RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract) SCCPSS General RFQ – No Bonds- Template 3/16/26 Page 2

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ): RFQ C27-08

“As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual

Contract)

I. INTRODUCTION

The Board of Public Education for the City of Savannah and the County of Chatham (the “District”), the body corporate responsible for public education in Chatham County, which is commonly known as the Savannah- Chatham County Public School System (“SCCPSS”), seeks Qualifications Statements as specified in this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”), RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract). Through this process, SCCPSS will prequalify “responsive” and “responsible” Offerors to Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing Services. The District may negotiate with any of the successfully prequalified Offerors for future SCCPSS contracts in its discretion on an “as needed” basis for at least a year after SCCPSS publishes the list of approved vendors. No successfully prequalified Offeror is guaranteed the future award of a project and SCCPSS may periodically add additional vendors to the list by reopening new prequalification windows. Nothing in this solicitation will prohibit the District from soliciting particular projects separately from this pre-qualification process and selecting an offeror who is not prequalified through this solicitation.

The District has determined that 1) all of the criteria for prequalification are reasonably related to the project or the quality of the work (small construction projects), 2) the criteria for prequalification are being made available to any prospective Offeror requesting such information, 3) this prequalification process serves as a method of notifying prospective Offerors of the criteria for or limitations to prequalification, and 4) this prequalification process includes a procedure for a disqualified Offeror to respond to his or her disqualification to a representative of the SCCPSS. Prequalified Offerors will not later be disqualified without cause, but no prequalified Offeror is guaranteed a future award of any contract.

Vendors who submit a Qualifications Statement in response to this RFQ shall be referred to herein as the “Offeror(s)” or “Offeror(s).” To be considered for prequalification under this RFQ, Offerors should carefully read this solicitation document, which is RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract), and all of the forms or other materials that may be attached hereto or referenced herein. This RFQ and the associated documents contain the instructions for preparing and submitting Qualifications Statements in response to this RFQ, and outline the process by which the District will prequalify Offerors to negotiate with the District for contracts for Geotechnical, Special Inspections and Materials Testing Services.

II. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THIS RFQ

A. A “Cone of Silence” Applies to this RFQ.

A “Cone of Silence” is imposed upon this RFQ after advertising and terminates at the time the District awards a contract. Except as specifically set forth below, the Cone of Silence prohibits any communications in any form (whether written, oral, or electronic) by, or on behalf of, a prospective Offeror for this solicitation, including any persons affiliated with or in any way related to a prospective Offeror, with any District employee, any member of the elected Board of Education that serves as the District’s governing body, the Superintendent or her staff, and any other persons involved in evaluating the proposal, such as program managers or members of any selection committee. The Cone of Silence is intended to prohibit lobbying for, or against, a particular Offeror or Offerors and to prevent prospective Offerors from circumventing the process for selection set forth in this RFQ.

The Cone of Silence does not apply to oral communications with the Director of Purchasing, or the Director of Purchasing’s designees, at pre-proposal conferences, site visits (as applicable), presentations before selection committees, contract negotiations with Offerors selected for award, or at other times expressly allowed by this solicitation. Written communications expressly authorized by this solicitation, such as (1) the submission of the proposal itself, (2) requests for interpretation, requests for material substitutions, protests, or similar inquiries to the purchasing department, (3) documents circulated at oral presentations before selection

RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract) SCCPSS General RFQ – No Bonds- Template 3/16/26 Page 3 committees, or (4) documents circulated in connection with contract negotiations with the Offeror(s) selected for award are also permitted in communication with the Director of Purchasing or the Director of Purchasing’s designees. The Cone of Silence does not apply to presentations allowed by Board policy or to the Board of Education at a duly called public meeting.

In addition to any other penalties provided by law, violation of the Cone of Silence by any Offeror may result in the rejection of the Offeror’s response and disqualify the Offeror from being awarded any contract as a result of this solicitation. Any person having personal knowledge of a violation of these provisions shall immediately report such violations to the District’s Purchasing Department.

B. Services for Which the District Is Seeking Prequalification.

1.0 General Information

This RFQ and the associated documents contain the instructions for preparing and submitting Qualifications Statements in response to this RFQ and outline the process by which the District will prequalify Offerors to negotiate with the District for contracts for Geotechnical, Special Inspections and Materials Testing on an “as needed” basis. Prequalified Offerors will be able to negotiate for individual projects, even those in excess of $100,000, with District staff, subject to applicable approval levels required by Board Policy based on the dollar value of the contract, which may sometimes require approval by the elected School Board. Awards will not flow directly from this RFQ, but will depend on the Offerors subsequent price and performance proposals.

