Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of Facilities Development in consultation with the General Manager Community Services
SUBJECT: Development and Building Regulation Review Project - Award of Construction Contract
 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

POLICY

Contracts over $300,000 are to be approved by Council.

PURPOSE

This report recommends that the contract for Phases Two to Five of the renovation of the East Wing, associated with the DBRR project, be awarded to the low bidder Pax Construction Ltd., and that the Phase One portion of the work already underway, be incorporated into said contract with Pax Construction Ltd.

BACKGROUND

In April 1997, Council designated the Development and Building Regulation Review (DBRR) a top priority of the City's Better City Government Program and approved the implementation of a prototype, comprising renovation of the first floor, a training program, recruitment of a pilot team, and communication of the program to staff, the community and the public.

In 1998, $1.255 million was approved in the Supplementary Capital Budget to relocate Community Services to VanCity Building and to reorganize and renovate offices in the East Wing. Only a portion of this work has been completed leaving approximately $633,000 for the DBRR project.

In July 1998, Council authorized the full implementation of the new Development and Building Review Process at a total cost of $5.2 million including $750,000 for renovations and furnishings through a loan from the Capital Financing Fund, repayable through increase in user fees.

In 2000, $100,000 was approved in the Supplementary Capital Budget for carpet upgrading in the East Wing.

The 2000-2002 Capital Plan provided $160,000 to relocate the Inspectors from the Bullpen, bringing the total available capital budget for the DBRR project and East Wing upgrading to approximately $1.64 million.

In July 2000, Council approved an estimated $523,200 in salaries and benefits in the year 2001 budget for additional staffing positions associated with the Development Services Permit Processing.

DISCUSSION

Proposed Renovation of East Wing and Subground

Following the DBRR Review which was completed in mid-1999, a staff team comprised of work group representatives in consultation with Facilities Development developed a space concept plan for the East Wing based on the revised functional program. This achieved, to the greatest extent possible within the spatial shortcomings of the East Wing, the proximity requirements identified through a review of the DBRR principles and proposed process, as well as a survey of the affected work groups. Of paramount concern was convenience for the public and where possible, the co-location or adjacencies from inquiry through inspection. In addition, finally dealing with the "bullpen" space problems was considered a priority.

In summary, the space plan achieves the following:

… improved space for inspections staff and co-locates inspectors with their manager and supervisor

… space configuration that accommodates the Enquiry Centre functions, including construction of a Phone Centre

… co-locates Processing Centre staff, and locates them in proximity to other staff predominantly involved in application review

… consolidates staff in Community Services' Support Services, including moving several staff from VanCity Building on West 10th Avenue

… maintains Licensing and Property Use Inspections in recently renovated space

… locates those services having the highest volume of customer visits on floors most convenient to our customers

… minimizes the renovation expenditures in achieving the foregoing by utilizing existing interior partitions where possible and utilizing existing furniture

… commences a program to address ergonomic issues currently under discussion with Workers' Compensation Board

The reconfiguration plan, included as Appendix A (on file in City Clerk's Office) has been reviewed and approved by the Corporate Management Team. It identifies the following locations for customer service and the work groups:

First Floor - Inspection Services (building, electrical, plumbing)
Second Floor - Licensing and Property Use Inspection (south end); Enquiry Centre (north end)
Third Floor - Processing Centre, Rezoning Centre, Urban Design and Development Planning Centre, Heritage Group and Subdivision and Strata Group
Fourth Floor - General Manager, City Plans, Support Services (except Graphics), Chief Building Official and balance of BCRB, Health and Fire plan review staff, Information Services
Subground - Graphics, meeting rooms, staff lounge/lunchroom

Tenders

In order to facilitate construction in a timely way and ensure that regular services to the public could be provided during construction, implementation has been divided into five phases as set out on the drawings in Appendix "A".

By open tenders from suitably prequalified contractors tenders were sought and received on December 15, 2000 for Phase One and Phase Two to Five inclusive, as follows:

In order to accelerate construction of the Enquiry Centre and take advantage of the downtime of the Christmas break, the Phase One contract was awarded to the low bidder Pax Construction Ltd. up to a maximum of $300,000.

Staff affected by the Phase One work have been relocated to holding areas on the ground floor and former lunchroom on the fourth floor East Wing, during the weekend of December 16, 2000, and regular service has resumed with minimal downtime.

On the basis of price and compliance with the schedule set out by the City for each phase, it is recommended that the contract for Phase Two to Five inclusive be awarded to the low bidder Pax Construction Ltd. for a contract price of $561,424 (total $894,894 for all five phases), and that Phase One, already under construction, be rolled into a single contract with Pax Construction Ltd. This level of award is within the available budget.

Provision has been made in the tender for separate fixed prices for general upgrading and maintenance items such as carpeting, mechanical, electrical and general architectural, in areas not being renovated. These items are under review and will be treated as change orders within the available budget.

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