NIGP 92573: Ocean Engineering Services

NIGP 92573 Ocean Engineering Services, Item, encompasses coastal and marine engineering design, permitting, and construction support services that state and local governments procure for shoreline protection, beach restoration, harbor infrastructure, and related waterfront asset management. The County of Orange, California has emerged as the dominant buyer under this code in recent activity, with the Orange County Flood Control District co-procuring on six separate RFQs posted in July 2026 alone—all structured as three-year Qualified Vendor Lists for architect-engineer task order contracts covering flood control engineering, cost estimating, MEP design, roadway and bikeway services, geotechnical and materials testing, and green infrastructure. Beyond Orange County, Sarasota County, Florida has posted three separate coastal engineering RFPs for beach restoration projects (Casey Key, South Siesta Key, and Manasota Key) spanning early 2026, and the Town of Palm Beach has solicited design-build and owner's representative services for the Mid-Town Seawall Replacement project budgeted at $20 million. Smaller jurisdictions including the City of Cedartown, Georgia, the City of Union City, Georgia, and the Port of Port Orford, Oregon have also posted engineering services RFQs for water/wastewater infrastructure and marine facility work. Work solicited under this code ranges from complex permitting and regulatory navigation (state and federal agencies including USACE, FDEP, FAA, and FEMA) to detailed design deliverables, bathymetric surveys, construction administration, and post-project monitoring.

Recent activity concentrates in California, Florida, and Georgia. The County of Orange's consecutive task-order RFQs (posted July 2026, response dates July 21 through September 18) target architect-engineers holding California PE licenses and demonstrating three to ten years of comparable work in Southern California, with compensation structured as time-and-materials on hourly rates and no minimum work volume guaranteed. Sarasota County's three coastal engineering RFPs (January and February 2026 due dates, with anticipated construction start November 1, 2026) require Florida-licensed Professional Engineers and emphasize experience in bathymetric surveys, permit acquisition, and federally or state-funded restoration projects; projects range from 2.1 to 4.4 miles of shoreline restoration with significant FEMA and Florida Division of Emergency Management involvement. The Town of Palm Beach's Mid-Town Seawall Replacement (mandatory pre-proposal meeting and site visit March 31, 2026, proposals due April 30, 2026) mandates design-build teams pairing architecture-engineering firms with Florida-licensed general contractors holding marine contractor certification, with a $20 million Guaranteed Maximum Price baseline. A minority of recent solicitations—including the Port of Port Orford's seawater delivery system design-build (proposal deadline March 4, 2026) and the Georgia Department of Transportation's two RFQs for I-75 South Express Lanes and SR 25 Darien River work (April and March 2026 deadlines)—indicate sustained activity in Oregon and multi-state transportation-linked coastal and marine engineering sectors.