0_SOQ# 24-25-77 Main Document- Plan Check Review Services (W_S, Fire).pdf

SOQ#24-25-77 – Plan Check Review, Field Inspections, and Related Services

STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS (SOQ)

PLAN CHECK REVIEW, FIELD INSPECTIONS, AND RELATED

SERVICES

SOQ# 24-25-77

PROCUREMENT TIMELINE:

The City has developed the following list of key events. All key dates are subject to change at the City’s discretion.

Event Key Dates

SOQ Released March 31, 2025

Deadline for Questions April 9, 2025 by 2:00pm PST

Deadline for Objections One week from Release date

Proposals Due Date April 28, 2025 by 2:00 pm PST

PROCUREMENT CONTACT:

Mallory Andersen, Contracts Manager City of Santa Clara – Purchasing Division 1500 Warburton Avenue Santa Clara, CA 95050 Email: MAndersen@SantaClaraCA.Gov

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION

SECTION 2. OBJECTIVE

SECTION 3. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

SECTION 4. SCOPE OF SERVICES

SECTION 5. TERM OF THE AGREEMENT

SECTION 6. PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

SECTION 7. HOW TO OBTAIN THIS SOQ

SECTION 8. PROCEDURE FOR SUBMITTING QUESTIONS AND INQUIRIES

SECTION 9. OBJECTIONS

SECTION 10. DELIVERY OF PROPOSALS

SECTION 11. PROPOSAL CONTENT

SECTION 12. SELECTION PROCESS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA

SECTION 13. AWARD OF CONTRACT

SECTION 14. PUBLIC NATURE OF RESPONSE MATERIALS

SECTION 15. PROTESTS

SECTION 16. COLLUSION

SECTION 17. GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION

SECTION 18. NON-CONFORMING PROPOSAL

SECTION 19. CONFLICT OF INTEREST

SECTION 20. GRATUITIES

SECTION 21. PROPOSAL PREPARATION COSTS

SECTION 22. NON-DISCRIMINATION

SECTION 23. RIGHTS OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA

SECTION 24. TAXES

SECTION 25. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

SECTION 26. OTHER PUBLIC AGENCY PURCHASES

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

The table below provides a list of additional attachments that together form the entire Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) proposal package.

Attachment Title

A Scope of Services

A-1 Service Area Selection Form

B Procurement and Contract Process Integrity and Conflict of Interest Guidelines

C Insurance Requirements

The following must be completed and returned with the proposal:

D Proposer Certification Form

E Exemplar Agreement

SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The City of Santa Clara (“City”) is seeking qualified and experienced firms (hereinafter “Proposer”) to submit a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) to perform plan check review, field inspections, and related services on an as-needed basis to support the activities of City departments including but not limited to the Water & Sewer Utilities and Fire Departments.

SECTION 2. OBJECTIVE

2.1 The City seeks qualified consultants to assist with planning and inspection services in the service areas listed below:

2.1.1 Offsite Plan Review Services for Water, Recycled Water and Sewer

2.1.2 Onsite Plan Review Services for Water, Recycled Water and Sewer

2.1.3 Offsite Inspection Services for Water, Recycled Water and Sewer

2.1.4 Onsite Inspection Services for Water, Recycled Water and Sewer Pre-Treatment

2.1.5 Fire and Building Plan Review Services

2.1.6 Fire Inspection Services

2.2 Proposers may submit qualifications to be considered for one or more service areas.

2.3 The City intends to award multiple on-call master consultant agreements based upon the highest-ranked score(s) for each service area described in Attachment A-1 – Service Area Selection Form.

SECTION 3. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Proposers must have five years or more of experience performing the same or similar work in the service area for which Proposer has selected in Attachment A-1.

SECTION 4. SCOPE OF SERVICES

The proposed scope of services to be performed under the agreement is described more fully in Attachment A - Scope of Services.

SECTION 5. TERM OF THE AGREEMENT

The initial term of the agreement will be 5 years. The City reserves the right to exercise up to two

(2) additional one-year options, for a total of seven (7) years.

SECTION 6. PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

6.1 There is no pre-proposal conference for this SOQ.

SECTION 7. HOW TO OBTAIN THIS SOQ

7.1 This SOQ may be downloaded from the BidNet Direct e-Procurement system located at https://www.bidnetdirect.com/california/cityofsantaclara. Respondents can also find a link at the City of Santa Clara website at www.santaclaraca.gov. At either website, follow the links to register for this online service. You may register for free either online or by calling BidNet Vendor Support at 800-835-4603, Option 2, or via email at support@bidnet.com and telling the support representative that you are registering for City of Santa Clara solicitations.