District staff will have discretion to determine which proposals from Offerors prequalified through this RFQ are in the best interests of the District for contract award. Staff need not chose the lowest price, the best performance, or the shortest performance time, but may evaluate the proposal that offers the best combination of price, quality, and performance time for a given project given the District’s needs and the Offeror’s availability.

No successfully prequalified Offeror is guaranteed the future award of a project and SCCPSS may periodically add additional vendors to the list by reopening new prequalification windows. Nothing in this solicitation will prohibit the District from soliciting particular projects separately from this pre-qualification process and selecting an offeror who is not prequalified through this solicitation.

2.0 Scope of Services

Offeror to provide one or all of the following services; Geotechnical, Special Inspection or Materials Testing Services. The successful offeror shall be in communication with the District’s Contract Representative, Mr. Ross Cairney at (912) 531-0891, or his designated Project Manager.

Please indicate on Solicitation Form 1

C. The Advertising Dates for this RFQ.

This RFQ is being advertised on the SCCPSS Bonfire Portal which can be accessed through the link listed above and the link on the Purchasing Department page of the SCCPSS website, www.sccpss.com, from the “First Date of Advertisement” set forth in the Request for Qualifications Timeline on the first page of this RFQ until the “RFQ Closing Date and Time” set forth in the Request for Qualifications Timeline on the first page of this solicitation, or as modified by subsequent addenda.

This RFQ is also being advertised on the Georgia Procurement Registry (“GPR”) from the “First Date of Advertisement” (if the “First Date of Advertisement” is a weekday) or the first business day following the First Date of Advertisement, if the First Date of Advertisement falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or SCCPSS holiday.

This Request for Proposal (RFQ) is also being advertised in the Savannah Morning News, the newspaper for legal notices in Chatham County, on the First Date of Advertisement and the Second Date of Advertisement set forth in the Request for Qualifications Timeline on the First Page of this Solicitation.

http://www.sccpss.com/

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D. Pre-Submission Conferences Held by the Purchasing Department.

If a pre-submission conference has been scheduled for this solicitation, the date, time, phone number, and location will be outlined in the chart below. Offeror should raise any questions it may have about the solicitation or the procurement at that time. An Offeror may not rely on any verbal responses to questions at the conference. Material issues raised at the conference that result in changes to the solicitation shall be answered solely through a solicitation addendum. If the below table is blank, then no pre-proposal conference is scheduled.

Date:

Tuesday, November 17, 2026

Time:

10:00 a.m.

Location:

Capital Programs Conference Room 3609 Hopkins Street Savannah, GA 31407

Phone number:

912-395-1072

Other Pre-Proposal Conference Information:

OPTIONAL

E. Submission of Qualifications Statements Required to Participate in Future in Contract Negotiations for

Submission of a Qualifications Statement in response to this RFQ is a prerequisite to be eligible to negotiate with SCCPSS to enter future contracts for RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract).

Offerors who are deemed prequalified for this solicitation will be eligible to negotiate for future contracts for “As Needed” Geotechnical, Special Inspections and materials Testing Services. Pre-qualified Offerors will be contacted by District staff about specific work orders. Final selections will be made in the discretion of District staff considering the Pre-qualified Offerors project-specific proposals including total price, proposed staffing of the project, and the proposed performance time.

A pre-qualified Offeror who is subsequently awarded a contract but that does not perform in a satisfactory manner may be removed from the pre-qualification list and not considered for future awards for a period of time communicated by the Purchasing Department.

F. Submission of Qualifications Statements Does Not Commit Offerors to Enter Future Contracts with the District or the District to enter future Contracts with Offerors.

Although submission of a Qualifications Statement and successful prequalification are prerequisites to participating in subsequent negotiations for the award of future contracts for RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract), an Offeror that submits a Qualifications Statement is not required to enter into any future contracts with the District nor is the District required to enter into a contract with any Pre-Qualified Offeror.

G. Submission of Proposals in Response to this RFQ.

Offerors shall timely deliver Qualifications Statements by uploading them to the e-Procurement portal, https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com, BEFORE THE “RFQ Closing Date and Time” listed on the Request for Qualifications Timeline on the first page of solicitation, unless the “RFQ Closing Date and Time” is extended by the District by an addendum to this solicitation. Qualifications Statements shall be uploaded to the portal as PDF documents.

https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com/

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The Bonfire Hub is a procurement portal provided to the District by Euna Solutions (formerly Bonfire).

