HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8885INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
No. 8885
On March 2, 1999 (M &C G- 12492), the City Council authorized the creation of a third -party plan review
and inspection program for the City's building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical codes. This program
enables developers and builders to meet their construction schedules in view of the City's heavy workloads
and the difficulty of recruiting and retaining qualified staff. The third -party companies have been a
necessary and valuable partner in the delivery of City services during a period of rapid growth.
The third -party program currently requires interested firms to become certified by the City prior to
performing services. Alternatively, staff is proposing formal contracts to address the following concerns:
1. A potential conflict of interest exists since the third parry companies are hired and paid by the
developers and builders whose work they inspect. To mitigate this problem, the City now randomly
reviews ten percent of all plans reviewed and all inspections conducted. In addition, the City
performs a final inspection on all commercial projects. Staff recommends that the procedural steps
be mandated contractually so as to ensure that work remains adequately exposed to allow these
inspections and that the City's records are sufficiently updated to reflect the firm's activities.
Finally, no third -party firm would be permitted to generate more than 50 percent of its business
from a single client in order to avoid the perception that the firm is merely an agent for the client.
2. Citizens are periodically surprised to learn that their building may not have been inspected by City
staff This is particularly prevalent in residential projects since the property generally changes hands
after construction. Staff recommends that we establish appropriate sanctions for firms that fail to
enforce the codes correctly and consistently. In addition, staff will provide better support to the
third -party firms by providing mandatory training.
3. Staff is often unprepared to research or respond to questions about projects that are under third -
party agreements due to incomplete records in our permitting system. Staff has developed an
interface to upload these records from the third -party companies on a daily basis and will mandate
its use.
The City Council will be asked to consider authorizing these contracts in the near future as the first step in
improving this program to minimize any disruption to the development community. Staff will continue to
evaluate the appropriateness of the direct business relationships between developers and third -party
companies and will make additional recommendations in the future
Please feel free to contact Susan Alanis in the Planning and Development Department if you have any
questions about the third -party program.
Charles R. Boswell
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS