extending the intake period for requests for next day inspections until midnight with Customer Service staff inputting all inspection requests received by phone during normal City business hours and the KIVA system generating a list of all inspections received by midnight to be submitted to the Building Division to be available for file retrieval, review and assignment first thing each morning. Plan Review Process ~ Consideration should be given to dedicating more staff to the plan review function. This could be done by a reallocation of some duties that would result in the Building Official performing inspection assignments and picking up some plan review responsibility as necessary along with the commercial inspector and contract inspector (Andrew) performing more plan reviews. This will require the residential inspector to spend more time conducting inspections and less time performing clerical responsibilities. ~ Consideration should be given to establishing standards regarding the timeliness of review for both residential and commercial building plans performed by the City similar to those adopted by the County (See Appendix A). This will provide the public with reasonable expectations regarding the timeliness of plan review and the plans review staff with performance benchmarks. ~ Consideration should be given to providing additional human resources support to the current planning review of commercial and multi-family building plans. This support could be in the form of cross training of existing staff, recruitment of a Department Director with current planning experience, or the acquisition of additional staff. GOVERNMENTSER~CESGROU~/NC 13 Assignment of Building Codes Administration Responsibilities Within the City ~ The responsibilities of the Customer Service Center, Building Division and Planning and Environmental (Arbor) Division should be clearly delineated. The physical proximity of these operations within City Hall facilitates a centralized Customer Service Center approach to permitting whereby the Customer Service Center provides administrative services and support to both technical divisions as well as provides for the central intake of permit applications, plans, etc. as well as their processing, tracking and file maintenance. ~ Consideration should be given to assigning the Customer Service Center with inspection intake, building permit and plan file maintenance, and archiving responsibilities and freeing the residential inspector up to perform inspections. ~ Consideration should be given to clearly defining the role of City Code Enforcement staff and Building Division staff relating to complaints involving building-related activities. Budgetary consideration should be given to funding this activity from penalties resulting from violations imposed at the time that building permits are subsequently issued. ~ Consideration should be given to developing a hardcopy brochure and an automated web accessible information piece for City residents to access to answer frequently asked questions regarding building in the City. Applicant Interaction with Department Regarding Issues, Interpretations, etc. ~ Consideration should be given to advertising a pre-established day, time and location each week or biweekly period during which the Chief Building Official or other senior Building Division staff will be available to meet with permitees regarding building code interpretations or any other building code administration matters. Mechanism for Payment of Revision Fees ~ Consideration should be given to allowing permitees to place on deposit with the City, an amount to be used for plan revision and letter fees. There should be an automatic notification when the amount on deposit in such account dips below a predetermined threshold. Process for Single Contact for Obtaining Final Inspections and Automatic Request for Permanent Electric ~ Consideration should be given to assigning the Customer Service Center as the single point of contact for requesting final inspections. The Customer Service Center would schedule final inspections with City Building, Environmental, Engineering and Utilities. In addition, upon final approval, the Customer Service Center would automatically issue a C.O. and submit a request for permanent electric utilities to the power company. GOVERNMENTSER~CESGROU~/NC 14 Need for Establishment of a Policy Regarding "Plan Dumping" ~ Consideration should be given to establishing a policy to preclude the practice of building "plan dumping" or submitting more than a reasonable number of building permit applications in a specified time period. The policy should probably be adopted by ordinance of the City Commission. Department Management and Administration ~ Consideration should be given to assigning a high priority to the recruitment of a Community Development/Development Services Director to oversee the Department. ~ Consideration should be given to establishing a viable cross training program within the department to assure the continuity of workflow when key department personnel are away from the workplace. ~ In addition to making KIVA data accessible via the internet, consideration should also be given to reformatting the existing monthly report of development data to include the timeliness of plan review (actual compared to the City standard), monthly and year to date permit and plan review statistics, monthly and year to date fee revenues and monthly, and year to date expenditures from the Development Services Trust Fund. This report could also be made available to the public via the internet. GOVERNMENTSERWCESGROU~'NC 15 :, .....:::FUNrJilNG'ISSUES...:::' U'-:-"<",-;.:::.