Q U A R T E R L Y
I S S U E
6 ,
A P R I L
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“We’re here to Advise,
Guide, and Assist so
you can Build Safe,
Well and Fast”.
Message from the General Manager
The table below provides a comparison YTD (7/1‐3/31) between last fiscal year (FY) and the current FY for leading construc on indicators. The data illustrates that construc ons ac vity remains robust. Raymond S. Chan, C.E., S.E. General Manager This Issue:
Message from the
General Manager
Construction Indicator
YTD 2013
YTD 2014
% Change
FY 14-15 Projection
3.589 Billion 5.174 Billion +44% 7 Billion Valua on Dwelling Units Permi ed 7,889 10,587 +34% 14,000 Units Permits Issued 98,781 103,031 +4% 144,000 Permits Plans Checked 35,343 36,405 +3% 48,700 Plans Inspec ons Made 520,728 551,288 +6% 738,000 Inspec ons Construc on Valua on Parallel Development Process (PDP) Parallel Development Process
Meet LADBS’ New
AGMs
Top 10 Projects
Service
Enhancements
Makes the City of L.A. a Great Place to Develop!
PDP saves Ɵme and money. A major de‐
velopment project must go through 4 phas‐
es: En tlement, Design, Permi ng, and Construc on. Tradi onally, each phase ran in series and required a long me to com‐
plete. Now, these phases can run in Paral‐
lel. Construc on can start within months a er conceptual plans have been submi ed to the City for review, shortening the en re process by up to 2 years! One‐on‐one assistance is provided through Development Services Case Management and Inspec on Case Management to en‐
sure projects are built Well, Safe, and Fast. Some PDP Projects
Conceptual
Plan Submittal
To Excavation
Wilshire Grand
$ 1.2 Billion
73-story Hotel/Office
10 months
801 S. Olive
$ 76 Million
33-story Residential
7 months
Oceanwide Plaza
$ 1 Billion
49-story Hotel
2 33-story Residential
5 months
Metropolis
$ 148 Million
18-story Hotel
38-story Residential
3 months
Columbia Square
$ 154 Million
20-story Residential
4 months
Alameda Square
$ 54 Million
10-story Parking
2 months
Meet LADBS’ 3 New Assistant General Managers (AGMs) Larry Gals an Gio Dacumos Lincoln Lee Inspec on Bureau Chief Technical Services Bureau Chief Code Enforcement Bureau Chief Larry has been with the City for 29 years, first 2 years with Public Works and with LADBS for most part of the past 27 years. He promoted many mes through the ranks from an Inspector to an Assistant Bureau Chief and then to Bu‐
reau Chief (AGM) in 10/2014. Larry has 17 years as an inspector and 12 years as a mid to high‐level manager. He oversees LADBS’ New Construc on Inspec on oper‐
a ons and is an innova ve problem solver. Gio has been with the City for 20 years, first 2 years with Public Works and the past 15 years with LADBS. He promoted several mes through the ranks from Systems Analyst to LADBS’ Director of Systems in 2008 then to Bureau Chief (AGM) in 10/2014. Gio oversees LADBS’ IT func ons, including more than 15 major systems and support opera ons for 950 employees and 1 million web hits annual‐
ly. He is LADBS’ PM for BuildLA. Lincoln has been with the City/LADBS for the past 27 years. He promoted many mes through the ranks from Structural Engineering Assistant II to an Assistant Bureau Chief in 2009 and then to Bureau Chief (AGM) in 2/2015. Lincoln was Chief of Case Management and was inspired to ini ate/form many customer service improvements, including LADBS’ Concierge program which has received many accolades from our customers. LA's Top 10 Construction Projects
Based on Construction Valuation Permitted Between 1/1/2015—3/31/2015
Project Address
Construction Valuation
928 S Broadway 5800 W Sunset Blvd 1230 S Olive St 787 S Alameda St 889 S Francisco St 3131 S Hoover St, Bldg#9 1200 S Grand Ave 899 S Francisco St 3033 W Wilshire Blvd 2215 E Alcazar St $121,756,447 $62,300,000 $61,317,000 $54,014,373 $51,586,338 $42,450,000 $39,168,222 $35,287,259 $35,109,300 $33,460,224 Project Description
