846348waterRmond.pdf

CITY OF RICHMOND

DEPARTMENT OF PROCUREMENT SERVICES

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

(804) 646-5716

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Request For Proposal No. 270005805 for Water Annual Engineering Services

Due Date & Time: Friday, October 30, 2026 2:00 pm

Solicitation Prepared by:

Name: Jen Worley

Title: Sr. Procurement Analyst

Telephone: (804) 646-5810

Email: jen.worley1@rva.gov

Department of Procurement Services https://www.rva.gov/index.php/procurement-services/solicitations

City of Richmond

Water Annual Engineering Services

1. Statement of Need

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Requirements and Deliverables

1.3. Proposal Contents

1.4. Evaluation Criteria

2. Instructions to Offerors

2.1. Interpretations

2.2. Preparation of Proposals

2.3. Warranties and Representations of Offeror

2.4. Submission of Proposals

2.5. Evaluation and Selection Process

2.6. Award and Execution of Contract

3. General Terms and Conditions

3.1. Duration of Contract

3.2. Contractor Responsibilities

3.3. Payment

3.4. Indemnification and Insurance

3.5. Assignment, Delegation and Subcontracting

3.6. Remedies and Termination

3.7. Dispute Resolution

3.8. Miscellaneous Provisions

3.9. Additional Provisions

4. Forms and Attachments

4.1. RFP Vendor Questionnaire

4.2. Attachments

Attachments:

#270005805 Title: Water Annual Engineering Services

A - SIGNATURE_SHEET_(RFP)

C - STATE_CORPORATION_COMMISSION_FORM_(1)

D - CONSENT_TO_ACCEPT_ELECTRONIC_SIGNATURES (3)

E - Goods_&_Services_Contract_-_Example

F - MBE-ESB_-_5_Past_Good_Faith_Efforts_Form

G - Minority Business Development Cover Letter for RFP Forms - Updated

1162025

H - MBE-ESB_-_2_Participation_Commitment_Form

I - MBE-ESB_-_4_Good_Faith_Effort_Form_Fillable

J - MBE-ESB-1 Participation Commitment Form

K - myCOI Sample Certificate

L - Attachment L_(for information only)

M - Billing_Rate_Proposal_Form (do not submit until City requests)

N - AE RFP_Roster (do not submit until City requests)

1. Statement of Need

1.1. Introduction

1.1.1. Purpose

The City of Richmond, Virginia (the “City”), on behalf of the Department of Public Utilities (“DPU”), seeks proposals through competitive negotiation for professional services to establish a contract for on-call services to support utility surveying, planning, investigation, engineering and architectural design, permitting and plan review support, bidding, construction, operations, and overall engineering support for capital improvement program (“CIP”) projects and larger operations and maintenance projects for DPU's

Water Utility. The Water Utility currently covers water treatment, distribution, pumping, storage, service lines, and associated infrastructure. The City issues this Request for Proposals pursuant to the authority in section 21-68(c) of the Richmond City Code (see also Virginia Code section 2.2-4302.2).

1.1.2. Background

The City has developed a capital improvement plan in which a large number of CIP projects have been planned and over the next ten years will be funded. Additional CIP projects may arise based on available funding and prioritization of needs by the City. See Attachment L– AE Presentation - For Information

Only for an overview of DPU’s CIP.

Due to the evolving nature of the CIP and complex engineering projects, the City is seeking engineering firms who can support City staff “on-call” as tasks and projects arise, or new priorities come to light. If awarded, the Contractor must foster collaborative and professional relationships with the City and key project stakeholders (i.e. regulatory and permitting agencies, railroads, federal and state funding agencies, construction managers, construction contractors, equipment manufacturers, developers), which is important since the Contractor(s) awarded will represent the City’s interests in dealings with subcontractors, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and others providing goods and services to CIP projects. It is vital that the City and Contractor(s) have a professional relationship characterized by mutual trust, respect, and effective communication.

The City operates the water treatment plant and water distribution system as the City of Richmond

Waterworks, PWSID 4760100. The waterworks operating permit allows for up to 132 MGD water production, has nine pressure zones, ten tanks including the Byrd Park Reservoir, and multiple interconnects with surrounding counties.

Most projects requiring professional design services for the Water Utility revolve around providing safe and reliable water treatment, pumping and distribution, by identifying and upgrading obsolete or old infrastructure, identifying and renewing vulnerable portions of the distribution system, and responding to new or anticipated regulatory changes.