-.n.:,.:,.c:: ",',_," _:....><:~.,,:_::..:.. :_:,_' ___..n:.,_, .l::".:,: ',:,',.." .. , , ,', -..:,: .. '_ II Florida Laws specify the purposes for which building fees INTRODUCTION . may be appropriately expended. Generally, they may be expended for the administration of the building and fire prevention codes. The following paragraphs describe the applicable provisions of Florida Law in more detail: II Chapter 166.222, Florida Statutes, provides that the governing body of a municipality may provide a schedule of reasonable inspection fees in order to defer the costs of inspection and enforcement of the provisions of its building code. hi addition, Chapter 125.56, Florida Statutes, affords Counties the authority to provide a schedule of reasonable inspection fees in order to defer the costs of inspection and enforcement of the provisions of the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code. Finally, Chapter 553.80 (6), (b), Florida Statutes, provides that the fees charged by counties and municipalities for enforcement of the Florida Building Code on buildings, structures, and facilities of state universities, state colleges, and public school districts shall not be more than the actual labor and administrative costs incurred for plans review and inspections to ensure compliance with the code. II CITY FUNDING II The City has established a Development Services Fund where building codes administration fees5 are deposited and from which building code administration expenditures are paid. Currently, expenditures of the Building Division, proportional expenditures of the Customer Services Center, proportional expenditures of the Fire Prevention Division (Fire Marshal), proportional citywide administrative expenditures, and proportional departmental administrative expenditures are paid from funds deposited in the trust fund6. Expenditures that are typically paid from these revenues in other jurisdictions that are not in the City of Winter Springs are the proportional expenditures associated with the time and effort provided by other City departments? providing the following individual building permit related activities: 1) environmental/arbor review/inspection; 2) engineering review/inspection; and 3) utility review/inspection. Table 2 provides an estimate of these crossover costs for the 2003-04 Fiscal Year: 5 Including fees related to building plan review performed by the City's Fire Marshal. 6 Plan review and inspection fees. 7 These expenditures or costs, are typically referred to as crossover costs. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. 16 TABLE 2 FY 2002-03 CROSSOVER COSTS Typical # Direct Indirect Annual Per Hour Time Permits Costs Costs Total Current Planning $65,736 $34.89 4 17 $2,372.65 $99.42 $2,472.07 Environmental/Arbor $56,159 $29.81 1.167 245 $8,522.61 $418.03 $8,940.64 Utilities $45,717 $24.27 0.416667 245 $2,477.14 $149.25 $2,626.39 Engineering $55,506 $29.46 1.4375 245 $10,375.99 $514.92 $10,890.91 $7.02 $752.00 $23,748.38 $1,181.63 $24,930.01 Departmental Admin. $20,800 $1.00 CityWide Admin. $9,500 $0.46 Currently, the City projects that it will expend $1,041,500 to administer the building codes administration process for the current fiscal year.8 Preparation of the City's Fiscal Year 2004-05 budget is presently underway. That budget will include typical price level increases associated with increases in the cost of living as well as new budget initiatives designed to address deficiencies in the City's building codes administration process identified in this report. The expenditures necessary to provide funding to address deficiencies identified in this report will be either recurring or non-recurring. The following is a list of the potential remedies and projected additional costs to the City, in recurring and non-recurring terms of each: 1. Automation ~ Accela Wireless . Software, licenses, training, implementation, etc. - $101,369 (bulk non- recurring) . Handheld/tablet PC's - $16,100 (non-recurring) . Additional server - $11,000 (non-recurring) . Wireless service - $4,200 (recurring) ~ Use of KIVA System's "correction codes" feature - $0 ~ Enabling existing KIVA automatic notification feature - $0 ~ Acquire KIVA NET (Internet access to KIVA System) - $55,000 (bulk non- recurring) ~ Discontinue use of MS redundant applications - $0 ~ Acquisition of KIVA technical support services - $100,000 (bulk recurring) 8 2003-04. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. 17 2. Inspection Request Process ~ Customer Service Center live intake of inspection requests - See Clerical Positions 3. Plan Review Process ~ Dedicate more staff to plan review and inspection functions - See Clerical Positions ~ Development of plan review standards - $0 ~ Additional resources for current planning review of building plans - Costs could range from 0 to a significant amount depending on approach. 