05_Exhibit_1_-_Requirements_and_Scope.docx

Exhibit 1 – Requirements and Scope

1. Introduction – General Information

1.3.2. Exam Administration and Reporting Services Only: National Home Inspector Examination (Exam Developed by the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors®, Inc.)

1.3.3. Additional Licensure examination or changes to current types of licenses may change due to legislation each year.

1.4. The objective for contracting for these services is to provide the Board with examination development, management, administration and reporting services as specified in this RFP. The Bidder shall furnish all labor, supervision, equipment, materials, and resources necessary to provide the requested services. The requested services include all aspects of Contractor and Journeyman (Plumbing, Mechanical & Electrical) and Commercial and Residential Roofing endorsement examination development, management, administration and reporting, and Home Inspector examination administration and reporting, in accordance with established industry standards, Federal laws and Oklahoma statutes and regulations and State adopted Codes. The Board makes no guarantee as to the number of examinations which would be administered each year. See EXHIBIT 3 for a summary of the examinations administered during calendar year 2025. These numbers are provided for informational purposes only.

1.5. This solicitation contains instructions governing the responses to be submitted and the material to be included therein; a description of the service to be provided; mandatory requirements which must be met to be eligible for consideration; general evaluation criteria; and other requirements to be met by each scope.

1.6. The Board is interested in retaining the services of one professional organization that shall develop, prepare, manage, and administer the examination program for Contractor and Journeyman (Plumbing, Mechanical & Electrical), Roofing, and Home Inspector licensing/endorsement applicants. The Board strives to obtain the highest quality examination services at the lowest practical cost to applicants.

1.7. Responses must be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of the Bidder's ability to meet the requirements of the RFP.

1.8. From the date of this RFP until a determination is made regarding the selection of a response, all contact with Board personnel concerning this RFP, any solicitation, and the evaluation process is strictly prohibited. All questions regarding this RFP, its contents in part or in whole shall be directed, in writing, to the OMES Contracting Officer listed on the solicitation. Any violation of this condition shall be cause for the Board to reject the Bidder's response. If it is later discovered that any violations have occurred, the State shall reject any response or rescind any contract awarded pursuant to this RFP.

1.9. Sensitive Information

1.9.1. The Bidder shall not publish or otherwise disclose, except to the Board and except matters of public record, any information or data obtained hereunder from private individuals, organizations, or public agencies, in a publication whereby the information or data is furnished by or about any particular person or establishment.

1.9.2. Each Bidder by submitting a response understands, represents and acknowledges that:

1.9.2.1. All information provided by, and representations made by, the Bidder in the RFP response is material and important and will be relied upon by the Board in awarding the contract. Any misstatement shall be treated as fraudulent concealment from the Board of true facts relating to the submission of the response .

1.9.2.2. The price(s) and amount listed in the response have been arrived at independently and without consultation, communication or agreement with any other Bidder or potential Bidder.

1.9.2.3. Neither the price(s) nor the amount listed in the response, and neither the approximate price(s) nor the approximate amount of this response, have been disclosed to any other firm or person who is a Bidder or Potential Bidder, and they will not be disclosed on or before the Solicitation response submission deadline specified in this solicitation.

1.9.2.4. No attempt has been made or will be made to induce any firm or person to refrain from submitting a response, or to submit any intentionally high or noncompetitive response.

1.9.2.5. The response is made in good faith and not pursuant to any agreement or discussion with, or inducement from, any firm or person to submit a complementary or noncompetitive response.

1.9.2.6. Each Bidder, by submitting a solicitation response, authorizes all State agencies to release to the State information related to liabilities to the State including, but not limited to, taxes, unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation liabilities.

1.9.2.7. Until the selected Bidder receives a fully executed and approved Purchase Order from the Board there is no legal and valid contract, in law or in equity, and the Bidder shall not begin to perform until directed in writing by the Board.

1.10. The responsive and responsible Bidder whose response is determined to be the Best Value to the State, in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria and Solicitation Specifications, as determined by the Board shall be notified in writing of its selection.

2. Examination content and passing score

2.1. Examination Content

The Bidder shall develop examination questions that are sufficiently strict to reliably assess essential industry knowledge of Oklahoma applicants. The examination shall reflect current and pertinent Oklahoma laws (and Federal laws for contractor business and law section of the contractor exam), rules/regulations and State adopted codes relating to the trade for which the applicant is seeking licensure/endorsement.