1.1.3. Pre-Proposal Meeting

There will be a Non-Mandatory pre-proposal meeting at 2:00 pm on Thursday, October 15, 2026, in Microsoft Teams meeting Join:

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/262510482724847?p=2IfMhjbAmR9qEdcFta Meeting ID: 262 510 482

724 847 Passcode: hU2d4ip9 ________________________________________ Dial in by phone +1 804-

316-9457,,595077024# United States, Richmond Phone conference ID: 595 077 024#.

1.2. Requirements and Deliverables

1.2.1. General Scope

A. If requested by the City through a Task Order, the Contractor shall perform services that may include, but are not limited to the following on City, state, or federally funded Water Utility projects:

1. Studies, planning, master planning, assessment of needs, prioritization, and ranking of recommended actions

2. Inspection, including CCTV and condition assessment

3. Topographic, structural, and utility surveying

4. Testing, including geotechnical and environmental

5. Sampling, including water quality and soils

6. Cultural and environmental resource assessments

7. Design, including conceptual, preliminary, advanced, utility relocation, and bid-ready design package development

8. Support for intra-governmental coordination, including submission of required forms and documents and incorporation of comments into designs

9. Design management

10. Project management

11. Modeling

12. Permitting and regulatory review applications

13. Public right-of-way and private easement acquisition

14. Bid phase services

15. Construction management

16. Monitoring

17. Support for stakeholder coordination, including with railroads, the public, and DPU and City leadership

18. Safety, security resiliency and emergency preparedness

19. Risk management

20. Budget management

21. Cost of service and rate studies

22. Project quality assurance and quality control

23. Constructability review

24. Value engineering

25. Project schedule review and delay claim analysis

26. Expert testimony

27. Consultation, serving as Professional Advisor, including advising and consulting with the

City on critical or complex utilities issues as requested, and for alternative project delivery methods (such as Design-Build or Construction Management at Risk) for construction projects

28. In times of declared emergency response or when directed, providing damage assessments or engineering as required for the restoration of critical and essential utility services

29. Other utility related projects as assigned

B. Task orders may involve any portion or combination of stages of the typical project lifecycle.

C. In accordance with Part 3 of this Request for Proposals, multiple awards are intended to be awarded through this solicitation. Award of this contract does not guarantee work. Work will be issued by the City through Task Orders, which will more specifically define scope purpose, functions, criteria, and requirements for a particular project or task.

1.2.2. Utility-Specific Scope

A. Typical Task Orders issued by the City may involve, but are not limited to, the following water-specific systems and facilities:

1. Water Treatment Plant

a. Source water conveyance and headworks

b. Raw water intake structures, dams, sluice gate, feeder channel, and canal

c. Pre-treatment

d. Raw water screening and pumping

e. Flocculation and coagulation

f. Sedimentation

g. Filtration

h. Chlorination/chloramination

i. Finished water storage

j. Residuals removal and disposal

k. Treated water pumping

l. Chemical systems (alum, sodium hypochlorite, potassium permanganate, lime, ammonia, powdered activated carbon, fluoride, zinc orthophosphate, and sodium hydroxide)

m. Floodwall

n. Laboratory facilities

2. Water Distribution System

a. Water transmission and distribution piping systems, including operational valves and fire hydrants

b. Water pumping stations

c. Water storage tanks and reservoirs

d. Metering vaults

e. Pressure reducing valve (PRV) stations

3. Supporting Infrastructure

a. SCADA systems (including distributed process and programmable logic control)

b. Electrical transmission and distribution systems and equipment

B. Typical Task Orders issued by the City may involve, but are not limited to, following water-specific programs and tasks:

1. Treatment and delivery of water per State and Federal regulations, Richmond operating permits, and Richmond design manuals

2. Water treatment plant, pumping and storage process and equipment improvements and rehabilitation

3. Water distribution and transmission system piping improvements (new installation and renewal program)

4. Water meter replacement and relocation program

5. Water distribution system hydraulic modeling utilizing InfoWater (preferred or similar software) and ESRI ArcGIS software

6. Cost of service and rate studies

7. Contamination detection

8. Leak detection and water loss surveys

9. Drought and water supply planning and analysis

10. Risk assessment and water treatment emergency response plan updates

11. Lead free water (lead service line identification and abatement) program

12. Cross connection program

13. Review of plans for water service modifications and main line extensions to support development

1.2.3. General Requirements

A. Any person having overall responsibility for program management and coordination of disciplines must be a Professional Engineer, registered and licensed by the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation in accordance with requirements of the Code of

Virginia. A Virginia licensed Professional Engineer shall oversee, manage and be responsible for execution for all assigned work as directed.

