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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 14489i Ordinance No. ~ / 4/O AN ORDINANCE INCREASING THE ESTIMATED RECEIPTS AND APPROPRIATIONS IN THE GENERAL FUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $115,000 FROM AVAILABLE FUNDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE THIRD PARTY PLAN REVIEW AND INSPECTION SERVICES FOR BUILDING, ELECTRICAL, AND MECHANICAL CODES, MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF PRIOR ORDINANCES AND REPEALING ALL PRIOR ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS SECTION 1 That in addition to those amounts allocated to the various City departments for the Fiscal Year 2000-01 and in the Budget of the City Manager, there shall also be increased estimated receipts and appropriations in General Fund in the amount of $115,000 from available funds for the purpose of funding the implementation of the third party plan review and inspection services for building, electrical, and mechanical codes. SECTION 2. That should any portion, section or part of a section of this ordinance be declared invalid, inoperative or void for any reason by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision, opinion or judgment shall in no way unpair the remaining portions, sections, or parts of sections of this ordinance, which said remaining provisions shall be and remain in full force and effect. SECTION 3 That this ordinance shall be cumulative of Ordinance No. 14286 and all other ordinances and appropriations amending the same except in those instances where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with such other ordinances and appropriations, m which instance said conflicting provisions of said prior ordinances and appropriations are hereby expressly repealed. SECTION 4 This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force after the date of its passage, and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORMS AND LEGALITY Assistant 'ty Atto ey / 2 Or Da /-/6-0/ Adopted / - ~7' ~/ Effective a~ City of Fort Worth, Texas ~11~A~ar And Caunc~l C;a1111r1un1cAtlan DATE REFERENCE NUMBER LOG NAME PAGE 1/16/01 **G-13127 06PROGRAM 1 of 3 SUBJECT AGREEMENTS AND ORDINANCES ESTABLISHING THIRD PARTY PLUMBING INSPECTION PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council 1 Authorize the City Manager to enter into agreements with independent contractors for third party plumbing inspectors to perform plumbing inspections within the City of Fort Worth, and 2 Adopt the attached ordinances which establish 10% as the amount retained for new construction building permits to cover the maximum amount payable for third party plumbing inspection services, and 3 Adopt the attached ordinances which establish 90% as the amount retained for all plumbing work permits, other than new construction, to cover the maximum amount payable for third party plumbing inspection services, and 4 Adopt the attached appropriation ordinance increasing estimated receipts and appropriations in the General Fund by $115,000 DISCUSSION On March 2, 1999 (M&C G-12492), the City Council adopted ordinance amendments and directed staff to implement a program allowing third party plan review and inspection services for the Building, Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical Codes. This program was necessary to address heavy demands in building construction inspections, problems with recruiting and retaining qualified City staff, and to better meet the special expertise or expedited schedules for various projects At the time of implementation, the City was experiencing 30% of all inspection requests not being performed within 24 hours of the request, resulting in a decrease of productivity, construction delays and increased costs. The third party program allowed contractors and/or owners of projects to contract directly with plan review or inspection firms to provide services normally delivered by the Development Department. On May 25, 1999 (M&C G-12568), the City Council authorized a waiver of 90% of the calculated building, electrical, plumbing or mechanical fees for projects managed by a third party firm The collection of 10% by the City was determined as the amount necessary to cover staff costs in quality control and record generation or management. On August 16, 2000, the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (Board) inquired into Fort Worth's third party program to determine if the program was upholding the State Plumbing License Law and Board's rules In particular, the Board had questions regarding the employment relationship between the City and the third party plumbing inspector and the method of payment for those services Subsequent replies and communications with the Board resulted in the Board Administrator ruling that the Fort Worth third party plumbing inspection process was not meeting the requirements of the Plumbing License Law or the Board's rules The matter was forwarded to the Board's Enforcement Committee for consideration on September 28, 2000 City of Fort Worth, Texas ~1~A~ar and council ca~»nnunicAtian DATE REFERENCE NUMBER LOG NAME PAGE 1/16/01 **G-13127 06PROGRAM 2 of 3 SUBJECT AGREEMENTS AND ORDINANCES ESTABLISHING THIRD PARTY PLUMBING INSPECTION PROGRAM City staff attended the Enforcement Committee meeting in September 2000, and it was determined that a contractual agreement similar to those with other jurisdictions might address the Board's concerns of employment and compensation A draft agreement between the City and individual plumbing inspectors was submitted to the Board on November 8, 2000, and discussed at their November 13, 2000 meeting Following the hearing, the Board's attorney relayed to the City that minor changes to the agreement would make the contract acceptable to the Board A revised agreement was submitted to the Board on December 8, 2000 The proposed agreement makes each third party plumbing inspector an independent contractor of the City and restructures the method of payment for those inspection services The City will collect, at the time of permitting issuance, a percentage of the total building permit for the plumbing portion of a project. Upon completion of plumbing inspections by the third party inspector and invoicing of those services, the City will issue payment for the services rendered On December 22, 2000, the Board Administrator communicated that the Board's Enforcement Committee, Board staff and the Board's attorney had reviewed the Plumbing Inspection Agreement submitted on December 8, 2000 The Board's attorney advised the Board that under the revised agreement, the relationship between the Licensed Plumbing Inspectors and the City of Fort Worth, along with the method for compensating the Licensed Plumbing Inspectors, does not violate the Plumbing License Law or Board rules. In order to begin implementation of the restructured third party plumbing inspection program, it is necessary to authorize the City Manager to enter into agreements with each third party plumbing inspector as independent contractors A copy of the proposed Plumbing Inspection Agreement is attached Additionally, it is proposed to withhold 10% of all building permit fees for related plumbing inspection services for each new construction project. In the case of remodeling projects or jobs with only plumbing work, the City will collect the entire plumbing permit fee of which 90% will be returned as payment for inspection services These collections will equal the maximum amount payable to the third party plumbing inspector for services rendered It is estimated that for the remainder of the fiscal year, collection for the new construction projects would be $105,000, and collections for the plumbing permit only projects would be $10,000 Attached are the necessary ordinance amendments to facilitate this collection In order to manage the collections, invoicing and issuance of payments for the third party plumbing inspection program, it is estimated that one additional authorized position and associated office supplies and equipment will be needed The annual impact on the General Fund budget is estimated to be $43,000 The present implementation of this program will be handled as an overage and more clearly identified in the proposed FY2001-2002 General Fund budget once actual impact can be determined City of Fort Worth, Texas M,,Ayoe and Council CommunicArion DATE REFERENCE NUMBER LOG NAME PAGE 1/16/01 **G-13127 06PROGRAM 3 of 3 SUBJECT AGREEMENTS AND ORDINANCES ESTABLISHING THIRD PARTY PLUMBING INSPECTION PROGRAM Favorable consideration by the City Council for the third party plumbing inspection program and structure will authorize staff to implement the program on February 5, 2001 It should be noted that staff has been working with the Safety and Community Development Committee to change the structure and amounts of building permits Changes of fees and the percent waiver for third party inspection services will be recommended in the near future At that time, the attached ordinances will need to be amended appropriately FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Finance Director certifies that upon approval of the above recommendations, funds will be available, as appropriated, in the General Fund MG k Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY Office by: (to) APPROVED Mike Groomer 6].40 ~j~TY COUNCIL. Originating Department Head: JAN 16 2001 Bob Riley 8901 (from) l l ~~ j/.~jl """ Additional Information Contact: / Cite Secretary of tlh~ City of Fort North, Teua~ Bob Riley 8 O1 Haopteu uruliiailL~ iru. ~~ Adopted Qrdlnan~y N~. ~$~? Adapted ~rd~rlance No, /yy86 Adopted Ordlnance. No.~ Adopted Ordinance No.