7.2 All addenda and notices related to this procurement will be posted by the City on BidNet Direct. In the event that this SOQ is obtained through any means other than BidNet Direct, the City will not be responsible for the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the final SOQ document.

SECTION 8. PROCEDURE FOR SUBMITTING QUESTIONS

AND INQUIRIES

Questions pertaining to this SOQ should be submitted via BidNet Direct. Please submit all questions by the deadline indicated on the cover page. The City will provide a written response to all pertinent questions in the form of an Addendum. Questions answered on BidNet Direct shall be considered addenda to the SOQ.

SECTION 9. OBJECTIONS

Any objections as to the structure, content or distribution of this SOQ must be submitted in writing to the Procurement Contact by the deadline indicated on the cover page. Objections must be as specific as possible, and identify the SOQ section number and title, as well as a description and rationale for the objection.

SECTION 10. DELIVERY OF PROPOSALS

10.1 Your proposal must be received by the due date and time listed in BidNet Direct.

Proposers should familiarize themselves with BidNet Direct and allow adequate time to upload their proposals. Submittals that are initiated prior to the deadline but not completed https://www.bidnetdirect.com/california/cityofsantaclara http://www.santaclaraca.gov/ by the deadline will not be accepted. The City is not responsible for any late or incomplete submissions due to any technical issues that may be encountered in BidNet Direct.

10.2 Your technical proposal should be submitted in one file and your cost proposal should be submitted in a separate file.

10.3 The City will accept e-signatures on documents that require a signature.

10.4 The proposal must be in Times New Roman, Arial or similar, easily readable font. The size of the font cannot be any smaller than 11 and margins should be 1 inch or wider.

SECTION 11. PROPOSAL CONTENT

In order to expedite the evaluation process, each proposal shall be organized and indexed according to the chapters specified below. Proposals that do not follow the specified format outlined below, or fail to provide the required documentation, may receive lower scores, or if found to be non-responsive, be disqualified. In the event of any conflict between any of the proposal documents, resolution thereof shall be in the City’s sole discretion.

11.1 Table of Contents

Include a table of contents that identifies the page numbers for each of the various Chapters in the proposal. All pages must be consecutively numbered and correspond to the table of contents.

11.2 Chapter 1 – Letter of Transmittal

11.2.1 Include a transmittal letter identifying the Proposer’s firm, the proposal package being submitted, and the service area(s) from Attachment A-1 for which the firm is applying. The letter shall provide the name, title, address, telephone number, and fax number of the individual authorized to contractually bind the firm and be signed by the authorized individual. Also include the name of the contact person for this SOQ.

11.3 Chapter 2 – Company Profile

11.3.1 Provide a brief company profile that identifies the following:

11.3.1.1 years in business, names previously used, and other company affiliations;

11.3.1.2 description of any anticipated changes of ownership or control of the company;

11.3.1.3 mailing address of the Proposer’s principal place of business; mailing address and phone number of the office from which the services will be provided;

11.3.1.4 registration number with the California Secretary of State;

11.3.1.5 other general information that is deemed significant enough to be highlighted.

11.3.2 Address any pending or current litigation related to services provided by your firm, and any terminated contracts within the past five years with an explanation of the reasons for termination.

11.4 Chapter 3 – California Public Records Act

If you are requesting that section(s) of your submittal be kept confidential, refer to Section 14 for additional instructions on the information that must be included in your proposal.

11.5 Chapter 4 – Executive Summary

11.5.1 Include an executive summary that demonstrates your understanding of the City’s requirements and provides a general overview of how your firm will provide the services described in this SOQ.

11.6 Chapter 5 – Qualifications, Experience and References

11.6.1 Provide a detailed narrative demonstrating your expertise and experience to provide the services described in this SOQ.

11.6.2 Identify key individuals including their relevant experience, background, any certifications and licenses they hold, and any other pertinent information.

Additionally, discuss the role that each individual will play in providing the required services outlined in each service area. Key personnel will be an important factor considered by the evaluation committee. Changes in key personnel may be cause for rejection of the proposal.

11.6.3 If Proposer anticipates utilizing any subcontractor to perform work under the contract, provide the name of the subcontractor, a description of the work that the subcontractor will perform for the service area(s), and a description of the subcontractor’s experience in performing the work.