2.2. Passing Score

3. Retesting

3.1. Any applicant initially failing to pass a Contractor or Journeyman (Plumbing & Electrical) examination shall not be permitted to take another examination for a period of thirty (30) days, and thereafter any such applicant subsequently failing to pass an examination shall not be permitted to take a subsequent examination for a period of thirty (30) days. Any applicant initially failing to pass a Contractor or Journeyman (Mechanical & Roofing) examination shall not be permitted to take another examination for a period of (90) days, and thereafter any such applicant subsequently failing to pass an examination shall not be permitted to take a subsequent examination for a period of ninety (90) days.

3.2. Any applicant failing to pass the National Home Inspector Examination must wait thirty (30) days before retaking the examination.

3.3. Any applicant who fails one of the two sections of the examination required for licensure/endorsement as a Contractor must only retake the section the applicant failed to pass if done within three (3) years of the date the applicant is approved and eligible to sit for the exam, after which applicant would have to retake both sections of the examination.

3.4. There is no requirement that an individual who is licensed/endorsed retake the examination required for initial licensure/endorsement in order to maintain the licensure/endorsement. However, an individual licensed in the electrical trade must retake the examination required for their initial licensure if they allow their license to be expired longer than one (1) year unless they exercise the option to take required continuing education in lieu of examination; an individual licensed as a home inspector must retake the National Home Inspector Examination if they allow their license to be expired more than one year; and an individual who formerly held a roofing endorsement must retake the examination required for their initial endorsement if they allow their endorsement to remain expired for longer than one (1) year.

4. Examinations required for each license/endorsement issued by the Board See EXHIBIT 2 for the list of the examinations required under this contract. CIB does have operational, examination-security, accountability, consistency, administrative and other programmatic reasons for requiring a single provider.

5. Mandatory Requirements

5.1. Prior experience in examination development, administration, management and reporting for pre-license examinations in the skilled trades (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, roofing, home inspectors). Bidder will need at least eight (8) years’ experience in developing, managing, and administering state licensing testing programs.

5.2. Be free from any conflict of interests including conflict of providing education, prep tests and/or courses over subjects covered under this service. Have established protocol to prevent conflicts of interest in the administration of an exam and test takers such as proctors not being related to or knowing test takers.

5.3. Required Services. Services required under the resultant contract with a single bidder shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

5.3.1. Examination Development. Upon contract award, the selected Bidder will be required to meet with the Board or its designee to review skilled trade questions and business and law questions. The Selected Bidder shall develop an examination question bank, both skilled technical trade and business and law sections, for each license/endorsement type. The question bank shall contain questions that are current, pertinent, and in compliance with current State and Federal laws, rules or practices, State adopted Codes, and established industry standards, manuals, technical materials and practices, as approved by the Board or its designee. The Board shall have final approval on the examination content for each license/endorsement type.

5.3.2. The requested services include all aspects of Contractor and Journeyman (Plumbing, Mechanical & Electrical), and Roofing endorsement examination development, management, administration and reporting, and Home Inspector examination administration and reporting, pursuant to Section 1.2 and 1.4. The Board makes no guarantee as to the number of examinations which would be administered each year. See EXHIBIT 3 for a summary of the examinations administered during calendar year 2025. These numbers are provided for informational purposes only.

5.3.3. Provide a content outline with text references and listing of materials permitted in open book exam area for the journeyman examination and the technical trade section for the contractor examination for each trade, and develop the Business and Law section of the contractor examination for each trade based on the content in Section 1.2, 1.4 and similar to the current content outline.

5.3.4. Examination Reviews/Revisions. The original examinations and any subsequent revisions shall be reviewed and approved by the Board and/or its designee, usually the relevant trade committee. The selected Bidder must employ an ongoing continuing test development process that assures examinations will be updated and revised with appropriate frequency and/or as there is a change in established industry standards, Federal laws, Oklahoma rules and laws, and State adopted Codes.

5.3.5. Scoring of Exams. The Bidder shall score examinations and provide an applicant their results immediately, and shall submit the applicant's results electronically to the Board on the same day the applicant tests. The preferred method should include authenticated FTP Sessions and appropriate levels of file encryption.

5.3.6. Provide quality and timely service to the Board, license/endorsement applicants and other parties affected by the education and examination requirements.