The Bonfire Hub is offered at no charge to Offerors, but Offerors will be required to register with Bonfire to submit their Qualifications Packages. It is recommended that Offerors register with Bonfire before the date of qualifications submissions to help ensure that they are not delayed in submitting a Qualifications Package by the registration process. It will not be sufficient for an Offeror to have started the registration process before the “RFQ Closing Date and Time.” The Qualifications Package must be fully uploaded and received by the Bonfire Hub System before the “RFQ Closing Date and Time.”

Please include with your Qualifications Statements all documents requested by this solicitation, including, but not limited to, copies of any requested licenses. Failure to include all of the information and/or documents requested by this solicitation could result in the Offeror’s Proposal not being considered by

SCCPSS.

If a required form has a signature block for a notary, please sign that form in the presence of a notary and have the form notarized.

Time is of the essence. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their Qualifications Statements are submitted in a timely manner through the e-Procurement portal. If an Offeror does not receive confirmation that its Qualifications Package has been received after submission, then the Offeror should contact the Bonfire Support Team at support@gobonfire.com. While SCCPSS will accept all Qualifications

Statements received in the https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com portal before the RFQ Closing Date and Time, Offerors should not wait until the last minute to submit the proposals. It shall not be sufficient to show that the Offeror was in the Bonfire Portal and in the process of uploading a Qualifications Statement at the at the “RFQ Closing Date and Time.” The submission must be timely completed through the portal to be accepted. The prevailing time will be that which shows receipt by the District through its e-Procurement portal. The District will not accept any Qualifications Packages not timely submitted through the e-Procurement Portal.

By way of example, if the RFQ Closing Date and Time is 11:00 a.m. (ET), Offerors should plan to have their Qualifications Packages submitted by 10:59:59:99 a.m., because they will not be able to submit Proposal through the e-Procurement Portal once 11:00 a.m. (ET) arrives, as determined by the e-Procurement Portal’s time stamp.

The “RFQ Closing Date and Time” may be extended for all prospective Offerors within the discretion of the Senior Director of the Purchasing Department or her designee for any reason. A non-exclusive list of reasons why the deadline may be extended include: the issuance of addenda to this RFQ or the associated specifications, a total absence of offers, District closure due to inclement weather, etc. The Senior Director of the Purchasing Department will either extend the deadline for all Offerors or not all.

H. Withdrawal of Qualifications Packages.

Offerors may withdraw Qualifications Packages at any time prior to the “RFQ Closing Date and Time ” set forth in the Request for Qualifications Timeline on the first page of this solicitation or as may be amended by addendum. Offerors may resubmit a new Qualifications Statement provided it seeks to do so prior to the “RFQ Closing Date and Time ” for Qualifications Statement submission.

Except as allowed by law with the consent of the District, Qualifications Statements cannot be withdrawn or modified after the submission deadline. Care should be taken to ensure that the information provided is accurate, complete, and consistent. Omission of any of the required information may subject the Offeror to disqualification. The District reserves the right to request information or respond to inquiries for clarification purposes only, but it is not required to give Offerors an opportunity to correct inaccurate or incomplete Qualifications Packages.

To revise and withdraw a Qualifications Statement prior to the scheduled deadline, please submit your withdrawal request at https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com.

mailto:support@gobonfire.com

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Qualifications Statements may not be withdrawn after the “RFQ Closing Date and Time ” (as may be amended) except as allowed by law with the consent of the District.

I. Receipt and Review of Qualifications Statements.

All Qualifications Statements will be received in the Bonfire portal where they will be kept confidential and will be made available to District staff (but not the general public) for review and evaluation after the “RFQ Closing Date and Time” for this solicitation as set forth on Page 1 of this solicitation or by subsequent amendment, unless sooner withdrawn by an Offeror as allowed by this solicitation. Qualifications Statements formally withdrawn prior to the “RFQ Closing Date and Time” will not be available to the District through the Bonfire portal for review or consideration. Except as required by law, Qualifications Statements will not be made available to the general public unless or until an announcement as to approved Offerors is made (if any) to protect the competitive process.

If an announcement of approved Offerors is made at the conclusion of the evaluation process, public and non-proprietary information about Qualifications Statements will be made available to the public pursuant to Section P below. If this RFQ is cancelled before an award is made, proposals will not be made available for public inspection, except as may be required by law, to prevent Offerors from having an unfair advantage in future solicitations for the same goods or services.

J. Form and Formatting of Qualifications Statements

The documents submitted with Qualifications Statements should be:

• Typewritten or legibly printed in ink and signed by an authorized representative either by hand or electronically by typing the signature using the following format: “s/Representative’s Name”.