B. The contract program manager will serve as primary point of contact for the Contractor for administration of the contract. The contract program manager shall verify that any state certifications required to perform the assigned tasks have been successfully obtained by the appropriate staff prior to initiating the activity.

C. Each deliverable shall be delivered in a timely manner and in accordance with the schedule set forth on a Task Order.

D. The Contractor shall submit and maintain detailed project schedules in a mutually agreed upon format throughout the course of the contract to include, at minimum, project milestones, critical path, actual

vs. scheduled completion dates, and actual vs. scheduled costs.

E. The Contractor and subcontractors must have internal control systems in place that meet federal requirements for accounting. These systems must comply with requirements of 48 C.F.R. Pt. 31, “Federal Acquisition Regulations, Contract Cost Principles and Procedures,” and 23 C.F.R. Pt. 172, “Administration of Negotiated Contracts.” The Contractor and subcontractors must submit their

Federal Acquisition Regulations audit data to the City within ten (10) working days of being notified of selection for final billing rate negotiation.

F. The Contractor shall be familiar with and operate in accordance with the Richmond City Code, the

Code of Virginia, applicable City regulations, policies, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

G. The Contractor shall comply with any additional requirements imposed by the federal or state governments for projects that are funded with federal or state grant or revolving loan funds.

H. Records Management.

1. As requested by the City, the Contractor shall file and index all records generated by the

Contractor for the purpose of providing the services required pursuant to this Contract, including, but not limited to, those records pertaining to projects which are ongoing, paused, and completed.

Such records shall be filed and indexed in accordance with the DPU Records Management

Program policies and guidelines.

2. Unless an alternative retention time is required by the City, the Contractor shall retain all records pertaining to the services provided by Contractor pursuant to this Contract for the duration of this

Contract and for a period up to but not to exceed three years from the completion of the Contract.

Such records shall include, but not be limited to, all paid vouchers for all expenses; other reimbursements supported by invoices, including Contractor’s copies of periodic estimates for any payment legers; cancelled checks; deposit slips; bank statements; journals; contract amendments and change orders; insurance documents; payroll documents; timesheets;

memoranda; and correspondence. Such records shall be available at all times to the City on demand and without advanced notice during the Contractor’s normal working hours.

3. Unless an alternative retention time is required by the City, the Contractor shall retain its work product for the duration of this Contract and for a period up to but not to exceed three years from the completion of the Contract.

4. The Contractor shall, within 60 calendar days of termination or expiration of the Contract, deliver to the City all original records and copies retained by Contractor. Such records and copies shall be prepared, purged of duplicate and non-records, sorted, indexed, assigned a disposition and retention schedule, and boxed by the Contractor as directed by the City in accordance with the

DPU Records Management Program polices and guidelines.

5. All materials which have been approved for retention shall be monitored for compliance with the required record disposition set forth in the applicable Records Management Program policies.

Such copies may be requested and required to be destroyed at the discretion of the City.

I. Software and Hardware.

1. The Contractor shall utilize Trimble Unity Connect (“TUC”) or Trimble Project Site and associated processes developed by the City for project management and coordination as directed by the City on each Task Order, including but not limited to enterprise-level scheduling, enterprise-level funding and budget estimating/forecasting, document control, coordination of milestone submittals and reviews, invoicing, inspection reports, change management, and risk management. The City will provide licenses and access to the Contractor for use of the City’s

TUC programs, training material, and reference guides. This project management software shall be utilized in conjunction with the assigned program or projects. Hours spent on training shall be considered part of the Contractor’s overhead.

2. All hardware and software, unless stated otherwise in this section, necessary to fulfill the scope of work required by this Contract is considered to be part of the Contractor's overhead costs and will not be reimbursed by the City.

J. Quality of Work and Standard of Care.

1. Unless specifically otherwise required by an issued Task Order, design professionals, including engineers, surveyors, and architects employed by the Contractor or serving as a subcontractor of the Contractor for work performed under this Contract, must exercise the ordinary skill and care of reasonably prudent members of their profession, practicing under similar circumstances and in the same or similar locality. The Contractor shall be responsible for the work performed by the

Contractor and by the Contractor’s subcontractors, and for providing a professional level of service, including the technical accuracy and coordination of all design, calculations, reports, cost estimates, and other work or materials provided. The project documents submitted by the

Contractor shall represent an effective, functional, reasonable, code compliant, and acceptable solution based on the scope of work, budget limitations and other constraints of the Contract. All work must be in accordance with current industry-established criteria, guides, and specifications, and shall conform to industry standards. All elements of the Contractor's submittals shall be checked by personnel trained in appropriate specific discipline.

