NIGP 906: Architectural Services, Professional

NIGP Class 906 Architectural Services, Professional encompasses the full range of design, planning, and construction-phase consultation that state and local governments procure for capital facilities, infrastructure upgrades, and strategic expansions. Recent solicitations show the code actively supporting wastewater treatment facility electrical system upgrades, school building design and renovation, healthcare facility assessments, university campus improvements, fire station construction, detention center kitchen redesign, parking structure development, and flood-mitigation infrastructure planning. Work spans from preliminary programming and feasibility studies through schematic design, design development, construction documents, permitting support, construction administration, and post-occupancy commissioning across public water and wastewater systems, K-12 schools, higher education, corrections facilities, hospitals and health centers, municipal parks and recreation, and fire/emergency services. State departments, counties, cities, school districts, universities, and transit authorities all solicit under this code. Repeat buyers include Florida municipal utilities (Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department), Texas higher education (Texas State University, University of Texas at Tyler, Lamar Community College), Kentucky state agencies (Finance and Administration Cabinet handling multiple facility upgrades), and Florida cities (Orlando, Palm Bay, Cincinnati). Geographic activity concentrates in Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, and South Carolina, with active solicitation ongoing across the Midwest, Southeast, and Southwest.

Representative recent opportunities include Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department's RFP for progressive design-build of a $20 million Western Region Wastewater Treatment Facility Electrical Building (response date November 12, 2026, posted October 16, 2026), Texas State University's RFQ for architect/engineer services to design a 20,000-gross-square-foot two-story Student Health Center addition (response due November 5, 2026), Kentucky's Finance and Administration Cabinet RFP-909 for full architectural and engineering services on a $8 million Shauntee Hall Phase II renovation at Kentucky State University (proposals due October 28, 2026, posted October 13, 2026), the City of Meriden Connecticut's RFQ/RFP for comprehensive design services on a new Casimir Pulaski Elementary School (responses due October 22, 2026), El Paso County Hospital District's paired RFQs for facility condition assessment and ambulatory surgical center compliance evaluation (both due October 28, 2026), the City of Orlando's RQS for design services supporting flood mitigation through drainwell replacement funded by CDBG-DR Hurricane Ian recovery (responses due October 14, 2026), and Seminole County's RFP for building commissioning services on a Master Services Agreement covering multiple capital projects across the county (proposals due October 7, 2026, with a three-year initial term and optional renewals). Compensation structures vary widely—phase-based lump-sum negotiation with percentage breakouts for design development and construction administration is standard for single-project design RFPs, while on-call and continuing-services contracts typically use hourly labor rates multiplied by overhead percentages (commonly 8–10% for engineering and design, lower percentages for inspection or administrative services) plus reimbursable expenses. Progressive design-build and Construction Manager at Risk delivery methods are increasingly common for larger capital projects, particularly in wastewater, corrections, and higher-education sectors. Set-asides and preferences vary by issuing body and funding source—state-funded Kentucky projects employ reciprocal resident preferences; federal grant-funded work (such as Orlando's CDBG-DR effort and Seminole County's projects) may impose DBE or local hiring requirements; county-level procurement in Florida and Texas sometimes includes County Business Enterprise (CBE) or Small Business Enterprise (SBE) goals (commonly 20–25%) when not preempted by state or federal funding constraints. Design qualifications are mandatory—all jurisdictions require current professional licensure (architect, PE, or both) in the state where work is performed, and many require demonstrated experience on similar facility types completed within a defined recent period (typically five to ten years). Insurance minimums are consistently high—professional liability of $1–2 million per occurrence with $2–4 million aggregate is standard, with workers' compensation, general liability, and automobile liability requirements tiered by contract value. The code is highly active across all issuing-body types and geographic regions, with a continuous flow of qualification and design RFPs reflecting sustained public-sector capital investment in educational facilities, water/wastewater infrastructure resilience, healthcare and correctional facility upgrades, and community recreation amenities.