4. Assignment of Building Codes Administration ResponsibilDties Within the City ~ Define the role of the Customer Service Center as Development Services Department administrator/facilitator - See Clerical Positions ~ Define the role of City Code Enforcement staff and Building Division staff relating to building related code enforcement Complaints - Unknown ~ Develop hardcopy brochure and an automated web accessible information for City residents - $9,000 5. Applicant Interaction with Department Regarding Issues, Interpretations, etc. - $0 6. Mechanism for Payment of Revision Fees - $0 7. Process for Single Contact for Obtaining Final Inspections and Automatic Request for Permanent Electric - $0 8. Need for Establishment of a Policy Regarding "Plan Dumping" - $0 9. Department Management & Administration ~ Recruitment of Department Director - Costs could range from 0 to a significant amount depending on approach. ~ Cross training of staff especially in the Customer Services Manager, Current Planning and Environmental/Arbor areas - Costs could range from 0 to a significant amount depending on approach. ~ Integrated Monthly Report - Cost of developing the report should be accomplished in house while increasing access to it could possibly be combined with KIVA NET implementation of Building Codes Administration brochure to reduce or eliminate associated costs. Clerical Positions (2) To address item numbers 2, 3, and 4 above, two clerical positions have been proposed for the Customer Services Center. Proposed costs for the two positions - $76,000 (bulk recurring). GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC 18 Table 3 provides a summary of cost of funding the potential remedies ($371,924) for the City's 2004-05 Fiscal Year: TABLE 3 OPERATIONAL AND PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS Amount Category Item Recurrina Non-recurrina Automation Accela Wireless Software, licenses, trainino, etc. $15,000 $86,368 Handheld/tablet PC's $16,100 Additional server $11,000 Wireless service $4,200 KIVA NET $7,500 $47,500 KIVA Support $50,000 $50,000 Process 2 Clerical Positions $71,256 $4,000 BrochurelWebsite document $9,000 Total $143,756 $228,168 Table 4 provides the actual Developmental Services revenues for the 2002-03 City Fiscal Year and projected revenues and expenditures for the 2003-04 City Fiscal Year: TABLE 4 . FISCAL YEAR 2002-03 ACTUAL AND 2003-04 PROJECTED REVENUES Projected FY 02/03 FY 03/04 Number Account Actual Actual Revenues: 322100 Buildino Permits $938,949 $650,000 322050 Permits- Plan Review $415,430 $300,000 329100 Electrical Permits $41,982 $30,000 329200 Plumbino Permits $85,031 $50,000 329300 Mechanical Permits $57,965 $35,000 361100 Interest Earned $1,667 $8,000 381100 Transfer from the Gen Fund- Dev Review $19,143 $20,500 rTOT AL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES REVENUES $1,560,167 $1,093,500 GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC 19 Table 5 provides the projected Developmental Services fund balance at the end of the current fiscal year assuming that revenues and expenditures occur as projected: TABLE 5 FISCAL YEAR 2002-03 ACTUAL AND 2003-04 PROJECTED FUND BALANCE Date Balance October 1 , 2002 $0 October 1 , 2003 $692,357 October 1, 2004 (Projected) $699,797 GOVERNMENTSER~CESGROU~/NC 20 I. < 'r. 110 jq!! >',UfItPLEMEJVTATJiON~ ,1 The City should implement the recommendations included in this report as soon as possible. The benefits to the City of increased operating efficiency and effectiveness in the building codes administration program and those to residents of the City, whether members of the development community or consumers of building services, will be discernible. II INTRODUCTION II Table 6 provides a schedule of implementation for each of the major recommendations included in this report: TABLE 6 IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE KIVA NET Time Table Catenory/Recommendation Automation Accela Wireless KIVA Su ort IS IS IS IS IS IS IS IS IS See Clerical Positions below CS Plan Review Process Increase Resources - Plan Review Establish Standards 80 BO 80 80 80 80 80 BO CM Jul Documentation of Res onsibilities 9 Includes provision of clerical services to building and planning divisions and reformatting and increased access to monthly development report. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. 