5.3.7. Create all necessary forms, notices, explanatory materials and correspondence for the efficient operation of the requirements under the resultant Contract. Forms, notices and explanatory materials must all be approved by the Board prior to their use or distribution.

5.3.8. Provide applicant examination instruction information, as approved by the Board, on a website and either electronically or by hardcopy.

5.3.9. Provide a toll-free service that is properly staffed to reasonably accommodate peak volume phone periods without creating unnecessary long waiting periods (more than three (3) minutes) for the caller. Respond to voice mail messages within 24 hours.

5.3.10. Develop, maintain and implement a means to monitor the quality development, management and administration of the examinations, including in-depth onsite audits to ensure exam integrity and adherence to established industry standards, Federal laws, Oklahoma rules and laws, and State adopted Codes, and such information shall be reported to the Board as requested.

5.3.11. Maintain accurate and secure records of all test examinations and related data.

5.3.12. Assure that applicant’s personal information and any information submitted by the Board shall not be used or sold for any purpose other than fulfilling the requirements of the contract.

5.3.13. Comply with the current Federal laws, Oklahoma rules and laws, and State adopted Codes on application and examination requirements.

5.3.14. Maintain a minimum of six (6) testing administration sites in the State of Oklahoma. There shall be at least one testing site in Oklahoma City, Ponca City, Tulsa, Lawton, Woodward, and McAlester. Additional testing administration sites can be utilized if approved by the Board. The Oklahoma examinations shall also be available at all of the selected Bidder's testing facilities throughout the country which should be strategically placed so as to maximize convenience to as many testers as possible. Testing administration sites must be easily accessible to the public, including the disabled, with adequate parking, lighting, ventilation, and a quiet and secure testing area. All facilities must be ADA compliant per standard ADA regulations.

5.3.15. The Selected Bidder will be required to defend any legal challenges of the examinations.

5.3.16. Assure that your firms' financial ability and net worth are sufficient to withstand legal challenges to examination development, management, and administration. Provide at least 2 years of financial statements.

5.3.17. Security. The selected Bidder shall maintain information on all licensing applicants in a secure environment. The Bidder shall employ software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to monitor said traffic, upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. Manual records shall be maintained in a secure environment. Computer records shall be maintained in a password protected computerized tracking system. Any request for access to records/information on licensing applicants must be submitted in writing to the Board for approval and as allowed by law. The Bidder shall monitor and physically proctor test sites during testing. Bidder must ensure that all test sites must be physically and environmentally safe and secure.

5.3.18. The proposed information technology solution(s) and options offered in your response must meet the business and data needs of the State.

5.3.19. Meetings. The selected Bidder shall provide for quarterly meetings to inform the Board on license/endorsement applicants and test performance. Conference calls shall be permitted and agreed upon by both parties. The Bidder shall meet annually with Board or designees to review the content of all examinations. The meetings will be held at the Board office location and travel will be at the Bidder's expense.

5.3.20. Create all necessary reports as required by the Board.

5.4. Contract Transition Requirements. Following the expiration or termination of the contract the Bidder shall for a period of at least thirty (30) days cooperate with the Board and with any subsequent Bidder or Board staff who might assume the administration of the services required under this contract. Such cooperation shall include the timely exchange and sharing of information, data, files and records in a usable format and any other assistance appropriated to ensure the continuous administration of the testing program. The Bidder shall transfer all data and records pertaining to the Board’s services required under this Contract to the Board within twenty-four hours after the date the contract expires or the effective date of termination or expiration of the contract.

5.5. Examination Questions. All information, documents, records, materials, software and software documentation pertaining to work required by the contract shall be made available upon request to the Board or its representatives for review, inspection, and if desired, reproduction.

5.6. The selected Bidder shall provide services in a manner which shall reflect a high regard for quality and which is consistent with the state-of-the-art and science of test construction, scoring and validation.

5.7. Customer Service. Provide a robust customer service function including interactive secure website assistance and toll-free telephone services to license/endorsement applicants.

5.8. Protection of confidential files, data or other materials. The selected bidder shall protect the confidentiality of any files, data or other materials provided by the Board of any license/endorsement applicant and take all steps necessary to safeguard data, files, reports, or other information from loss, destruction, or erasure. Any such data shall be restricted in use and purpose to the performance of the contract.

5.9. Disaster recovery/business recovery. The selected Bidder will coordinate with and participate in, as required, any business recovery testing activities.

