Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

Solicitation #: 2026-02

Project Name: Architecture/Engineering Professional Services for Small Projects

Date Advertised: January 30, 2026

Note: This public body does not discriminate against faith-based organizations, nor does it discriminate against a bidder or offeror because of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other basis prohibited by the laws of the State of South Carolina, including the South Carolina Human Affairs Law (S.C. Code Ann. § 1-13-80) and applicable provisions of the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code (S.C. Code Ann. Title 11, Chapter 35).

Transmittal Page Vendors shall complete all information requested on this page and submit it with their qualifications:

Submission:

Qualifications will ONLY be accepted electronically via the Town’s procurement Portal which can be accessed using the link below:

hiltonheadislandsc.bonfirehub.com/portal

Date Advertised: January 30, 2026

Solicitation Number: 2026-02

Description/Title: Architecture/Engineering Professional Services for Small Projects

Qualifications Submittal Deadline: 5:00 pm Eastern Time on February 24, 2026

* Submittals will not be accepted after the stated time and date.

Submittals will be publicly opened via virtual conference at 9:30 am Eastern Time on

February 25, 2026. The link to participate in the virtual opening is provided in Section I of this RFQ.

Deadline for Questions: 5:00 pm Eastern Time on February 17, 2026

Questions should be submitted through the Town’s Procurement Portal using the “Ask a question” button.

Town Contact:

Jessica Cummings/Contracts Administrator/ jessicac@hiltonheadislandsc.gov/ (843) 384-5104

Vendor Name: Vendor Contact Name:

Vendor Mailing Address: Vendor Contact Phone:

City-State-Zip-Code: Vendor Contact Email Address:

By signature below, I certify that this bid is submitted in all respects fairly and without collusion or fraud. I agree that this bid shall be good and held open for a period of at least sixty (60) days from the Submittal Deadline. I agree to abide by all conditions of this solicitation and certify that I am authorized to sign this bid on behalf of the bidder.

Vendor Authorized Signature:

Signature Date

Name and Title of Signatory:

Name:

Title:

https://hiltonheadislandsc.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities mailto:jessicac@hiltonheadislandsc.gov

TOWN OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND

RFQ 2026-02

Architecture/Engineering Professional Services for Small Projects

Table of Contents

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS:

I. GENERAL INFORMATION & SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

II. SCOPE OF SERVICES

III. SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS & FORMATTING

IV. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND CONTRACT AWARD

V. STANDARD CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

ATTACHMENTS:

EXHIBIT A: CHECKLIST OF SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS

EXHIBIT B: SAMPLE TOWN AGREEMENT

EXHIBIT C: SC ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ACT AFFIDAVIT

EXHIBIT D: SCOPE OF SERVICES

EXHIBIT E: HOURLY RATE SCHEDULE

TOWN OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND

RFQ 2026-02

Architecture/Engineering Professional Services for Small

Projects

I. GENERAL INFORMATION AND SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

The Town of Hilton Head Island (“Town”) is soliciting sealed qualifications from qualified providers (“Offeror” or “Contractor”) to provide Architecture/Engineering Professional Services for Small Projects in accordance with the specifications provided herein.

Qualifications must be submitted by the Submittal Deadline shown on the Transmittal Page.

Qualifications will ONLY be accepted electronically via the Town’s Procurement Portal which can be accessed using the following link hiltonheadislandsc.bonfirehub.com. If electronic submittal poses a hardship, please notify the Town Contact person identified on the Transmittal Page.

Qualifications will be publicly opened via virtual conference at the date and time indicated on the Transmittal Page. Only the names of Offerors will be provided at the opening. No pricing information will be shared at that time. To participate, please use the following meeting link and information.

Virtual Proposal Opening Link and Information 9:30 am Eastern Time/February 25, 2026

Microsoft Teams meeting Join:

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/24449864328270?p=wAw McMW45ChKQegKp2 Meeting ID: 244 498 643 282 70 Passcode: aH7FV6uK

All questions regarding this solicitation must be submitted in writing via the Town’s Procurement Portal using the “Ask a question” button. Questions will be publicly answered via the Procurement Portal. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to check the “Public Q&A” tab under the “Messages” section on the procurement portal to access and review all vendor Q&A. Addendums may be issued for additional information and would also be posted via the Procurement Portal. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to check the Procurement Portal for any addendums issued.

The Town reserves the right to accept or reject any or all qualifications received in response to this solicitation, or to cancel in part or in its entirety this request for proposal, https://hiltonheadislandsc.bonfirehub.com/portal https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/24449864328270?p=wAwMcMW45ChKQegKp2 https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/24449864328270?p=wAwMcMW45ChKQegKp2 if it is in the best interests of the Town. The Town reserves the right to refuse any and all qualifications and to waive any technicalities and formalities. The Town reserves the right to waive any mandatory requirements in this solicitation if such requirement is unmet by the majority of Offeror’s, and such a waiver is determined to be in the best interest of the Town.

This solicitation does not commit the Town to award a contract or issue a purchase order to procure any articles of goods or services. The Town shall not incur or pay for any costs associated with the preparation of Offeror qualifications.

The Town does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex [including pregnancy and childbirth (or related medical conditions)], religion, age or disability in employment or in the provision of goods and services.

The Town is committed to providing opportunities for disadvantaged businesses (small, women-owned, and minority-owned, etc.) to fully and fairly compete for contracts and to supply goods and services to the Town of Hilton Head Island. In the event of a tied bid, a certified disadvantaged business will be awarded the contract over a non-disadvantaged business. Ties between two businesses of the same status will be settled by a random selection. To be considered, disadvantaged businesses must submit proof of current government certification with their bid.