21 Categiory/Recommendation Activity Responsible Time Table Party Finalize DS September 2004 Payment of Revision Fees Develop mechanism FD July 2004 Internal review FD August 2004 Advertise availability CS Sept. 2004 Initiate process CS October 2004 Finallnsoection Sinale Contact . Redesian process CS July - Auaust 2004 Internal review CS Sept. 2004 Initiate process CS October 2004 City Hesident Brochure Include in 2002-05 Budaet DS May - Sept. 2004 Procure services DS Oct. 2004 Initiate orovision of services DS Oct. - Nov. 2004 Deoartment ManaaementlAdmin. Recruit Deoartment Director Review Classification/Pay CM July 2004 .Advertise Position HR Auaust - Sept. 2004 Screen Applicants/Interview CM-HR October 2004 Select Candidate CM October 2004 Cross Training Identify Staff - Cross Trainina DS July Conduct Trainina CM, CP, EA On-going Intearated Monthly Report See Document Responsibilities Note: IS - Information Services Director, FD - Finance Director, CS - Customer Services Manager, DS - Development Services Director, BO - Building Official, CM - City Manager, HR - Human Resources Director, CP - Current Planner, EA - Environmental/Arbor Specialist GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC 22 ,,< '<~,:~,'-:>;.:_l. l.J.,,; ;~: >~~ , j~;<." c' ,<(" APPENDICES :,- ':,' , "...1 ' ,"', APPENDIX A SEMINOLE COUNTY PLAN REVIEW STANDARDS GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC, RESIDENTIAL PERMIT FLOWCHART !~ ,..~ This flowchart is intended for a new structure. If it is not a new structure the steps may vary slightly from this chart. The time frames in this flowchart are ONL Y estimates and can vary according to the current workload. Application Submittal (1 day) The application and other required documentation is submitted to the Building Department Addressing (1-2 days. If not in a platted sub) The application is passed to addressing which will assign or verify an address for the 911 system. Zoning Division (2-5 days) Zoning will review and verify the site and building plans for setback and any other land development requirements. Impact fees will also be set Flood Prone Areas (1-3 days. If required) Flood Prone will review the application and inform or notify the applicant of any necessary requirements Wetlands Areas (3-6 days. If required) Wetlands will review the application and inform or notify the applicant of any necessary requirements Plan Review (7-10 working days) The plans will be reviewed. A list of inspections that will be required is relayed to the customer Update and Issue A permit tech will contact the customer with what fees they will need to pay and any items required prior to the permit being issued. The customer will come to the County Services Building to pay and will receive the permit. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. A-1 COMMERCIAL PERMIT FLOWCHART &- " -' - ~ .ce, n_..,..'_.. .........,...!:i: This flowchart is intended for a new structure. If it is not a new structure the steps may vary slightly from this chart. The time frames in this flowchart are ONLY estimates and! can vary accordina to the current workload. Development Review Site Approval Development Review will review, request changes, and approve the submitted plans ~ Application Submittal (1 day) The application and other required documentation is submitted to the Building Department ~ Addressing (1-2 days) The application is passed to addressing which will assign or verify an address for the 911 system. ~ Development Review Development Review will review and verify the plans are the same as in the first step ~ Fire Review (7-10 working days) Fire review will review plans and inform the customer of any required changes ~ Commercial Plan Review (7-10 working days) Commercial Review will review the plans and inform the customer of any required changes ~ Update and Issue A permit tech will contact the customer with what fees they will need to pay and any items required prior to the permit being issued. The customer will come to the County Services Building to pay and will receive the permit. GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. A-2 APPENDIX B PROPOSED CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATION GOVERNMENT SERVICES GROUP, INC. Development Services Proposed Organization Development Services Department Planning/Environmental Customer Service Building Te!chnical Functions - Non-technical Support - Permit Technical Functions - Planning & Application and Plans Intake; process Building Codes Environmental tracking and facilitation; non-technical Administration communication, file creation, maintenance, retention; inspection requests, administrative and clerical support, etc. GOVERNMENTSER~CESGROU~/NC B-1 Date: 071204 The following Document was provided to the City Clerk on 07/12/04 by Skip Burnside during Regular "500" Ciity of Winter Spr'inlg:s .~ ~.~ Bunding Codes Program Operationali & P. ~erfQ!r'm!anlce ReJv/iJe,w PriQ~i.ie,ct -" ~ ~ ~ ._"'.~ ~ .!J ~ .~ _" _!!J ~ ~ ~ _ ~ .~<, ~ .., JI .._ .~ ~ I .."., ..~ ., .. ~ Pres,enlt'atiQini jJ _~..~ ~ _ u ~ ._.. .=', ~. .1 July 12, 2004 ~(Q)~~lT'lTilm(s)lTil~ SceNO~~~ GIT'(Q)lUJ~~ ~U'i)~o 1500 Mahan Drive, Suite 250 0 Tallahassee, FL 32308 Phone (850) 681-37170 Fax (850) 224-7206 0 E-mail: gsg@govserv.com GSG C"rl-,"4'r'UIl.."nt E:t~l'\~i('~~ f;I'()UIl.. 1Ih~. Reso~utionJ 2003~42~ October 13~ 2003 The City of Winter Springs Commission adopted a resolution providing for the evaluation of the City's Building Permitting Services. The resolution authorized the City Manager and representatives of the building industry to jointly perform an evaluation of the City's Building Regulatory Services to determine what recommendations, if any, could be made to improve the efficiency and level of customer service offered by the City's Building Regulation Department without compromising, in any way, the integrity, level of code compliance, or level of public safety currently provided by these departments. Government Services Group, Inc. Prlo~iect le8Id1ers,h,i1pi G1f'O,U!P' IJ -.J ~,~ ~ , !!'