• Qualifications Statements should include the 1) Offeror’s Technical Proposal, a custom document that outlines how the Offeror proposes to provide the good and/or services requested (without discussion of price), 2) all of the additional forms requested by this RFQ, and 3) any business licenses, corporate registrations, insurance certificates and tax documents, or other supporting documents requested by this

RFQ.

• The Technical Proposal shall be clearly organized to address each of the substantive questions for which answers are requested in the Pre-Qualification Section Below that are not covered by one of the District’s specific forms. For this solicitation, the Technical Proposal could be as a simple as a letter on company letterhead or something more like a brochure.

• All documents submitted as part of a Qualifications Statement shall be submitted in the PDF format.

• PDFs submitted in support of the Qualifications Statement may either be created electronically or scanned from a paper copy. The “Technical Proposal” shall be a separate, single PDF uploaded on the District’s e-Procurement Portal at https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com organized as set forth below.

• Please upload with your Technical Proposals all other documents requested by this solicitation, including, but not limited to, a copy of your firm’s current business license and certificate of insurance.

• If a required form has a signature block for a notary, please sign that form in the presence of a notary and have the form notarized.

• Failure to include all of the information and/or documents requested by this solicitation could result in the offeror’s proposal not being considered by the SCCPSS.

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Offerors are encouraged to review carefully all provisions and attachments of this document prior to submission.

K. Pre-Qualification Requirements

To be pre-qualified to negotiate with SCCPSS for future geotechnical, special inspection, and materials testing services for SCCPSS facilities projects, Bidders must provide all the requested documentation and demonstrate they can meet all of the following mandatory, pre-qualification requirements to the satisfaction of the District.

1. Offeror must be authorized to transact business in Georgia.

While any lawful form of business may be prequalified for to perform RFQ C27-08 “As Needed”

Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract), Offeror must demonstrate that it is a legal entity authorized to transact business in the State of Georgia.

If the Offeror is a corporation or limited liability company (LLC), Offeror shall provide a copy of a current

Annual Corporate Registration issued by the State in which the Offeror is incorporated and, if Offeror is not a Georgia domestic corporation, a certificate showing that it is a foreign corporation or LLC authorized to transact business in Georgia.

If the Offeror is a partnership or joint venture, the Offeror must produce a copy of documentation confirming that it is a valid partnership or joint venture that has been in continuous operation for at least 5 years.

The District may, in its discretion, request a copy of the contractual agreement between the partners or the participants in the joint venture as a supplemental document. The partnership or joint venture agreement must be adequate to its purpose of establishing a safe and well-structured good faith relationship between the participants, and must comply with all applicable laws, including Antitrust Laws. The agreement must include adequate provisions to address unforeseen events such as the demise of any one of the partners or joint venture companies, and the like. If the Offeror is a partnership or joint venture between two existing business entities, including, but not limited to, a corporation or LLC, then all partners should be routinely and on a daily basis in the business of providing services which are closely similar or identical to those Services solicited by this ITB. If the District determines that the form of the Offeror’s business, including a partnership or joint venture, was not created for a legitimate business purpose, could impair the Offeror’s performance in response to this solicitation, poses a liability to the District, or is otherwise not in the best interest of the District, then the District reserves the right to disqualify the Offeror and determine that it is not responsible.

2. The Offeror must be licensed to perform the professional services offered in Georgia

Offeror must be licensed to perform the professional services offered in response to this RFQ in the State of Georgia.

3. The Offeror must be able to demonstrate an ability to meet the District’s insurance requirements.

The Offeror must be able to demonstrate an ability to meet the following minimum insurance requirements. Additional insurance may be required on a case-by-case basis for future projects by the District or the Georgia Department of Education.

A. Commercial General Liability Insurance, including Bodily Injury, Property Damage, Personal Injury, Blanket Contractual and Broad Form Property Damage Coverage including Products and Completed Operations, and XCU exposure with combined single limits of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate.

B. Commercial Automobile Liability Insurance, including owned, non-owned, leased and hired motor vehicle coverage with limits not less than $1,000,000 combined single limit per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage.

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C. Worker’s Compensation Insurance Statutory limits in accordance with O.C.G.A.34-9-120 et.

seq.

D. Umbrella Insurance with a limit of not less than $2,000,000 per claim, $2,000,000 aggregate.

Any deductibles and self-insurance retention may not be greater than $25,000. A Offeror may satisfy the commercial automobile liability insurance policy requirement by having a commercial general liability that includes automobile coverage with limits equal to those required of a separate commercial automobile liability insurance policy. If a Offeror cannot obtain automobile liability insurance because it does not own any vehicles of its own, it can satisfy the auto insurance coverage by having a non-owned and hired motor vehicle coverage endorsement for its commercial general liability insurance policy.