11.6.4 Provide a list of similar projects or assignments that your firm has worked on in the past five years.

11.6.5 Provide a detailed discussion on three projects from the list above that includes:

11.6.5.1 a description of services provided.

11.6.5.2 customer name, location, and size.

11.6.5.3 project duration and cost.

11.6.5.4 highlights of key goals achieved.

11.6.5.5 key personnel involved.

11.6.5.6 customer contact information (name, telephone number, email, and address).

11.7 Chapter 6 – Technical Capability

11.7.1 Present a work plan that describes your approach to delivering the required scope of services for the service area selected in Attachment A-1. This work plan shall establish that the Proposer understands the objectives and service requirements of this SOQ and that the Proposer can satisfy those objectives and requirements.

11.7.2 Discuss how you will allocate staffing resources to fulfill the requirements of this

SOQ.

11.7.3 Discuss any factors that could increase or decrease the Scope of Services and identify any areas or aspects within the Scope of Services that are of concern to you.

11.7.4 If applicable to the service area selected, describe your general approach to a plan review assignment and how you would ensure a comprehensive yet efficient plan review process.

11.7.5 Describe your quality control process and how you ensure that services are compliant with City’s code, regulations, ordinances, standards, and statutes.

11.8 Chapter 7 – Cost Proposal

11.8.1 Provide your firm’s cost/fee schedule in a separate file. Cost/fee proposals will not be scored but will be evaluated for reasonableness.

11.8.2 Costs should be broken down by task and to the lowest detailed level, e.g. hours, hourly rate, etc.

11.8.3 Cost/fee proposals must include all anticipated costs, including travel, per diem, and out of pocket expenses. Please note the City does not pay for services before it receives them. Therefore, do not propose contract terms that call for upfront payments or deposits.

11.9 Chapter 8 – Proposer Certification Form

11.9.1 Submit Attachment D-Proposer Certification Form signed by an authorized representative.

11.10 Chapter 9 - Exemplar Agreement

11.10.1 The successful Proposer will be required to enter into an agreement with terms and conditions in substantial conformity with Attachment E.

11.10.2 Proposer shall note any exceptions to the terms and conditions of the Exemplar Agreement. If there are no exceptions, please return the first page of the Exemplar Agreement marked “No Exceptions”. Please note that excessive changes may result in lower proposal scores, or disqualification of proposal.

SECTION 12. SELECTION PROCESS AND EVALUATION

CRITERIA

12.1 Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated to determine the proposal that offers the best value to the City. The evaluation will be based upon the following criteria. Although some factors are weighted more than others, all are considered necessary, and a proposal must be acceptable in each area to be eligible for award.

Evaluation Criteria Weight

Proposal Responsiveness Pass/Fail

Company Information, Experience & Qualifications 55%

Technical Capability 45%

Total 100%

12.2 Proposal Responsiveness

12.2.1 Proposals will be reviewed to determine if all required documentation was included with the proposal submittal.

12.2.2 Proposals that fail to contain the required documents will be disqualified from further consideration.

12.3 Proposal Review and Evaluation

12.3.1 Technical proposals will be evaluated based on the general criteria and their corresponding weights as outlined in Section 12.1.

12.3.2 The City may seek clarification from any or all Proposers to better understand and evaluate the proposals. This process may not be used as an opportunity to submit missing documentation or to make substantive revisions to the original proposal.

12.3.3 The City reserves the right to rely on information from sources other than the information provided by the Proposers.

12.4 Presentations / Oral Interviews (if held)

12.4.1 Finalist(s) (proposal(s) determined to have scored in the competitive range) may be invited to present oral presentations for the purpose of introducing key members of the project team and allowing the City to fully understand the Proposer’s ability to meet the evaluation criteria. Finalist(s) will be notified in writing of the date, place, time and format of the interview or presentation.

12.4.2 Proposers are cautioned that oral presentations are optional and at the sole discretion of the City, unless otherwise specified in Section 12.1. Therefore, Proposers should not assume that there would be an additional opportunity to revise their technical proposals after their original submission. Proposers may not request an opportunity for oral presentations.

12.5 Best and Final Offer (BAFO)

12.5.1 A Best and Final Offer (BAFO) may be held with finalist(s) that have scored in the competitive range if additional information or clarification is necessary to make a final decision. The BAFO may allow Proposers to revise their original technical and/or cost proposals based on information received from the City. The City will send out the request for a BAFO with instructions addressing the areas to be covered and the date and time in which the BAFO is to be submitted. After receipt of the BAFO, scores may be adjusted based on the new information received in the BAFO.