1.2.4. Contract Administration

A. Quarterly Progress.

1. The Contract Program Manager shall attend quarterly contract management meetings with the

City to receive updates and discuss feedback. Performance evaluation of the Contractor may take place at the completion of each contract term. The City’s Vendor Performance

Evaluation Form shall be used for each evaluation and results shall be on record and distributed to the Contractor.

B. Contract Renewal Submittals.

1. At least 90 calendar days before the expiration of the then-current term, the Contractor shall submit updated Billing Rate Proposals and updated rosters for the prime firm and primary subconsultants, including all MBE firms for the upcoming term.

2. The roster must reflect individuals projected to work on the Contract during the upcoming term if the Contract is renewed or extended. The roster shall include name, labor category from current contract period, proposed labor category for upcoming contract period, title within company, raw payroll rate, loaded labor rate, and proposed categorical loaded labor rate. The Contractor shall submit a certified payroll to accompany the roster. The rosters and

Billing Rate Proposals shall be submitted in Microsoft Office Excel format.

C. Bill Rate and Roster Changes.

1. The Department of Procurement Services may permit Contractor-initiated rate and roster adjustments at the time of Contract renewal. No rate increase shall exceed the percentage increase/decrease of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index (“ECI”) for wages and salaries (Table 9 - not seasonally adjusted), Professional, Scientific and Technical

Services for the latest 12 months for which statistics are available at the time the adjustment is requested. At the sole discretion of the City, other appropriate occupational/industry groups from the ECI Table 9 may be used for non-construction-related positions if adequately justified. In addition, no rate increase for an individual categorical rate shall exceed the effort-weighted average of loaded labor rates of individuals proposed for the category.

2. No rate increase or shifting of personnel into differing labor categories will be authorized for

365 calendar days after the Commencement Date of the Contract. Rate adjustment and adjustment of category assignments to personnel may be permitted only at the time of contract renewal and only where verified to the satisfaction of the Department of

Procurement Services. The Contractor shall give not less than 90 calendar days advance written notice of any proposed rate increases to the Department of Procurement Services and

DPU. Personnel may be added or removed from the roster at the time of renewal. Proposed personnel should reflect those individuals anticipated to work on the Contract during the upcoming contract period.

3. The Department of Procurement Services will notify the using agencies and the Contractor in writing of the effective date of any rate adjustment and roster adjustment that it approves. The new rates will only be applied to purchase orders issued after the effective date of the rate adjustment. The Contractor shall fulfill and bill against all purchase orders using Contract rates in place at the time the purchase order was issued. Staff shall be billed according to the category assigned in the roster at the time the purchase order was issued. Additional labor categories may be added at the time of contract renewal.

D. Addition of Staff Mid-Contract Period.

1. The Contractor may utilize staff who are not included in the roster at the time of contract issuance or renewal. The Contractor shall notify the City's Project Manager and DPS before the individual to be added works on a Task Order. The Contractor shall provide name, firm title, raw labor rate, and proposed labor category. The City may request certified payroll and other credentials to substantiate the labor category. The City may reject inclusion of the individual in the proposed labor category with just cause and in writing. If the individual to be added has an individual loaded labor rate more than 15% lower than any existing categorical loaded billing rate, the individual shall be billed at their individual loaded labor rate using overhead and profit agreed to in this Contract.

E. Addition of Labor Categories.

1. Addition of labor categories is permitted mid-term with an executed contract modification and accompanying updated roster.

F. Use of Task Order Code on Submissions and Invoices.

1. The City and the Contractor shall note the Task Order name and number code on all documents, correspondence, memoranda, invoices, submittals and other related material prepared or generated for work performed under this Contract. The Contractor shall require that the project identifier is shown on all submittals, correspondence, and other documents generated by the Contractor and its subcontractors for work performed under this Contract. If a project is not subdivided into sub-projects, the parties shall use the project code on the Task

Order. Otherwise, the parties shall use the applicable subproject code.