New 9‐story, 413‐unit mixed use apartment building New 14‐story oﬃce tower New 5‐story, 362‐unit mixed use apartment building New 10‐ er open parking garage structure New 39‐story, 308‐unit mixed use apartment building New mixed use 192‐unit student housing building New 7‐story, 347‐unit mixed use apartment building New 18‐story hotel, including 350 guest rooms New 18‐story, 190‐unit mixed‐use apartment building New 5‐story, 178‐unit mixed use apartment building Service Enhancements Recently Implemented Service Enhancements—Upcoming  Virtual Department Opera ons Center (VDOC) VDOC was implemented in March 2015 u lizing cellular tele‐
phone, digital radio, and mobile compu ng technologies to enable our incident commanders at any loca on to 1) take requests for safety assessments, 2) deploy staﬀ, equipment and supplies, and 3) maintain communica on with the EOC.  Customer Service Feedback Program LADBS implemented a system in March 2015 that allows us to make 6,000+ random cold calls annually to customers to meas‐
ure their sa sfac on with our services and solicit input for im‐
provement and take ac ons to improve.  Performance of Recently Implemented Services  Solar Permits Online (Implemented July 2014) Total Solar ePermits Issued
Quarterly (Q) From 10/2014 - 3/2015
750
600
450
300
150
0
708
525
341
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
 Saturday Inspec ons (Implemented June 2014) Saturday Inspections Performed
Quarterly (Q) From 10/2014 - 3/2015
1000
800
600
400
200
0
915
806
628
 Building Code Simplifica on Project (May 2015) LA City had 7 staﬀ (LADBS had 4 members plus 3 from LAFD) at the Interna onal Code Commi ee (ICC) Code hearings in Mem‐
phis during the week of 4/20/15. We have been working with local, state and na onal jurisdic ons to unify votes and achieve a long‐term goal of more prac cal codes. These codes will help streamline the use, enforcement and construc on process in LA and across the country. LADBS plans to maintain its involve‐
ment in the code review and adop on process and hopes to mo vate other jurisdic ons throughout the State to re‐engage in this process.  Extended Counter Plan Check (ECPC) and Small Project Plan Check (SPPC) (May 2015) ECPC: LADBS will pilot a program to provide same‐day plan check service over the counter for plans that take an es ‐
mated 2 to 3 hours to check. These types of plans currently have to be submi ed for review and wait in line along with other plans, including large projects — the current turna‐
round is 20 working days. ECPC will almost eliminate the wait me for these jobs (same day versus 20+ working days)!  SPPC: Customers with ECPC type plans that do not want to have them checked over the counter, can submit the plans to be processed by SPPC. The SPPC plans will be reviewed within 5 working days and will not wait behind the larger jobs.  Building Records Online (June 2015) LADBS is pu ng more than 13 million indexed building records (permits, Cer ficates of Occupancy, Grading records, etc.) online at its website (LADBS.org). This new access to records is es mated to save me/money for the City and trips to LADBS for more than 25,000 walk‐in records customers annually. 106
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
 Inspec on Case Management (Implemented Nov. 2014) ICM is assis ng 54 major (>$10 million) projects that were submi ed from 11/2014 through 3/31/2015.  Concierge Program (Implemented Nov. 2014) The Concierge Program assisted 7,021 customers from 11/2014 through 3/31/2015. COMMITMENT TO OUR CUSTOMERS
Your project is important, so we strive to provide you with superb service and your
feedback is important to maintaining this level of service. If you want to recognize a
staff member, file a complaint, comment on the service you received, request additional
assistance, or a second opinion on any plan check or inspection issues regarding your
project, please provide feedback at LADBS’ website located at http://www.ladbs.org or
call (213) 482-6755. The LADBS and LAFD (Fire Dept) Customer Service Code of
Conduct is located at http://ladbs.org/LADBSWeb/customer-code-of-conduct.jsf.