Building & Safety Department Fee Study
| Location: | North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Posted: | Nov 3, 2025 |
| Due: | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Agency: | City of Durham |
| Type of Government: | State & Local |
| Category: |
|
| Solicitation No: | 26-0087 |
| Publication URL: | To access bid details, please log in. |
| Bid Number: |
26-0087
|
| Bid Title: |
Building & Safety Department Fee Study
|
| Category: | Requests for Proposals/Qualifications and Services |
| Status: | Open |
|
Attachment Preview
Request for Proposal (RFP) for City of Durham
Building & Safety Department Fee Study
10. Date of RFP: 11/3/2025
20. Project Manager and Contact with City; Questions about this RFP. Direct questions and concerns to
Attn: Alysia Bailey Taylor – Assistant Director
Durham City – County Building & Safety Department
101 City Hall Plaza, Ground Floor, Suite 400
Durham NC 27701-3329
Email: alysia.bailey-taylor@durhamnc.gov
If you have concerns about this RFP that you believe are not being addressed by the project manager, please contact
Thomas Hosey at thomas.hosey@durhamnc.gov.
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT AND NATURE OF RFP
30. Project.
The City of Durham is seeking proposals from qualified consultants for professional services to prepare a Building
Permit and Inspections Fee Study (Fee Study). The Fee Study is limited to updating the building plan review, inspection,
and other building related regulatory fees currently adopted by the city. Under the direction of the Building & Safety
Department Assistant Director, the consulting firm will work independently to prepare the Fee Study with City staff
providing any necessary available information to complete the study. The City’s building regulatory fees were updated
approximately 20 years ago and no information from previous studies are available for use by the consultant. The plan
review and inspection fees are outdated and in recent years are making it difficult for the department to reconcile
expenses without the use of reserve funds.
The City currently uses either project construction cost or International Code Council (ICC) valuations for computing
plan review costs, and permit costs are calculated using trade based itemized fees. There are also a variety of flat rate
fees. Attachment 1 contains the current departmental fees as adopted in 2022.
The Building & Safety Department oversees all building functions including building and trade plan review and
inspection services. Department staff also perform the typical tasks of intake, document management, fee
calculations, and permit issuance.
The City is seeking a revised fee schedule that accomplishes the following goals:
1. Simple to understand and calculate fees that are proportional to the cost of the services;
2. Permit fees based on the International Code Council (ICC) valuations;
3. Elimination of counting electrical, mechanical, and plumbing fixtures to calculate fees;
4. Fees that are comparable with peer cities within North Carolina; and
5. Integration of an automatic fee adjustment using fee indexing.
40. Scope of Work.
The City is soliciting a person or firm to modify the existing “Building Permit Fee Schedule” administered by the
Building & Safety Department.
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40.01 Planning
The contractor will meet with the City Project Team for planning sessions to finalize the details of the Fee Study
methodology. In these meetings, the contractor will collaborate with the City Project Team to understand the study's
goals and develop a methodology that ensures the Fee Study objectives are achieved.
Project Requirements
Specific Tasks and Deliverables:
1) Meet with City staff to conduct interviews as needed to gain an understanding of the City’s regulations and
applicable processes.
2) Perform a review of the City's current fees and assess potential alternatives for the fee structure and
methodology.
3) Provide regular updates and progress reports to City staff.
4) Prepare a draft study of building fees that outlines the costs for plan reviews, inspections, and miscellaneous
building services, and provide recommendations for fees related to each service. The fee structure should
incorporate fee indexing at regular intervals. Fee calculations shall comply with all applicable laws and
regulations, while ensuring cost recovery for the department.
5) Evaluate proposed fees against the fees of comparable cities within North Carolina and create a comparison table
using sample projects.
6) Prepare a presentation of the proposed fee materials and comparative information for public engagement and
lead a public information meeting to inform the public and gather feedback. (There may be one to three meetings
held.)
7) Assist the City in preparing the City Council staff report, presentation, and amended fee schedule.
8) Prepare and deliver a PowerPoint presentation to the City Council outlining the recommendations from the Fee
Study. This presentation should include an explanation of the methodology used and a comprehensive
understanding of the Fee Study itself. If the Council requests any adjustments, the consultant will be expected to
return to a future Council meeting to present the revisions.