G. Invoicing.

1. Invoices shall show the cost billed during the invoice period by subtask and indicate the authorized work completed during the invoicing period by subtask and other notes which clarify major decisions regarding the management of the Task Order. An overrun of billing on a subtask is only allowed with prior written authorization from the City Project Manager with written confirmation from the Contractor that the total Task Order authorization amount will not be exceeded. The reporting of these costs and information shall be in such form and detail as required by the City. The City shall notify the Contractor of defects or deficiencies in the invoice, including supporting data, after receipt of invoice, and payment of approved invoices, or portions thereof, shall be made within time allotted for in the Contract.

H. Task Order Changes.

1. Changes in scope of work set forth in the Task Order will be documented through the execution of a task order modification along with a new purchase order or an increase to an existing purchase order corresponding to the Task Order. Any Task Order modification required that increases the original Task Order limit amount must be requested in writing by the Contractor with justification and breakdown of cost increase before the work is completed and must have the prior approval of the City.

1.3. Proposal Contents

The proposal must include all of the information set forth in this section 1.3 ("Proposal Contents") and be organized as set forth herein. The Offeror shall submit its proposal via the section, "Vendor

Questionnaire"

1.3.1. Contents

Submissions shall be electronic and in accordance with requirements of OpenGov instructions. Electronic submissions shall be portable document format (“PDF”) and searchable. Pages are defined as electronic pages in a PDF format. In other words, the front and back of a single sheet of printed paper would be considered two (2) electronic pages in this proposal submission. Simple divider or cover sheets may be added and do not count towards page counts. Submissions shall utilize minimum 11 font size, 8.5” by 11” paper size unless otherwise specified, and 1” margins on all sides.

A. TAB 1 - Signed Forms and Certifications. This tab should include the completed and signed

Signature Sheet, Addenda Acknowledgement, State Corporation Commission Form, and Office of Minority Business Development Forms included with this Request for Proposals.

1. This tab must include the following statement, signed by the Offeror’s contractually binding authority: By submitting its proposal, {Insert Legal Name of Offeror} (the “Offeror”) certifies and represents that the information that the Offeror provides in response to this

Request for Proposals is accurate and complete as of the date of such submission. If the

Offeror provides no information in response to any of the requirements of this Request for

Proposals, then the Offeror, by submitting its proposal, certifies and represents that such requirements do not apply because no information exists that would respond to the requirement. The Offeror further covenants that, during the time between the submission of its proposal and the City’s announcement of its decision to award the Contract, the Offeror will furnish the City with any changes or additions to such information necessary to ensure that this information remains accurate, complete and up-to-date.

B. TAB 2 – Summary and Differentiators. This tab should provide a summary of the Offeror’s understanding of the scope of work and proposal contents. This tab should highlight any unique differentiators or strengths of the Offeror. The summary should not exceed four (4) pages.

C. TAB 3 - History of the Firm and Business Organizational Structure. This tab should not exceed three (3) pages. Provide a brief history of the firm, overview of services provided by the firm, years in business, and legal structure. This tab must include:

1. If a corporation:

a. The state of incorporation;

b. The date of incorporation;

c. The principal place of business;

d. The Federal I. D. number;

e. Whether the corporation is a Subchapter S corporation.

f. The name, position, address, and number of years in position of each officer and director;

and

g. The names of any affiliates, partner corporations, and subsidiaries.

2. If a limited liability company:

a. The state in which the limited liability company is organized;

b. The date organized;

c. A list of all managers of the limited liability company, including the name, telephone number, and years as a manager for each manager; and

d. A list of all members of the limited liability company, including the name, telephone number, years as a member, and membership interest for each member.

3. If a partnership:

a. The state in which the partnership was formed;

b. The date formed;

c. The type of partnership; and

d. A list of all general and limited partners, as applicable, including the name, telephone number, years as a partner, and partnership interest for each partner.

4. If a joint venture:

a. Date of formation;

b. Name and address of each joint venture partner;

c. The name and address of the principals of each joint venture partner; and

d. The percentage of interest of each joint venture partner.

5. If the Offeror is not a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or joint venture, this tab must identify the type of business entity and provide any pertinent information.

6. This tab should provide the Offeror’s total number of employees.

7. This tab should state whether the Offeror has operated under another name within the past ten years and, if so, the other name, the number of years in business under this other name, and the State Corporation Commission identification number under this name.

8. This tab must state whether the Offeror is a subsidiary or affiliate of another organization and, if so, the name and address of each parent or affiliate organization.