5.10. Insurance. The selected Bidder is required to carry and submit a copy of liability insurance as follows:

5.11. Subcontractors. Any subcontractors used for any of the listed services must be requested in advance by Bidder in writing and approved in writing by the Construction Industries Board.

5.12. The test provider shall ensure that all examination content, including but not limited to questions, answers, images, scoring data, and other testing materials, is transmitted, displayed, and processed in a manner that prevents the storage, caching, retention, or recovery of such content on the testing device or on any other device, server, or network component not expressly authorized by the Construction Industries Board. The examination platform shall not permit examination content to be downloaded, copied, printed, cached, indexed, or otherwise retained in a manner that would allow unauthorized access or reconstruction. The test provider shall implement safeguards to prevent unauthorized interception, capture, retrieval, or disclosure of examination content during transmission, while in use, and following completion or termination of the examination session. Any temporary data necessary for the operation of the examination session shall not be recoverable through normal or forensic means.

6. Optional services

6.1. The Board reserves the right to add optional items to the resulting contract, as mutually agreed upon by the parties.

6.2. The Bidder will be required to notify the Board promptly of any new technology or enhanced services which may become available through the Bidder during the Contract term. The Contract may be modified in writing to enhance Bidder's services, as mutually agreed upon by the parties.

7. Preferred Qualifications/Experience

7.1. No services, especially exam development, exam reviews, scoring, reporting to be subcontracted.

8. Response Requirements

8.1. Management Summary. Include a succinct, narrative description of your understanding of the services to be provided. In addition, this summary must also include:

· Length of time the bidder has been in business;

· A brief description of the company;

· Company size and organization;

· The number of years the Bidder has been in the business of providing exam development and administration, specifying the number of years of experience for each exam category;

· The core competency of the company;

· Number of employees allocated strictly for related exam subject matter research;

· Number of clients;

· Average client size (i.e. employee count);

· Locations where the Bidder’s solution has been deployed;

· At least eight (8) years’ experience in developing, managing, and administering state licensing testing programs;

· Nationally recognized certifications, accreditations, licensing, or other credentials related to examination development.

8.2. Implementation Plan. Provide a narrative overview including timelines, personnel resources, Board resources, critical issues and decision points in your plan needed to implement this contract, including arrangements with the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors for delivery and administration of the National Home Inspector Examination. Include a description of how Bidder would fulfill each of the Mandatory Requirements listed in Section 5.

8.3. Provide an explanation of how Bidder plans to monitor and evaluate the performance of subcontractors, should a subcontractor be approved and utilized.

8.4. Provide and explain the job analysis approach used to determine the content emphasis of each exam. Please include a current job analysis for each exam with your response as well as a schedule of how often these are performed. Describe how Bidder's approach will reliably assess essential technical industry and business and law knowledge of Oklahoma applicants.

8.5. Describe the procedures for the development and management of Bidder's bank of examination questions, including the methods Bidder will employ to statistically analyze the performance of each question, and each examination as a whole, in order to provide reasonable assurance of the validity of each question, as well as the validity of the entire examination.

8.6. Describe the approach applied to assure that each unique examination assembled for administration is equivalent in difficulty and subject matter with all other examinations for that license category. The Bidder must describe the psychometric models and methods used to achieve this balance and discuss their appropriateness to Contractor and Journeyman (Plumbing, Mechanical & Electrical) and Roofing testing.

8.7. Describe the test question and examination development and review process used to assure relevance of each question to current Federal and Oklahoma law, rules, State adopted codes and practice. Explain methods of psychometric review, which provide reasonable assurance of the reliability of each examination.

8.8. Provide a short paragraph on your procedures for working with clients to obtain clients' approval of exam questions.

8.9. Describe how Bidder would accommodate a sudden increase in testing applicants and Bidder's policy and procedure regarding requests for special accommodations.

8.10. Explain process by which Bidder would establish/maintain the required minimum of six (6) testing administration sites in the State of Oklahoma (in Lawton, Oklahoma City, Ponca City, Tulsa, Woodward, and McAlester). Submit a list of Bidder's testing administration sites located within the continental United States and provide the days of the week and hours for each day that the testing facilities are open for testing and proctored by Bidder’s employees/agents.

8.11. Describe the process by which examination administration is proctored and what if any qualifications you have for proctors.