The Town offers a Local Vendor Certification. Certified local vendors will receive a 5% price reduction, up to a maximum of $10,000, for bid evaluation purposes. This preference only applies to the evaluation, not the final contract price. To be eligible, vendors must be certified by the Town before the bid submission deadline and include a copy of the certification with their bid. A copy of the Local Vendor Certification Form can be found in the Public Files Tab of this solicitation and can also be found on the Town’s Website:

Https://hiltonheadislandsc.gov/business/vendorpreference/

The Town is required under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, to upon request, make public and disclose all documents of, and documents incidental to, executed contractual arrangements. Therefore, Offerors, by submitting a bid in response to this solicitation, are acknowledging that all materials submitted in their response may be subject to such disclosure, regardless of any labeling of materials as “confidential” or “proprietary” or other similar notations.

II. SCOPE OF SERVICES

The scope of services is provided in Exhibit D of this RFQ.

III. SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS AND FORMATTING

Offerors are REQUIRED to submit all requested information and/or documentation outlined https://hiltonheadislandsc.gov/business/vendorpreference/ in this section of the solicitation. Any Offeror failing to do so may have their proposal rejected as being non-responsive and making them ineligible for contract award. Offeror must complete and return with their proposal the “Checklist of Submittal Requirements”, a copy of which is included in this solicitation as Exhibit A. Offeror shall submit the following information in their submittal:

For the Scope of Services requested in Exhibit D, please provide in your submittal the following information and format your submittal into sections as noted below:

Section A: Proposed approach and work plan for providing the required services as described in the Scope of Services. The work plan should include a proposed timeline with milestones identified.

Section B: Provide details of the firm’s experience in providing the requested services. Describe firm’s experience on similar projects.

Section C: For key personnel or principals that will be assigned to the project, provide resumes and a summary of their experience on similar projects.

Section D: Please provide a minimum of three (3) client references. Please take note of the following as it pertains to references:

• References for clients where the work performed were similar in size and scope are preferred and will be given more weight than those not of similar size and scope. The Town shall be sole determiner on whether a project is of “similar size and scope”.

• The Town will only be evaluating three (3) references. If more than the number requested are provided, Town will start at the beginning of the list and work down until the desired number of responses have been obtained. Town is not obligated to make more than a single attempt to contact a listed reference.

• If less than the requested number of references are provided, OR the

Town is unable to obtain the desired number of responses, this will be reflected in the scoring of your proposal.

• The Town is not responsible for incorrect reference contact information.

• The Town reserves the right to only check references on those Offerors deemed to be “finalists” after initial scoring of qualifications.

Section E: Please provide the total cost of your proposal in this section on the form and in the format provided (Exhibit E). Proposed Pricing will not be shared with the committee in the evaluation of submittals but instead will form the basis for contract negotiations with the selected firm. Costs must be in an hourly rate format by role and shall be all-inclusive. Travel costs for any resultant work will be reimbursed at cost, based on the Government Services Administration (“GSA”) rate for the area where the work is performed, or for the mode of transportation utilized. THIS PRICING INFORMATION SHALL BE

SUBMITTED AS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT ATTACHMENT AND NOT PACKAGED

TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER QUALIFICATION MATERIAL REQUESTED.

IV. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND CONTRACT AWARD

The Town reserves the right to award multiple contracts for all or part of the scope of work, or to cancel this solicitation in part or in whole, if in the best interests of the Town. Contract award shall be made to the responsive and responsible Offeror(s) with the highest rated proposal based on the stated evaluation criteria. Contract award, as well as contract continuation of the contract in subsequent fiscal periods, is subject to availability of Town funds.

CRITERIA

The qualifications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

1. Overall Qualifications: Demonstrated understanding of the scope of work as reflected by proposal - to include project design, methodology and approach. (40%)

2. Quality of Work and Experience: Demonstrated quality of work on projects of similar scale and complexity performed for referenced clients, includes qualifications and experience of personnel to be assigned to the project.

(40%)

3. References: Level of satisfaction expressed regarding the quality and timeliness of the work performed and with the demonstrated technical skills, responsiveness, attention to detail and overall performance of assigned personnel. (The Town reserves the right to only check references on those Offerors deemed to be "finalists" after initial scoring of qualifications.) (20%)

A selection committee comprised of Town staff will review and score responses based on the above selection criteria.

Those responses deemed susceptible for award may be required to meet with the selection committee to review their response in person, which will factor into the scoring for making contract award.

Contract award(s), as well as contract continuation of the contract(s) in subsequent fiscal periods, is subject to availability of Town funds. In the event that contract negotiations with the highest rated Offeror(s) are unsuccessful, the Town reserves the right to begin contract negotiations with next highest rated Offeror(s).

V. STANDARD CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Offeror acknowledges it has read and understands the terms and conditions provided in the Town’s standard contract clauses attached hereto as Exhibit B, and Offeror also agrees that such clauses shall substantially form the basis for a contract between Offeror and Town.

Offeror also acknowledges that terms and conditions provided in this RFQ, either in their entirety or relevant portions thereof, may be included and become part of any resulting contract.

The Town intends to award a contract, or contracts, for an initial period of one (1) year with the option to extend the contract up to four (4) additional one (1) year terms. The Town will not be obligated to quantities beyond actual requirements reflected in individual Job Orders.

There is no minimum or maximum amount of work guaranteed throughout the life of the contract.