12.5.2 The City will request only one BAFO unless the Purchasing Officer determines in writing in the procurement file that another BAFO is warranted.

12.5.3 Proposers are cautioned that the BAFO is optional and at the sole discretion of the City. Therefore, Proposers should not assume that there would be an additional opportunity to revise their technical or cost proposals after their original submission. Proposers may not request an opportunity to submit a BAFO.

SECTION 13. AWARD OF CONTRACT

13.1 Notice of Intended Award

13.1.1 The City will determine the ranking of the proposals in accordance with Section

12.1. above.

13.1.2 Based on the rankings, the City will negotiate contract terms and rates/costs with the highest-ranked Proposer(s). If the City is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the highest ranked Proposer(s), then the City will go through the negotiation process with the next firm in the rankings, continuing this procedure until an agreement is reached or the list of ranked qualified firms is exhausted.

The City may negotiate with more than one Proposer at the same time.

13.1.3 Once the City awards the agreements, actual work will be assigned in accordance with the established ranking. However, the City may assign work outside of the foregoing protocol when the City determines, in its sole discretion, that:

13.1.3.1 A consultant has the expertise and staff availability to meet the schedule to best perform the work.

13.1.3.2 A project is a continuation of work previously completed by the consultant.

13.1.3.3 A consultant does not have sufficient budget remaining under its agreement to perform the work, if applicable.

13.2 Post-Notice of Intended Award Attachment Submittals

Intended awardee(s) are required to submit the following information and documents by the specified time below, unless the City grants an extension in its sole discretion. Failure to provide the documents within the time frame may result in withdrawal of the recommendation of award, and award will be made to the next highest ranked Proposer.

13.2.1 Certificate of Insurance (insurance requirements outlined under Exhibit C of the Exemplar Agreement within ten (10) calendar days after the Notice of Intended Award.

13.3 Execution of Contract

The recommendation of award and agreement shall not be binding or valid with the City unless and until it is approved by the City Council, if so required, and executed by authorized representatives of the City and of the successful Proposer.

SECTION 14. PUBLIC NATURE OF RESPONSE MATERIALS

14.1 All materials submitted in response to this solicitation become the exclusive property of the City of Santa Clara. At such time as the City awards a contract, all materials received in response to this solicitation become a matter of public record and shall be regarded as public records. If you must include confidential or proprietary information that you believe is exempt from disclosure, you must (a) clearly mark the specific information as “Confidential,” “Trade Secret,” or “Proprietary,” (b) state the specific provision in the Public Records Act that provides the exemption; and (c) provide the factual basis for claiming the exemption in each specific instance. In addition, you must separately provide a redacted version of your response materials.

14.2 The City shall not in any way be liable or responsible for the disclosure of any such proposal or portions thereof, if they are not plainly marked as “Confidential,” “Trade Secret,” or “Proprietary,” or if disclosure, in the City’s sole discretion, is required under the California Public Records Act as addressed below. Any proposal which contains language purporting to render all or significant portions of the proposal “Confidential,” “Trade Secret,” or “Proprietary” may be regarded as non-responsive.

14.3 Although the California Public Records Act recognizes that certain confidential trade secret information may be protected from disclosure, the City of Santa Clara may determine, in its sole discretion, that the information that a Proposer submits is not a trade secret. If a request is made for information marked “Confidential,” “Trade Secret,” or “Proprietary,” the City shall provide the Proposer who submitted the information notice of the request.

Proposer shall immediately notify City whether Proposer will seek protection from disclosure by a court of competent jurisdiction. Any such action will be at the Proposer's sole expense. If, after receiving the foregoing notice from the City, Proposer takes no action or is not responsive as determined by the City, the City will disclose Proposer’s information without any liability or further duty of protecting the information.

SECTION 15. PROTESTS

15.1 If an unsuccessful Proposer wants to dispute the award recommendation, the protest must be submitted in writing to the contact listed below no later than ten (10) calendar days after the publication of the Notice of Intended Award. The protest must provide a detailed explanation of the grounds for the protest, the factual basis for the protest, and include all supporting information. Protests will not be considered for disputes of proposal requirements and specifications, which must be addressed in accordance with Objections Section above. Failure to submit a timely written protest to the contact listed below will bar consideration of the protest.