If the Offeror believes that additional insurance coverages other than those listed in Attachment A are required to ensure coverage for damages arising out of the performance of this contract, then Offeror should notify the district by the deadline for requests for interpretation and material substitution.

4. Promised Delivery Time.

In the “Proposed Delivery Time” section, Offeror shall provide the maximum amount of time between when it receives a purchase order for the required services and when it could begin performance of the applicable job. Offerors who provide an unacceptable time for commencing performance will not be pre-qualified.

This information should be filled in on Form 1.

5. Offeror must demonstrate past experience that satisfies the District that the Offeror has a past history of providing services on large construction projects.

Bidder must be in the business of providing the offered professional services (geotechnical services) for large construction projects including but not limited to schools, hospitals, office buildings, or other public buildings, that satisfies the District that Bidder has the experience and capacity to assist with large construction projects with strict completion deadlines to ensure that buildings are completed in time to be ready for the beginning of an academic term. To demonstrate the Bidder’s past experience, the Bidder shall provide the District with a list of its five (5) largest construction projects in terms of dollar value and state:

1) the Project Owner (entity name, a contact name, and contact phone number),

2) the Project Name

3) the Type of Building (school, hospital, office, etc)

4) the Size of the Building (in square feet)

5) the Project Address (Street, City, State, Zip)

6) the Original Project Budget

7) the Actual, Final Project Cost

8) the Construction Start Date

9) the Actual Completion Date

10) describe the extent of geotechnical services provided and the dollar value of the geotechnical work performed.

6. Satisfactory Responses Regarding Questions Regarding Responsibility of Offeror

The Offeror must be considered suitably responsible in the discretion of the District based upon the Offeror’s answers to the “Responsibility Questions” on Form 1, which ask questions about Offeror’s performance history, litigation history, and criminal history. An Offeror who provides inaccurate or incomplete responses may be disqualified as “non-responsive” or “not-responsible,” irrespective of the substance of the response.

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7. Offeror Must Demonstrate a Willingness to Comply with O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 and E-Verify.

Offerors must demonstrate a willingness to comply with O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91, a Georgia statute that prohibits a public employer such as the District from entering into any contract with a contractor who fails to participate in the federal work authorization program E-Verify or fails to demonstrate that it is not required to participate in the E-Verify program. Offeror may accomplish this by providing the affidavit(s) or other documentation required O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91. While the District provides sample O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 affidavit forms in this RFQ, Offerors are solely responsible for familiarizing themselves with their obligations under O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 and making sure that they provide the District with the required documentation.

Offeror must fill out the applicable Form 2.

8. Offeror Must Confirm It Has Not Been Debarred or Suspended from Bidding on a State or Federal Project.

A contract award must not be made to Offerors who have been debarred or suspended from bidding with any Federal, State or Local entity. Offerors should fill out Form 3 to confirm they have not been debarred or suspended by an Federal, State or Local Entity.

9. Offeror Must Complete Form 4 Regarding Lobbying Activities

Offeror must complete Form 4 to disclose any lobbying activities as appropriate.

10. Offeror Must Demonstrate a Willingness to Enter Contracts Substantially Similar to the Attached

Sample Contracts.

While the District reserves the right to negotiate any and all contract terms for any future contract, Offeror, by submitting a Qualifications Statement, agrees that it would enter into future contract substantially similar to an attached sample contract or contracts. The District reserves the right to negotiate any all future contract terms.

The Answer to this Question may be provided on Form 1.

11. Bidder Must Demonstrate a Willingness to Provide Services for Fees Consistent with Board Regulation FGC-R.

While the District reserves the right to negotiate a lower fee and to negotiate flat fees for specific projects, Offeror agrees that its unit-price fees will not exceed the maximum hourly rates in Board Regulation

FGC-R.

L. Offeror’s Essential Credentials and Business Structure to be considered a “Responsible

Offeror.”

To even be considered for a possible award of a contract for the goods and/or services requested by this RFQ, an Offeror must be deemed a “responsible” Offeror by the District’s Purchasing Department.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror for the purpose of this RFQ, an Offeror must be able to meet the minimum licensing, bonding, insurance, and contractual requirements of this RFQ. The District reserves the right to request an Offeror provide additional information or documentation to demonstrate that it is a “responsible” Offeror. Failure to provide the requested additional information, in itself, will be sufficient grounds for the District to declare the Offeror to be not “responsible” or “non-responsive” for the purposes of this RFQ.