8.12. Submit an outline of Bidder's plan with applicable time frames for exam registration for applicants; collection and accounting for payment of fees; scheduling exam appointments (and rescheduling as needed); responding to any applicant concerns that may arise as a result of these activities; and reporting of test results to examinees and to the Board.

8.13. Submit a sample copy of proposed communication forms that will be used or created specifically for communications with the Board and the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board License/Endorsement Testing Applicants. The Bidder shall describe the procedure for developing, updating, and distributing such information, including examination instruction information, forms and reports as needed during the term of the contract and any subsequent renewal options.

8.14. Provide a short paragraph on your guidelines/practices for examination administration security, including verifying identity of individuals taking exams, maintaining the integrity of the exam, your anti-cheating/security breach protocol, and your process for monitoring and proctoring the examination.

8.15. Provide a short paragraph on your guidelines/practices for providing security of exam, exam questions, exam records and related data from development through the exam administration process in compliance with mandatory requirements in Section 5.12.

8.16. Provide details on all software/hardware services that will be provided.

8.17. State your compliance with the ADA and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. All Software/hardware service must meet the requirements of Oklahoma’s IT Accessibility Standards under Title 62 § 41.5(t) “Accessibility of information technology for individuals with disabilities.”

8.18. Describe the process(es) that comprises your disaster recovery/business recovery model as it applies to the services offered in this solicitation. Include high-level back-up/recovery processes, network diagrams supporting the system requirements, any alternate locations used and other applicable information.

8.19. Provide documentation of any of Bidder's nationally recognized certifications, accreditations, licensing, or other credentials related to examination development.

8.20. Provide documentation of any of Bidder's nationally recognized certifications, accreditations, licensing, or other credentials related to examination administration.

8.21. Provide a short paragraph on each exam category listed above (Solicitation Specifications Section 1.3.) for which your firm has experience with regard to exam development, specifying the number of years of experience for each exam category and the governmental regulatory agency(ies) to which the services are/have been provided. If your firm subcontracted any of the exam development services provided to the governmental regulatory agency(ies), provide information as to the specific services which were subcontracted.

8.22. Provide the top complaints received in the last three (3) years related to services or perceived lack of services and explain the steps taken to resolve those complaints.

8.23. Industry experience. Include a one (1) page resume for personnel responsible for developing the examinations, including psychometrics, required by this contract. Separately provide the total number of years' experience in the plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and roofing industry for all personnel and subject matter experts involved in the development of examinations required by this contract.

8.24. Conflict of Interest. Specify how your organization recommends handling a potential conflict of interest. Identify what you consider to constitute a conflict of interest with respect to employee conflicts and/or firm’s conflicts. Identify any potential conflict of interest you may have with the State or with the Board. Explain your procedures for identifying whether or not an exam proctor might have a conflict of interest such as with any test taker they proctor, and how to resolve it.

8.25. Legal Challenges. Bidder's response shall specify that Bidder agrees to defend any allegation or legal challenge to the examinations; and, Bidder shall be responsible for the defense of any actions and any resulting liability arising solely from breach or failure of the Bidder to perform its obligations under the agreement resulting from this Request for Proposal.

8.26. Firm's financial ability to withstand legal challenges -- Provide the last two years of financial statements with explanation describing your firm's net worth and ability to withstand legal challenges.

8.27. References. Provide the names and contact information for five (5) references for which the Bidder has provided licensing examination development, management, and administration and reporting services, and include the type (skilled trade) of licensing examination development, management, administration and reporting services provided for each reference.

8.28. Fees. The information requested in this section shall constitute your cost submittal. There were 5,365 exams administered by the current testing provider in 2025 (See EXHIBIT 3). The Board anticipates that the selected Bidder's fees will be fixed for the entire length of the contract. The selected Bidder shall not charge licensing/endorsement applicants a fee for administration of license examinations in excess of $200.00 pursuant to 59 O.S. § 1000.5. The Bidder will be compensated for services provided under this contract solely through the examination fees paid directly to the selected Bidder by the licensing/endorsement applicants. Provide the fee Bidder would charge applicants using the Fee Table shown in EXHIBIT PRICING. NOTE: Only a fee for administration of license examinations can be charged to applicants. Applicants cannot be charged fees by subcontractors, or additional fees other than those listed for administration of license examinations.

8.29. Provide the name, title, telephone number, FAX number, mailing address, and email address for a designated contact person who will be available to answer any questions concerning the solicitation response.

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