D. TAB 4 - Subcontracting. This tab must identify how significant subcontractor partner firms will be utilized to perform the range of services outlined in this Request for Proposals and achieve

MBE participation goals. This tab must list any of the required services that the Offeror intends to subcontract, and provide proposed subcontractor company names, reasons for subcontracting, proposed subcontractor responsibilities, years in business, proposed subcontractor’s relevant office locations, number of staff in relevant office locations, previous use by Offeror as a subcontractor, and other relevant supporting information. This section should not contain more than two (2) pages per subcontractor.

E. TAB 5 - Staffing Plan and Personnel Qualifications. This tab should include an organizational chart identifying the individuals that the Offeror proposes to perform the services required under the Contract, including major subcontractors. Do not include individuals who are not anticipated to work on this Contract. The chart must identify the office locations in which the proposed individuals are assigned. Any individuals of firms that are proposed to be subcontracted to the

Offeror should be clearly noted as such. This tab should also include a narrative summary about the organization of the team, indicating the duties, the functional responsibilities, and the designated authority of key personnel and logical groupings of individuals on the chart. This narrative summary should not exceed two (2) pages. Also include:

1. Resumes for Key Personnel

a. For each key personnel identified by the Offeror and subcontractors as applicable, the following information should be proved in resume format (max one (1) page per person):

i. Name and title;

ii. Office location and city of residence;

iii. Project responsibilities and roles;

iv. Educational background including colleges attended and degrees attained;

v. Relevant professional registrations, certifications, and memberships;

vi. Years of relevant experience;

vii. List of relevant projects they have worked on and their roles in such projects, and;

viii. Percent of time this person will be available to support this contract;

2. Summary Table for Non-Key Personnel

a. Provide a summary table listing staff names, years of experience, area of expertise, educational background, relevant professional registrations and certifications, and a brief summary of relevant experience.

F. TAB 6 - Team Experience. This tab should describe in detail the Offeror's experience and/or the experience of the “Key Personnel” proposed. Provide a maximum two (2) page narrative overview of relevant experience. Also, provide up to ten (10) representative projects or on-call contract examples from the past five (5) years that include the water-specific scope components listed in Section 1.2.2 to the extent possible.

1. It is in the Offeror’s best interest to provide examples of projects completed that presented challenging design constraints or requirements, unusual construction conditions, aggressive schedules, or unique engineering solutions. This will assist the evaluation committee in determining the Offeror’s ability to address unusual projects. To the extent possible, Offeror is encouraged to use projects or on-call contract examples from local governments in

Virginia. Each detailed project or on-call contract example should be limited to two (2) pages and shall include:

a. Description of work;

b. Services provided;

c. Amount of work subcontracted;

d. Originally estimated and actual design duration;

e. Preliminary and Final Design Fee;

f. Actual Construction Bid Cost and Engineer’s pre-bid estimate;

g. Impact (time, cost), number of, cause for, and mitigation/resolution for Construction

Change Orders. Elaborate on any changes that resulted from design errors or omissions;

h. One to three applicable photographs depicting in-progress construction or finished project

(if available);

i. Owner name and contact information (email and phone number);

j. Primary construction manager, name and contact information (email and phone number);

and

k. Any awards, recognition, or commendations related to the project.

G. TAB 7 - Project Approach. This tab should describe the Offeror’s proposal for providing the services solicited by this Request for Proposals. This section should not exceed ten (10) pages.

The Offeror should identify any unique strategies, techniques, and approaches that will best achieve the Request for Proposals' objectives. The following should be addressed:

1. Approach to meet time schedules that are project specific, respond quickly to task assignments, be able to handle multiple tasks concurrently and be able to complete tasks on accelerated schedules;

2. Construction cost estimating and tracking, including method based on AACE International

Recommended Practices;

3. Design constructability and value engineering review approaches;

4. QAQC;

5. Managing project risks;

6. Obtaining stakeholder buy-in;

7. Document management and retention, include converting and verifying old drawings for existing facilities;

8. Approach when as-built documents are missing;

9. Approach, with examples if possible, to delivering projects specifically in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Richmond, to demonstrate knowledge of local conditions, challenges, and requirements; and

10. The degree of accessibility that the Offeror will be able to provide to city officials who will be administering the contract.