If the goods and/or services provided by Offeror are a technology product (such as software), then the Offeror must demonstrate that its technology product complies with the District’s adopted accessibility standard and, if it fails to do so, then the Offeror may be disqualified as a non-responsive Offeror. The District retains discretion to determine which Offerors meet the District’s adopted accessibility standard, so long as all Offerors

RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract) SCCPSS General RFQ – No Bonds- Template 3/16/26 Page 10 are held to the same accessibility standard. In the event that no Offeror providing a technology product (such as software) offers a technology product that complies with all of the requirements of the District’s adopted accessibility standard, the District reserves the right to consider only those Offerors whose standards are as close as possible to the District’s adopted accessibility standard. The District may request a compliance report or other documentation to show that the Offeror can comply with the adopted accessibility standard.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror, the Offeror must demonstrate that it is either a) an in-state or out-of-state for profit, nonprofit, or professional corporation or limited liability company registered to transact business in the State of Georgia, b) an out-of-state for profit, nonprofit, or professional corporation that is excused from registering to transact business in the State of Georgia, c) a partnership, limited partnership, or joint venture composed of individuals who are U.S. Citizens, permanent residents, or residents of other countries who have not been prohibited from conducting business in the United States that can demonstrate to the District’s satisfaction through formal governing documents (such as a partnership agreement), insurance certificates, or other written documents that it has the ability and capacity to provide the goods and/or services requested by the District in the time and manner expected by the District; d) or an individual who can demonstrate through insurance certificates or other written documents to the District’s satisfaction that he/or she is a United States citizen, a permanent resident, or the resident of another country who has not been prohibited from conducting business in the United States and who has the capacity to provide the requested goods and/or services in the time and manner expected by the District. The attached solicitation forms will ask questions to ascertain information about the capacity of the Offeror, and Offerors should supply the most up-to-date version of any requested corporate registrations or corporate documents.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror, the Offeror must demonstrate that it has all required business licenses or professional certifications needed to provide the required goods and/or services in the State of Georgia. The Offeror must provide copies of the most-up-to-date version of any required licenses or certifications.

To be considered a “responsive” and “responsible” Offeror, Offeror should disclose any possible conflicts of interests that may exist between Offeror and any “Related Party” and the SCCPSS, SCCPSS School Board members, or SCCPSS employees, so that the District can seek to evaluate the potential conflict of interest and determine whether a transaction with Offeror is appropriate given the potential conflict of interest under Board Policy or other applicable law. For purposes of this RFQ “Related Party” is defined as: any corporate affiliate of Offeror, any owner of more than 10% of Offeror’s ownership interests, any of Offeror’s current officers, any of Offeror’s current directors, or any of Offeror’s current employees that Offeror reasonably expects to be involved in actually providing goods and/or services to the District in response to this solicitation.

The District shall have discretion to determine and evaluate potential conflicts of interest under its own policies, such as Policy GAG, and to determine whether an Offeror will be disqualified because of a potential conflict of interest. Some questions in the Offeror Information Form (Solicitation Form 1) are designed to help identify and evaluate potential conflicts of interest. If an Offeror declines to provide additional information requested to evaluate a potential conflict of interest, the Offeror may be disqualified as “non-responsive”.

Offerors shall be required to disclose whether Offeror, any Related Party, or any individual working for Offeror is a beneficiary under Georgia’s Teacher Retirement System (TRS) or the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS). No such individual shall provide any services to the District until their information and eligibility to perform services has been certified through TRS or PSERS. The Contractor agrees to provide any information required by TRS or PSERS. Any employees or other individuals working for or through the Contractor receiving retirement benefits under Georgia’s TRS or PSERS shall be subject to any applicable salary and service limitations as outlined in Georgia law, TRS, or PSERS policy. If TRS or PSERS does not approve the engagement of an Offeror or an individual working for Offeror because they are a TRS or PSERS beneficiary, the District may disqualify or terminate an Offeror or disallow a particular individual from providing services to the District and declare the Offeror “not responsive” or not “responsible.”

More project-specific requirements for the Offeror to be considered a “responsible” Offeror, including insurance requirements, are set forth in more detail in “Attachment A- Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements,” which is incorporated by this reference.

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M. O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 and E-Verify Compliance Required for “Responsible” Offerors.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror, all Offerors are required to comply with O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91, a Georgia statute that prohibits a public employer such as the District from entering into any contract with a contractor who fails to participate in the federal work authorization program E-Verify or fails to demonstrate that it is not required to participate in the E-Verify program. In order to be deemed a “responsible” Offeror eligible for this RFQ, the Offeror must provide the affidavit(s) or other documentation required O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91. While the District provides sample O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 affidavit forms in this RFQ, Offerors are solely responsible for familiarizing themselves with their obligations under O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 and making sure that they provide the District with the required documentation. Information on enrolling in the E-Verify program can be found at:

https://www.e-verify.gov/employers/enrolling-in-e-verify.