9) Provide the City with an electronic copy of the final version of the Fee Study, including related schedules and cost
documentation in a format that can be modified by City staff to accommodate changes.
10) Must be available to testify as an expert to defend and otherwise assist the City in any litigation that may occur
because of the adopted fees based on the fee study.
50. Compensation Amount and Schedule. Reserved.
60. Definitions in this RFP: City, RFP, Proposal, Candidate, Contractor, Should. Unless the context indicates otherwise –
(a) The expressions “RFP,” “this RFP,” and “the RFP” refer to this document as it may be amended or updated. (b) “City”
and “city” mean the City of Durham. (c) The “proposal” or "Bid" is the response of a person, firm, or corporation proposing
to provide the services sought by this RFP. (d) The word “Candidate” or “candidate” is the person, firm, or corporation that
submits a proposal or that is considering submitting a proposal. (e) The word “Contractor” or “contractor” is the person,
firm, or corporation with which the City enters into a contract to provide the services sought by this RFP. That is,
“contractor” generally refers to a successful candidate that has obtained a fully executed contract with the City, while
“candidate” is generally reserved to the stage before a contract has been signed. (f) The word “should” is used to tell
candidates what the City thinks it wants and/or what the project manager thinks is best. Candidates that want to increase
the likelihood of being selected will, in general, do what the RFP says candidates “should” do, but failure to comply with all
“shoulds” will not necessarily and automatically result in rejection.
70. Contract. The City anticipates that at the conclusion of the RFP process there will be a contract between the City and
the successful candidate under which the successful candidate will provide the goods and services generally described in
this RFP. It is the City’s intention to use the contract that is attached as Exhibit A, modified and filled in to reflect the RFP
and the proposal. If a candidate objects to any of the contract provisions, it should state the objections in its proposal.
Failure to provide objections creates an assumption that the candidate accepts all standard City contract terms and
conditions.
80. Trade Secrets and Confidentiality. As a general rule, all submissions to the City are available to any member of the
public. However, if materials qualify as provided in this section, the City will take reasonable steps to keep trade secrets
confidential.
Definitions.
In this section (Trade Secrets and Confidentiality) –
The term “candidate” includes the candidate as contractor (that is, after it is a party to a contract with the City).
The term “trade secret” means business or technical information, including but not limited to a formula, pattern,
program, device, compilation of information, method, technique, or process that:
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a. Derives independent actual or potential commercial value from not being generally known or readily
ascertainable through independent development or reverse engineering by persons who can obtain economic
value from its disclosure or use; and
b. Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
The existence of a trade secret shall not be negated merely because the information comprising the trade
secret has also been developed, used, or owned independently by more than one person, or licensed to other
persons.
The term “record” means all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic
or other tapes, electronic data-processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form
or characteristics, received by the City of Durham in connection with the candidate’s proposal.
(a) Designation of Confidential Records. To the extent that the candidate wishes to maintain the confidentiality
of trade secrets contained in materials provided to the City, the candidate shall prominently designate the
material with the words “trade secrets” at the time of its initial disclosure to the City. The candidate shall not
designate any material provided to the City as trade secrets unless the candidate has a reasonable and good-faith
belief that the material contains a trade secret. When requested by the City, the candidate shall promptly
disclose to the City the candidate’s reasoning for designating material as trade secrets; the candidate may need to
label parts of that reasoning as trade secrets. In providing materials to the City, the candidate shall make
reasonable efforts to separate those designated as trade secrets from those not so designated, both to facilitate
the City’s use of the materials and to minimize the opportunity for accidental disclosure. For instance, if only a
sentence or paragraph on a page is a trade secret, the page must be marked clearly to communicate that
distinction. To avoid mistake or confusion, it is generally best to have only trade secret information on a page and
nothing else on that page.
To the extent authorized by applicable state and federal law, the City shall maintain the confidentiality of records
designated “trade secrets” in accordance with this section. Whenever the candidate ceases to have a good-faith
belief that a particular record contains a trade secret, it shall promptly notify the City.
(b) Request by Public for Access to Record. When any person requests the City to provide access to a record
designated as a trade secret in accordance with subsection (a) above, the City may
(1) decline the request for access,
(2) notify the candidate of the request and that the City has provided, or intends to provide, the person
access to the record because applicable law requires that the access be granted, or
(3) notify the candidate of the request and that the City intends to decline the request.