H. TAB 8 - Record.

1. Terminations, Claims, and Suits.

Summarize in a table all design projects in the last five (5) years in which the Offeror failed to complete its services or was terminated for convenience, cause, negligence or default by providing the following:

a. Project name, location and description;

b. Date;

c. Owner and any other key project team members (include address and telephone number);

d. Services performed and Offeror's office performing the services (if applicable); and

e. Reason for failure to complete services or termination.

2. Arbitration/Litigation Proceedings.

Summarize in a table all arbitration proceedings or litigation in the last ten (10) years initiated by or against the Offeror related to any project design (not including non-design related accident/injury claims) by providing the following:

a. Project name, location and description;

b. Date;

c. Owner and any other key project team members (include address and telephone number);

d. Services performed;

e. Parties to the arbitration or litigation;

f. Nature of dispute;

g. Final disposition of the case;

h. Legal jurisdiction;

i. Date the case was filed; and

j. Name and address of the adverse party’s counsel and their telephone number and if applicable, the final disposition of the case.

3. Disclosures of Conflicts.

Disclose any conflicts of interest, whether existing or potential, which may affect Offeror's performance of services required under the Contract if Offeror is selected as a Contractor.

I. TAB 9 - Financial Condition. Provide audited financial statements for the past three (3) fiscal years which show reflected net worth and all such other financial information usually reflected on a financial statement of the Offeror. An independent, licensed, certified public accountant or certified public accounting firm shall have audited the statements.

1. List the insurance carriers the Offeror proposes to utilize for this Contract for the following:

a. Commercial General Liability to include construction liability coverage;

b. Errors and Omissions and Professional Liability;

c. Worker's Compensation; and

d. Automobile Liability.

1.3.2. Cost and Pricing

A. No Price Proposal. Pursuant to City Code § 21-68(b) (see also Va. Code § 2.2-4302.2), this

Request for Proposals does not request that offerors furnish estimates of man-hours or costs for services with the offeror’s proposal.

B. Negotiation of Pricing Arrangements.

1. When Submitted; Billing Rate Proposal. Offerors selected for final contract negotiation and award through the qualification-based evaluation process will be requested to submit their billing rate proposal and associated Roster and Backup Documentation according to the guidelines set forth in this section. The Offeror shall not be required and may not submit billing rates, roster, estimates of man-hours or other information pertaining to cost of services until requested by the City in the final contract negotiation stage. The Billing Rate Proposal shall be completed for the Contractor and subcontractors, including all MBE/ESB subcontractors. Within the Billing Rate Proposal, Offerors shall submit hourly categorical loaded billing rates and a breakdown of the Overhead and Profit used to derive loaded rates.

Lines will be provided for the Offeror to place additional categories not listed on the form.

The Billing Rates Proposal worksheet must be submitted electronically in both PDF and

Microsoft Excel formats upon City request.

2. Roster. Offerors shall submit a roster of personnel anticipated to perform work under this

Contract for the Contractor and subcontractors, including all MBE/ESB subcontractors. The roster must include name, title at the firm, proposed labor category, raw billing rate, and loaded categorical billing rate. The roster shall be submitted in DPF and Microsoft Excel format. Personnel shall be billed at the rate shown in the roster for the duration of the

Contract.

3. Backup Documentation. Offerors shall submit back-up documentation to substantiate overhead rates for the Contractor and primary subcontractors, including all MBE/ESB subcontractors.

4. Basis for Billing Rate Guidelines.

a. The submittals listed in Section 1.3.2 shall be derived based on the definitions contained herein.

b. Hourly Categorical Loaded Rates. The hourly categorical loaded rates proposed in the

Billing Rate Proposal should be comparable to those of similarly experienced and qualified personnel in those classifications in Richmond, Virginia or the Commonwealth of Virginia for firms providing similar services. The categorical loaded negotiated rates should be comparable to those of similarly experienced and qualified personnel in those classifications in Richmond, Virginia or the Commonwealth of Virginia for firms providing similar services. Loaded Categorical Labor Rate is the product of (Averaged

Payroll Rate x Overhead Rate) x (one + Profit Percentage).

c. Averaged Payroll Rate. Raw Payroll Rates of individuals within a categorical rate category shall be averaged to obtain the averaged payroll rate by category. Hourly rates shall be the effort-weighted average for those persons in category calculated based upon the overall level of involvement anticipated over the course of the contract. Local staff that will perform the majority of the work would be weighted more heavily than remote staff that may only bill limited work. Staff included within a category should not have a raw labor rate that differs substantially from the Averaged Payroll Rate.