N. Performance and Payment Bonds

If construction projects equal or exceed $100,000, Offeror must provide Performance and Payment Bonds in an amount equal to the total amount payable by the terms of the contract pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 36- 91-70 et. seq. and O.C.G.A. § 36-91-90 et. seq. The amount of the Performance Bond shall be increased as the contract amount is increased.

Performance Bonds should be furnished on forms accepted as standard by the insurance industry and shall be sufficiently similar to the sample Performance Bond Form attached as Solicitation Form 5. The surety named in the bond should either be authorized to do business in this state pursuant to a current certificate of authority to transact surety business by the Georgia Commissioner of Insurance or on the United States Department of Treasury’s list of approved bond sureties. The District shall assess, in its discretion, the sufficiency of the Performance Bond form and the surety. If the District considers the form or the surety insufficient, then a offeror may be disqualified as non-responsive or not responsible. If the surety becomes insolvent, loses its certification with the State of Georgia or the Department of Treasury, or for other cause, then the District may require the Offeror to furnish new or additional bonds within ten days.

Payment Bonds shall be in an amount equal to the total amount payable by the terms of the contract, which, which shall be the total amount agreed to in the final contract approved by the School District. If the amount payable by the terms of the initial contract is increased by agreement of the School District, then the School District may require that the successful Offeror increase the amount of the Payment Bond as the contract amount tis increased.

Payment Bonds should be furnished on forms accepted as standard by the insurance industry and shall be sufficiently similar to the sample Payment Bond Form attached as Solicitation Form 6. The surety named in the bond should either be authorized to do business in this state pursuant to a current certificate of authority to transact surety business by the Georgia Commissioner of Insurance or on the United States Department of Treasury’s list of approved bond sureties. The District shall assess, in its discretion, the sufficiency of the Payment Bond form and the surety. If the District considers the form or the surety insufficient, then a offeror may be disqualified as non-responsive or not responsible. If the surety becomes insolvent, loses its certification with the State of Georgia or the Department of Treasury, or for other cause, then the District may require the Offeror to furnish new or additional bonds within ten days.

At the time of submission, Offeror must provide documentation from Offeror’s insurance broker or bond issuer stating the Offeror’s current bonding capacity, which must be sufficient to cover more than one $250,000 project. If the final contract amount changes, then Performance and Payment Bonds should be in the total amount payable by the terms of the contract, and Offeror should be prepared to have greater bonding capacity than the amount requested in this solicitation.

If selected for a contract for a particular project over $100,000 after negotiations following prequalification through this RFQ, then Offeror must obtain the required Payment and Performance Bonds within 14 calendar days receipt of the District’s Intent to Award and prior to execution of contract. Failure to obtain the required Payment and Performance Bonds within the time required may result in declaring the Offeror non-responsive https://www.e-verify.gov/employers/enrolling-in-e-verify

RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract) SCCPSS General RFQ – No Bonds- Template 3/16/26 Page 12 and non-responsible and will allow the District to cancel its award and select another Offeror from the same or different competitive process.

O. The District’s Reservation of Rights to Cancel this RFQ, to Amend the RFQ Process, to Disqualify Offerors, and to Waive Irregularities and Technicalities.

The District, in the discretion of the Purchasing Director, the Chief Financial Officer, the Superintendent, or the District’s governing body, the elected School Board, may cancel this RFQ at any time before the District executes a contract to any Offeror(s). The District may decline to purchase the goods and/or services solicited in this RFQ at all, or it may decide to purchase some or all of the same goods and/or services through a similar or different procurement process.

The District, in the discretion of the Purchasing Director, the Chief Financial Officer, the Superintendent, or the District’s governing body, the elected School Board, reserves the right to amend this RFQ and all attachments in any way and at any time (without cancelling it in its entirety) before the deadline for the submission of Qualifications Packages. Any addenda amending this RFQ will be made available to all Offerors on the District’s website. As stated above, the submission deadline will be extended at least seventy-two (72) hours if any addenda are issued less than seventy-two (72) hours before the submission deadline.

The District further reserves the right to amend this RFQ in any way after the deadline for the submission of

Qualifications Statements (without cancelling the RFQ in its entirety), except the District will not amend the original proposal formatting or submission requirements or the criteria for determining whether the Offeror is a “responsive” or “responsible” Offeror. Non-exclusive example of such an amendment to this RFQ may be the addition of an inadvertent omission from the project specifications.