Before declining the request, the City may require the candidate to give further assurances so that the City can be
certain that the candidate will comply with subsection (c) below.
(c) Defense of City. If the City declines the request for access to a record designated as trade secrets in
accordance with subsection (a), then, in consideration of the promises in (b) above and for considering the
candidate’s proposal, the candidate agrees that it shall defend, indemnify, and save harmless Indemnitees from
and against all Charges that arise in any manner from, in connection with, or out of the City’s non-disclosure of
the records. In providing that defense, the candidate shall at its sole expense defend Indemnitees with legal
counsel. The legal counsel shall be limited to attorneys reasonably acceptable to the City Attorney.
Definitions. As used in this subsection (c), “Charges" means claims, judgments, costs, damages, losses, demands,
liabilities, fines, penalties, settlements, expenses, attorneys’ fees, and interest. Indemnitees" means the City, and
officers, officials, independent contractors, agents, and employees, of the City. “Indemnitees” does not include
the candidate. The City may require the candidate to provide proof of the candidate’s ability to pay the amounts
that may reasonably be expected to become monetary obligations of the candidate pursuant to this section. If
the candidate fails to provide that proof in a timely manner, the City shall not be required to keep confidential the
records whose non-disclosure gives rise to the potential monetary obligation. Nothing in this agreement shall
require the City to require any person (including the City itself) to be placed in substantial risk of imprisonment, of
being found by a court to be in contempt, or of being in violation of a court order. This subsection (c) is separate
from and is to be construed separately from any other indemnification and warranty provisions in the contract
between the City and the candidate.
90. Reserved.
100. Insurance.
The contractor agrees to maintain, on a primary basis and at its sole expense, at all times during the life of this Contract the
following applicable coverages and limits. The requirements contained herein, as well as the City’s review or acceptance of
insurance maintained by Contractor, is not intended to and shall not in any manner limit or qualify the liabilities or
obligations assumed by Contractor under this Contract.
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Commercial General Liability – Combined single limit of no less than $1,000,000 each occurrence and $2,000,000
aggregate. Coverage shall not contain any endorsement(s) excluding nor limiting Product/Completed Operations,
Contractual Liability, Cross Liability, or Personal and Advertising Injury Liability.
Automobile Liability – Limits of no less than $1,000,000 Combined Single Limit. Coverage shall include liability for Owned,
Non-Owned and Hired automobiles. In the event Contractor does not own automobiles, Contractor agrees to maintain
coverage for Hired and Non-Owned Auto Liability, which may be satisfied by way of endorsement to the Commercial
General Liability policy or separate Auto Liability policy. Automobile coverage is only necessary if vehicles are used in the
provision of services under this Contract and/or are brought on a City of Durham site.
Umbrella or Excess Liability – Contractor may satisfy the minimum liability limits required above under an Umbrella or
Excess Liability policy. There is no minimum Per Occurrence limit of liability under the Umbrella or Excess Liability, however,
the Annual Aggregate limits shall not be less than the highest ‘Each Occurrence’ limit for required policies. Contractor
agrees to endorse the City of Durham as an ‘Additional Insured’ on the Umbrella or Excess Liability unless the Certificate of
Insurance states the Umbrella or Excess Liability provides coverage on a ‘Follow-Form’ basis.
Worker’s Compensation & Employers Liability – Contractor agrees to maintain Worker’s Compensation Insurance in
accordance with North Carolina General Statute Chapter 97 and with Employer Liability limits of no less than $1,000,000 for
each accident, each employee, and policy limit. This policy must include a Waiver of Subrogation.
Additional Insured – The contractor agrees to endorse the City as an Additional Insured on the Commercial General
Liability. The Additional Insured shall read City of Durham as its interest may appear.
