HomeMy WebLinkAboutC23790 Contingency Contract for Emergency Building Restoration ServicesContract No. C23790
CITY OF PALM DESERT
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
STAFF REPORT
REQUEST: Approve the Development and Execution of a Contingency
Contract for Emergency Building Restoration Services
SUBMITTED BY: Gary Rosenblum, Risk Manager
DATE: May 12, 2005
Recommendation:
By Minute Motion: Direct the Risk Manager to develop a contingency
contract with Belfor USA for emergency building restoration services.
Executive Summary:
The City has and will continue to have the potential need to perform significant property
restoration and recovery operations after a major disaster including but not be limited to
safely reopening City Hall, fire stations, and other critical City buildings. In addition, our
Palm Desert Fire Service occasionally requires the need for post -fire heavy equipment
operations to investigate and deconstruct major fire scenes. The City currently has no
established contractor to provide any of these services. Because time is of the essence
in a post -earthquake or post -fire recovery situation, we would have to use City
employees to provide restoration and recovery actions after an earthquake until a
suitable contractor could be hired, which may be difficult after major earthquake.
For example, after a recent private property fire event, City employees were assigned
the task of assisting the Fire Marshal by using heavy equipment to take apart a burned
structure as part of the fire investigation. A suitably trained and experienced fire scene
contractor rather than City employees could have performed this activity.
The City is self -insured in terms of earthquake damage to City property so there is no
insurance claim adjustment process, and the City contracts directly for restoration,
recovery and rebuilding. The recommendation is to engage Belfor USA with a
contingency contract under their "Red Alert —Silver" service program to provide the City
with 24/7 on -call recovery services and greatly improve our ability to recover and
operate after a disaster. The Red Alert "Silver" contingency contract will create a 24/7
one -call recovery service at no upfront cost to the City. Therefore, there is no need for
budget allocation upon contract approval. The contingency contract will only require
that the City will incur the standard cost of all services requested at the time they are
performed.
Contract No. C23790
Earthquake Recovery Contingency Contract — Belfor USA
Page 2 of 5
May 12, 2005
Discussion:
In the event of a major earthquake in the Coachella Valley, Palm Desert City Hall, the
Sheriff Station, Fire Stations, and other critical City facilities could be subject to
substantial interior and exterior damage. Sprinkler systems could break causing
flooding, and ceiling tiles, light fixtures, windows, files, etc could break, fall and create
an unsafe and potentially toxic working environment not just in the Emergency
Operations Center, but throughout critical City buildings.
After such an event, the safety and well being of City residents will depend to some
extent on how quickly the City can restore safe operations in its critical facilities.
Residents will look to the City for support and would be encouraged by a rapid and
effective restoration of municipal operation. Alternatively, they might be discouraged by
a slow and ineffective restoration of municipal facilities.
After a major earthquake, finding and contracting a local clean up and restoration
contractor would be problematic. Local contractors would be equally affected by an
earthquake, and it is likely they would not be able to provide equipment and personnel
in a timely manner. In a post -emergency rush, issues of concern are timely contracting
at a reasonable cost with strong contract provisions for worker safety, indemnification,
insurance, and warranty of quality service. We would also be devoting scarce City
employee resources to doing this contracting job in an immediate post -disaster setting
where those resources could be utilized for more important work. Finally, in a post -
disaster rush, there will be substantial competition for these services from other
government entities and major private enterprises.
Many corporations and government entities create pre -disaster contingency contracts
with leading vendors of emergency restoration services so that they can have good
contracts in place and access these services in a timely and efficient manner. The City
has experience with these types of contingency contracts. For example, the City has
executed an emergency contingency contract with Willdan so that, the City can rapidly
provide extensive post -disaster Building and Safety services to the residents to speed
recovery.
In an effort to organize a similar post -disaster building restoration and recovery process,
I reviewed the qualifications and received input from three regional restoration
companies. Because the work is contingent and there is no way to know the size and
scope of the disaster and actual response needs, so there was no request for bids.
Instead, the contractor's response capabilities, size, experience, and other qualifications
were assessed.
Key qualifications included overall experience with regional disasters, experience with
government entities, and experience with both earthquake and fire disasters. Also of
key importance is the ability to respond 24/7/365 to a call and begin response. The
overall size assessment included not only their local resources, but also their potential
for bringing in substantial mutual aid from within their company from other locations
around the country and their experience coordinating these difficult logistics.
GdDevServiceslGary RosenhiurnMord Res\Staff ReportsSelforStaffRpl.doc
Contract No. C23790
Earthquake Recovery Contingency Contract — Belfor USA
Page 3 of 5
May 12, 2005
Another very important factor is whether the company would commit to a "priority"
agreement that would ensure that the City would have a greater pull for company
resources in a regional disaster. This is in contrast to a standard contingency
agreement where all entities contracted with the contractor, before and after the
emergency share equally in resources. By engaging in a "priority" contingency contract,
the City would stand a better chance of getting more resources faster from the
company.