15.2 The address for submitting protests is:

City of Santa Clara Finance Department - Purchasing Division

1500 Warburton Avenue Santa Clara, CA 95050

Attention: Purchasing Officer

SECTION 16. COLLUSION

By submitting a proposal, each Proposer represents and warrants that its proposal is genuine and made in the interest of or on behalf of any person named therein; that the Proposer has not directly induced or solicited any other person to submit a sham proposal or any other person to refrain from submitting a proposal; and that the Proposer has not in any manner sought collusion to secure any improper advantage over any other person submitting a proposal.

SECTION 17. GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION

All Proposers are expected to have read and understand Attachment B, “Procurement and Contract Process Integrity and Conflict of Interest.” Factors, such as, but not limited to, any of the following, may disqualify a proposal without further consideration:

17.1 Evidence of collusion, directly or indirectly, among Proposers in regard to the amount, terms or conditions of this proposal.

17.2 Any attempt to improperly influence any member of the evaluation team.

17.3 Existence of any lawsuit, unresolved contractual claim or dispute between Proposer and the City.

17.4 Evidence of incorrect information submitted as part of the proposal.

17.5 Evidence of Proposer’s inability to successfully complete the responsibilities and obligations of the proposal.

17.6 Proposer’s default under any previous agreement with the City.

SECTION 18. NON-CONFORMING PROPOSAL

A proposal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with the provisions of these SOQ instructions and specifications. Any alteration, omission, addition, variance, or limitation of, from or to a proposal may be sufficient grounds for non-acceptance of the proposal, at the sole discretion of the City.

SECTION 19. CONFLICT OF INTEREST

19.1 Proposer(s) may not have any interest in any potential future City procurements that may result from the work performed under the agreement resulting from this SOQ.

19.2 For the purpose of the State of California’s conflict of interest rules, consultants who make or influence governmental decisions are required to file Statements of Economic Interest, known as a “Form 700.”

SECTION 20. GRATUITIES

No person shall offer, give or agree to give any City employee any gratuity, discount or offer of employment in connection with the award of contract by the City. No City employee shall solicit, demand, accept or agree to accept from any other person a gratuity, discount or offer of employment in connection with a City contract.

SECTION 21. PROPOSAL PREPARATION COSTS

All costs associated with responding to this request are to be borne by the Proposer.

SECTION 22. NON-DISCRIMINATION

It is the City’s policy that the selected firm shall not discriminate, in any way, against any person on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, military and veteran status, or ethnic background, in violation of federal, state or local law, in connection with or related to the performance of City of Santa Clara contracts.

SECTION 23. RIGHTS OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA

This SOQ does not commit the City to enter into a contract, nor does it obligate the City to pay for any costs incurred in preparation and submission of proposals or in anticipation of a contract. The City reserves the right to:

23.1 Accept an offer in full, or in part, or to reject all offers.

23.2 Issue subsequent Requests for Proposals.

23.3 Postpone opening proposals for any reason.

23.4 Remedy errors in the Request for Proposals process.

23.5 Approve or disapprove the use of particular subconsultants.

23.6 Negotiate with any, all or none of the Proposers.

23.7 Accept other than the lowest offer.

23.8 Waive informalities and irregularities in the proposals.

23.9 Enter into an agreement with another Proposer in the event the originally selected Proposer defaults or fails to execute an agreement with the City.

SECTION 24. TAXES

24.1 Do not include California retail sales tax in your proposal response.

24.2 The City of Santa Clara is exempt from federal excise tax, including federal transportation tax. The City will provide an exemption certificate as appropriate.

24.3 Contractors conducting business in the City of Santa Clara or using their own trucks to deliver merchandise must pay a City of Santa Clara Business Tax. To apply for a business license, Contractors must complete the business license application at https://www.santaclaraca.gov/home/showdocument?id=65820.

SECTION 25. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

The selected Proposer(s), at Proposer’s sole cost and expense and for the full term of the Agreement or any extension thereof, shall obtain and maintain, at a minimum, all of the insurance requirements outlined in Exhibit C to the Exemplar Agreement.

SECTION 26. OTHER PUBLIC AGENCY PURCHASES

It is intended that any other public agency be permitted to purchase under the terms submitted in response to this procurement. Any participating public agency shall accept sole responsibility for the placing of orders, arranging for delivery and/or services, and making payments to the Contractor. The City of Santa Clara will not be liable or responsible for any obligations, including but not limited to financial responsibility, in connection with participation by other public agencies.

https://www.santaclaraca.gov/home/showdocument?id=65820