The District further reserves the right to redo any stage of this RFQ (without cancelling it in its entirety) if the

District, in the discretion of the Purchasing Director, the Chief Financial Officer, the Superintendent, or the District’s governing body, the elected School Board, has concerns that a stage of the RFQ should be redone to eliminate any question of whether it was conducted properly.

The District reserves the right to reject any and all Qualifications Statements submitted in response to this RFQ, and to waive any irregularities or technicalities in Qualifications Statements received whenever such rejection or waiver is in the best interest of the District.

The District has the right to disqualify a proposal of any Offeror on the basis that the proposal is

“nonresponsive” or the Offeror is “not responsible.”

A proposal shall be deemed “nonresponsive” if it fails to include all of the information or documents required by this RFQ. Accordingly, Offerors should carefully review this solicitation to determine all of the forms and additional documentation, such as business licenses, corporate registrations, insurance certificates, and tax documents, that will be required for submission. Forms with signature blocks should be signed, and forms with notary blocks should be signed in the presence of a notary and notarized.

An Offeror shall be deemed “not responsible” if the District determines that the Offeror fails to meet the minimal requirements to be eligible for consideration, including but not limited to, a lack of capacity to do the work or provide the services requested, a lack of proper insurance, the lack of a valid business license, failure to satisfy e-Verify requirements, negative past performance ratings on District projects, being disqualified from working for the District because of poor performance on a prior project, a litigation history unsatisfactory to the District, or some other reason that gives the District reason to question the responsibility or reliability of the Offeror.

The District will also evaluate whether the Offeror’s workload will allow the Offeror to complete this project within the established time, quality, or cost, or to comply with the Offeror’s contract obligations. In evaluating the Offeror’s workload, the District may consider whether the Offeror has submitted bids, offerors, or Qualifications Statements on other District projects and whether the award of multiple projects to the Offeror may impair the Offeror’s ability to complete this project within the established time, quality, or cost, or to comply with the Offeror’s contract obligations or otherwise pose a risk to the District.

RFQ C27-08 “As Needed” Geotechnical Engineering, Special Inspections and Materials Testing (Annual Contract) SCCPSS General RFQ – No Bonds- Template 3/16/26 Page 13

The District reserves the right to request an Offeror to provide additional information in response to any concern that an Offeror may not be a “responsible” Offeror. Failure to provide the requested additional information, in itself, will be sufficient grounds for the District to declare the Offeror to be not “responsible” for the purposes of this RFQ.

Offerors represent that, to the best of their knowledge, all information that they submit to the District in response to this RFQ, whether through a proposal or otherwise, is true and correct. If the District determines that information submitted by the Offeror is incorrect, the District may disqualify a proposal as “non-responsive.” If the District determines that an Offeror intentionally misrepresented information submitted in response to the RFQ, the District may disqualify the Offeror on the basis that it is “not responsible” for this solicitation and in future solicitations.

P. Public Information.

It is the policy of the District that after an announcement is made as a result of this solicitation by a final decisionmaker under board that a list of Offerors has been prequalified under this RFQ, the contents of all Qualifications Statements will be placed in the public domain and be open to inspection by interested parties.

Trade secrets or proprietary information that are recognized as such and are protected by law may be withheld, if clearly identified as such in the proposal. Failure to list all proprietary sections of the submitted proposal shall relieve the District from any responsibility should such information be viewed by the public, a competitor, or be in any way accidentally released.

If this RFQ is cancelled before a selection of prequalified Offerors is made, proposals will not be made available for public inspection, except as may be required by law, to prevent Offerors from having an unfair advantage in future solicitations for the same goods or services.

Q. Offeror Questions, Requests for Interpretations, Requests for Material Substitution of Products, Services or Contract Terms, and Issuance of Addenda.

If an Offeror should have any questions relating to an RFQ, including but not limited to the interpretation of RFQ language, the specifications for the goods and/or services requested and/or requests for the substitution of different materials, products, or services, the terms of sample contract provisions attached to this solicitation and/or requests to propose different contract, the preparation of submission of Qualifications Packages, or the evaluation and contract award process outlined in this RFQ, the Offeror may deliver written requests for interpretation or requests for the substitution of products, services, or contract terms to the Purchasing Department through the e-Procurement portal at https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com.

When reference is made in the specifications as to a particular manufacturer, type of process, brand name, or model number, such references are usually, but not always, made to designate minimum acceptable levels of quality and do not indicate a preference. In some instances, a particular manufacturer, type of process, or brand name is required.

In the event an Offeror would like to propose another manufacturer, process, brand name, model number, etc. other than those stated in the specifications for this RFQ, the Offeror must provide complete technical information, specifications,…