!!!'!!'!I ~ ~~ .~~ ~ ~ _~ I] ~ ~ III ~ J ~ ~~ ,~ ~ . - = I] The Project Leadership Group consisted of the following persons: Mr. Tom. Lagomarsino - Homebuilders Association of Metro Orlando Mr. Mark Wylie - Central Florida Contractors Association Mr. Don Gilmore - Representative of the City of Winter Springs Mr. Ron McLemore - City Manager Project Advisors/Consultants consisted of the following: Mr. Bob McCormick - Building Officials Association of Florida, Building Code Administration Consultant Mr. Skip Burnside - Government Services Group An organizational meeting was held October 16, 2003 and field work began the same afternoon Government Services Group, Inc. Op,eratio,nal Profile Rep.ort The Leadership Group spent the remainder of October, N.ovemb:er and Decemb.er documenting the existing operation.s of the. City's BuJld.ing Codes Administration Program This culminated in the preparation of a Building Codes Adm.inistration Operating Profile Report, which was presented to the City Commission at the January 12, 2004 Commission Meeting This report provided the n.ecessary background for the Leadership Group to identify the issues to be addressed in the analysis/recommendations phase of the OpeJations review Government Services Group, Inc. Issue Areas The Leadership Group identified the following issue areas: D Automation o Inspection Requests o Plan Review Process o Assignment of Responsibilities o Access to Building Administration Staff Regarding Interpretations D Payment of Plan Revision Fees o Final Inspection Request Process o Plan Dumping Government Services Group, Inc. Potential Remedies The Leadership Group identified the following potential actions for the City to consider to address the issues identified: Automation D Acquisition of Kiva technical services to increase the functionality and effectiveness of the existing KIVA system o Acquisition of Accela Wireless for use by Inspectors in the field D Implementation of the use of existing KIVA System's "correction codes" o Enabling the feature of existing KIVA System's automatic notification feature o Acquisition of KIVA NET to provide Internet access to data in the KIVA System & allow automated requests for inspections Government Services Group, Inc. Potential Remedies (continued) o Discontinue the use of other software applications for the maintenance of building permit data Inspection Request Process o Discontinue current voice mail inspection request system & assign Customer Service the responsibility for live intake of requests during normal City business hours and via automated KIVA NET after hours Plan Review Process o Establish standards regarding the timeliness of review for both residential and commercial building plans o Dedicate additional staff to plan review as necessary to achieve plan review standards Government Services Group, Inc. Potential Remedies (continued) o Provide additional human resources support to the current planning review of commercial and multi-family building plans Assignment of Responsibilities o Define roles within the department with Customer Service Division responsible for permit application & plan review intake, facilitation, support services (including file maintenance) and the provision of administrative services to Building Codes, Planning & Environmental/Arbor disciplines as well as serving as the single point of contact for requesting final inspections o Delineate the role of City Code Enforcement staff and Building Division staff regarding building-related complaints o Develop a web accessible and hardcopy brochure for residents regarding City building requirements Government Services Group, Inc. Potential Remedies (continued) Applicant Interaction with Department o Implement a routine allowing for applicants to discuss building code interpretations with City Building Officials Payment of Revision Fees o Allow permit applicants to place an amount on deposit with the City to be used to pay for plan revision fees as plan revision occur Plan Dumping o Establish a policy that would preclude the practice (if necessary) Government Services Group, Inc. Potential Remedies (continued) Department Management & Administration o Assign a high priority to the recruitment of a Department Director o Establish a viable cross training program within Department o Implement web accessible integrated development services monthly report Government Services Group, Inc. Costs/Benefits The Report identifies the additional short term costs of implementing the recommendations, while the benefit of more efficient and cost effective operations are expected to occur in the longer term The costs should be viewed as an investment that will result in future savings Government Services Group, Inc. Implementation The report includes an implementation schedule that affixes lead responsibility for implementation of each of the recommendations and provides projected timeframes Government Services Group, Inc.