Certificate of Insurance – Contractor agrees to provide City of Durham a Certificate of Insurance evidencing that all
coverage, limits, and endorsements required herein are maintained and in full force and effect, and Certificates of
Insurance shall provide a minimum thirty (30) day endeavor to notify, when available, by Contractor’s insurer. If Contractor
receives a non-renewal or cancellation notice from an insurance carrier affording coverage required herein or receives
notice that coverage no longer complies with the insurance requirements herein, Contractor agrees to notify the City within
five (5) business days with a copy of the non-renewal or cancellation notice, or written specifics as to which coverage is no
longer in compliance. The Certificate Holder address should read:
City of Durham
Attn: Finance
101 City Hall Plaza
Durham, NC 27701
All primary insurance carriers must be authorized to do business in North Carolina. As used in this contract, “Business Day”
is defined as any day other than Saturdays, Sundays, and any legal holiday recognized by the City pursuant to City Code
Section 42-16, as amended.
110. Discretion of the City.
A. The City of Durham reserves the right to (i) reject any, any part of, or all proposals, or (ii) accept that proposal
which the City deems to be in its best interest, whether or not it is the lowest dollar proposal.
B. NOTWITHSTANDING anything to the contrary in this document or in any addendums to this document, unless the
contrary provision refers specifically to this provision, the City reserves the right (i) to negotiate changes of any nature
with any candidate with respect to any term, condition, or provision in this document and/or in any proposals,
whether or not something is stated to be mandatory and whether or not it is said that a proposal will be rejected if
certain information or documentation is not submitted with it, and (ii) to enter into an agreement for some or all of
the work with one or more persons, firms, or corporations that do not submit proposals. For example, all deadlines
are for the administrative convenience or needs of the City and may be waived by the City in its discretion. This
subparagraph B applies to the entire RFP, including the UBE portions.
C. Where the City asks or tells candidates to do stated things, such as that a proposal should follow a stated format or
that the candidate should do stated things in seeking the contract, the City may reject a proposal because it does not
comply with those requests, so the candidate is adding to its risk of rejection by non-compliance. Still, the City may,
in its discretion, waive non-compliance. This subsection (C) does not limit subsections (A) and (B).
D. Of course, once a contract is signed, the parties to the contract may enforce the contract according to its terms as
allowed by applicable law.
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SCHEDULE
120. Schedule.
It is our goal to have the proposed fees from the fee study finalized by September 30, 2026. The City plans to have the new
fees adopted so that their effective date aligns with the launch of the city’s new permit tracking software.
MONTH
October 2025
November 3, 2025
November 17, 2025
December 3, 2025
December 10, 2025
January 5, 2026
January 7-8, 2026
January 14, 2026
January 2026
February 2026
March 2026
ACTION
Draft Request for Proposal (RFP)
Post RFP
Pre-Bid Meeting
Question & Answer Period
Proposal Responses Due
City Review of Proposals
Presentations
Negotiate and Award Contract
Complete Contract and Make Recommendation to City Council
Execute Final Contract with Selected Vendor
Vendor Starts Fee Study
This schedule is the City's best estimate of the schedule that will be followed. If a component of this schedule from the
beginning to proposal opening is delayed, the rest of the schedule will be shifted by the same number of days.
The City expects the services to be completed by September 30, 2026.
Last date for receipt of proposals: December 10, 2025
Proposal Evaluation Committee to complete its evaluation, TBD days after previous step
City Council authorizes the City Manager to sign the contract, TBD days after previous step
City Manager and successful candidate sign contract, TBD days after previous step
130. Reserved.
140. Deadline to Submit Proposals. Candidates should see that their proposals are received at the following address by
December 10, 2025, by 3:00 PM ET.
City of Durham
Attn: Building & Safety Department
101 City Hall Plaza, Ground Floor, Suite 400
Durham, NC 27701
GETTING MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROJECT AND RFP PROCESS
150. Questions. Questions about the RFP and the RFP process should be submitted to the project manager identified at
the beginning of this RFP.
160. Pre-submittal conferences, meetings, and site visits Attendance is strongly recommended, and the City may consider
attendance in deciding on the award of the contract.
The City will conduct a pre-submittal meeting at 10:00a, November 17, 2025, via Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
170. Updates and revisions to RFP. Candidates should read the instructions in the RFP on how to confirm that they have
read addendums. The confirmation is to be in the candidate’s cover letter.
If you have supplied the Project Manager with your preferred method of contact (email, fax, etc.), updates to this RFP
(“addendums” or “addenda”) will be sent to you in that manner. This RFP and addendums are normally posted on the
City’s website, on the Purchasing Division’s webpage. Check that webpage to see that you have received all addenda.
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This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.
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