The companies reviewed were Belfor USA of Placentia, Har-Bro Emergency Services of
Long Beach, and American Restoration Technologies of Orange. Belfor USA was
determined to possess the most potential resources, substantial experience with all
sizes of fire and earthquake disasters including regional earthquakes, experience
working with governments, and experience with drawing on their multiple mutual aid
sources. They can also commit to a priority agreement.
Belfor USA is the country's largest and most experienced disaster recovery and
restoration contractor. Belfor USA came to our attention as a potential contractor for
this process because they had been selected by the City's insurance adjuster to
perform fire restoration work at a Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency property in 2003.
They maintain an extensive group of personnel and large quantity of equipment at their
regional center in Placentia, California. They maintain 53 offices in North America, and
100 offices and 3,000 employees worldwide, which enables them to pull additional
mutual aid from their other operations in a rapid fashion.
Of key importance is that Belfor USA provides a "Red Alert" priority service program.
There is a "Gold" level and a "Silver" level of Red Alert service. Both levels of service
pre -authorize Belfor USA to mobilize with a single phone call 24/7/365. The "Gold" level
requires an annual retainer ($10,000), and ensures that the Red Alert client has an
exclusive priority for fullest possible mobilization, ahead of all other clients in the area.
The "Silver" level of service does not require a retainer, and in terms of exclusivity and
priority, only Gold service level clients would receive higher priority in the event of a
major regional earthquake. There are currently no Gold level clients in the Coachella
Valley, while there are several in the Los Angeles and Orange County area. At either
level, with a single phone call, the Red Alert client is contracted to receive as full a
complement of personnel and equipment resources that can be assembled,
independent of, and at a higher priority than all other requests for services in the area.
In the event of a regional disaster there could be limitations on available resources
based on Belfor USA's assessment of other Gold and Silver client needs.
Red Alert Program Summary:
Silver Plan
1. High Priority (but not exclusive) response in a regional catastrophic event.
2. 24-7-365 hotline.
3. Receive experienced disaster recovery and business continuity services.
4. Potential mutual aid support from more than 53 North American locations.
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Contract No. C23790
Earthquake Recovery Contingency Contract — Belfor USA
Page 4 of 5
May 12, 2005
5. Ensure that all City facilities receive consistent professional response.
6. Cost Schedule established before emergency.
Gold Plan ($10,000 per year retainer) Adds:
7. Provide pre -disaster consultation services to help establish response priorities
and restoration of critical business systems.
8. Establish a pre -arranged response plan based on the consultation that blends
with the City Standard Emergency Management System plan.
9. Provide the City with recommendations for practical solutions to potential
response and recovery problems before the disaster.
Both versions of the Belfor USA Red Alert Program will provide the following disaster
response services as requested by the City at the time of the emergency:
1. Make the premises safe and secure.
2. Mitigate and prevent further damage.
3. Immediately recover salvageable assets of value.
4. Restore facilities to working order including (as requested):
a. Emergency response
b. Reconstruction
c. Structural dehumidification
d. Contents restoration
e. Mold remediation
f. Electronics restoration
g. Magnetic media and data recovery
h. Book and document recovery
i. Water extraction
j. Emergency power
k. Vital records recovery
Belfor USA is also a suitable contractor to assist the Palm Desert Fire Department in the
event additional heavy equipment resources are needed at a fire scene. These
resources include trained personnel and equipment to enter fresh fire sites and perform
heavy equipment deconstruction activities such as those needed by the Fire Marshall.
The resources would be contracted to arrive in about 2 hours after contact with Belfor is
made. These resources could replace the need to use City employees operating rented
equipment to move destroyed building sections inside a freshly extinguished fire scene
as recently happened at the Bananaz fire scene in November. It is safer and more
appropriate that the Fire Department work with a suitably trained and experienced fire
services contractor than with City employees. The Fire Department has reviewed the
services provided by Belfor USA and made the determination that they would utilize
them if provided under City contract.
The City is self -insured in terms of earthquake damage to City property. Therefore,
there is no insurance claim adjustment process, and the City, not our insurer, would be
GADevSerwces�Gary RosenblumMord Res\Staff ReportsZel(orStaffRpt.doc
Contract No. C23790
Earthquake Recovery Contingency Contract — Belfor USA
Page 5 of 5
May 12, 2005
contracting directly for restoration, recovery and rebuilding. Engaging Belfor USA in the
Red -alert Contingency Service program to assure high priority for recovery services can
be considered a form of earthquake insurance to greatly improve our ability to operate
after a disaster.
RECOMMENDATION
Engage in a contingency contract with Belfor USA so that Palm Desert becomes a Red
Alert "Silver" Client at no upfront cost to the City. Therefore, there is no budget request
for the contingency contract approval. The contingency contract will only require that
the City will incur the costs of all services requested at the time they are performed,
according to an established rate schedule.
Submitted by:
Gary Rosenblum
Risk Manager
Approval:
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Carlos L. Orteto
City Manager
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