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Portland City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved an ordinance to hire 18 Bureau of Development Services employees – a move that will help the agency keep pace with increasing construction work.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz introduced the ordinance as a supplemental budget request for the fee-supported BDS, allowing it to hire a mix of permitting, land use and inspection service employees immediately. Hiring and training the employees could take three to six months.

“This is a cause for celebration,” Fritz said. “This is evidence that the construction trades are picking up and have revenues that will support hiring more staff.”

The staff increase will allow the BDS to restore full hours of operation for its Development Services Center by the end of April. Presently, the center is closed Mondays and Friday afternoons.

The cost to the city will be $800,000 through June 30 (the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year) and $2.4 million annually, according to the BDS.

Year to date, the city is tracking 15 percent ahead of total building permits issued through the same date last year, according to the BDS. Many large projects have bolstered the revenues of the fee-supported program, including Hassalo on Eighth, Park Avenue West and several in the South Waterfront District.

Hassalo on Eighth had a building permit value of about $2 million and Park Avenue West had a permit value of $1.1 million, according to the BDS. Those are building permit fees and do not include system development charges or other agencies’ fees.

There is a real need to add positions sooner rather than later, said Paul Scarlett, director of the BDS.

“In some ways, the focus is not on making services worsen,” he said. “We could add more. We’re being cautious.”

With the new hires, the agency will have 260 employees – far fewer than the 357 during the peak of the boom years, but more than the 147 at the bust.

“We had the same challenge in 2005 when we couldn’t hire fast enough,” Scarlett said. “Four years later, we had to lay off. Now we’re in the cycle again. We have to hire staff in order to keep up with the pace of construction.”

Faster turnaround times are critical for the construction industry, said Jeff Fish, owner of Fish Construction NW Inc. He also is chairman of the Portland Development Review Advisory Committee, a group of citizens who represent different aspects of the industry.

“The biggest need in my estimation is trying to replace inspectors,” Fish said. “Roughly 50 percent to 75 percent of our inspections are getting rolled over to the next day.”

The BDS estimated that 88 percent of its residential customers had a permit within 24 hours after application – short of its goal for 95 percent. Approximately 90 percent of commercial contractors had a permit within 24 hours – short of a goal for 96 percent.

Contractors presently face longer wait times at the counter because of limited full-time operations, Fish said.

“It has impacted us,” he said. “It kind of forces you into a four-day week. We’re looking forward to getting back to full time.”