d. Raw Payroll Rates shall be subject Certified Payroll Report submittals for personnel expected to be engaged and billed under the Contract. Frequency of Certified Payroll submission will be requested at Initial Submission under section 1.3.2(B)(1), Contract renewal, and in the event of any replacement, substitution, or addition of Contractor personnel covered by such Contract.

e. Overhead. Overhead rate should represent the Contractor's Allowable Indirect Cost of doing business. The accounting methods and procedures for determining overhead for construction inspection and project management services often vary. For instance, policies on vacation, sick leave, holidays and employer contributions to insurances vary from firm to firm. Methods for tracking man-hours and expenses vary depending on whether the Offeror is determining its overhead rates or the profitability of each project.

The procedures presented herein use the "tax return" approach where general materials, supplies, depreciation of computers and software, insurances, and such, are treated as general office overhead expenses.

i. Indirect costs are not considered Direct or Prime Costs associated with any particular contract for goods or services. Direct or Prime Costs are Direct Labor and Direct

Materials supported by a Scope of Work and measurable Deliverables.

ii. Allowable Indirect Costs cover services such as Corporate General and

Administrative (G&A) expenses, but exclude "non-attributable" costs, such as marketing, advertising, litigation or other legal / regulatory settlements, replacement personnel training and / or other such costs that may surface during a City's examination. Overhead Costs, including details and their origins, are subject to the

City examination, which cover Initial Submission and any subsequent Overhead Rate changes. Threshold criteria shall be subject to change by the City. The overhead component is composed of the following:

iii. Direct technical salary overhead (or "fringes") such as payroll taxes and insurances, vacation, holidays, health insurance premiums, and other benefits and of general office overhead such as administrative salaries, rent, business and liability insurances, telephone, equipment rental and depreciation, travel, promotion, etc.

iv. Provisions of office expenses, light, heat, telephone, depreciation, rental furniture, drafting equipment and engineering instruments, automobile expense, and office and drafting supplies not identifiable to a specific project.

v. Taxes and insurance other than those included as salary cost but excluding state and federal income taxes.

vi. Library and periodical expenses and other costs of keeping abreast of advances in engineering, such as attendance at technical and professional meetings and continuing education courses, seminars, and in-house training.

vii. Executive, administrative, accounting, legal, word processing, and clerical salaries and expenses (other than identifiable salaries included in salary costs and expenses), and other professional services.

viii. Business development expenses, including salaries of principals and employees so engaged.

ix. Provision for loss of productive time of technical employees. Costs of acquiring, maintaining, and repairing computers, development of software, and staff training not associated with specific projects.

f. Profit. Profit is limited to a maximum of 10% on labor and is negotiated at the Initial

Submission.

g. Markups. Markups are not permitted on other direct costs (ODC). Prime markups are not permitted on subconsultant work.

h. Technical Personnel Classifications. The following personnel classification, category, discipline and skill level descriptions are examples of those directly involved with the coordination, planning, quality control and delivery of the Contractor’s services required for the project:

i. Program Coordinator. An experienced and licensed engineer who has overall responsibility for the planning, design, coordination of all disciplines, quality assurance, and delivery of the Contractor’s services to the City. Note: A principal of the Contractor may perform this function, especially in a small firm. In larger firms a principal, associate or similarly “titled” person of the Contractor may be assigned this responsibility. Regardless of the title, the function is the same and the marked-up rate should be comparable to Project Managers of other firms in the City or economically comparable regions of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

ii. Cost Estimator. Skills required include a knowledge of building systems and components, the ability to read plans and specifications, the ability to make quantity takeoffs and apply pricing, the ability to obtain pricing information from reliable sources and adjust and apply such information to specific project conditions and the ability to present a cost estimate with the proper back up documentation.

iii. Senior Project Manager. Engineers who by education, practical experience or a combination thereof have the knowledge and skills to perform analyses, calculations, and detailing for portions of a project in a particular discipline sufficient to manage projects on behalf of the Contractor. This level person is certified, licensed or registered in the

Commonwealth of Virginia and oversees the work of others. This level person generally has more than 10 years of engineering, technical, and project management experience.

iv. Assistant Project Manager. Engineers who by education, practical experience or a combination thereof have the knowledge and skills to perform analyses, calculations, and detailing for portions of a project in a particular discipline sufficient to manage projects on behalf of the Contractor. This level person is certified, licensed or registered in the

Commonwealth of Virginia and oversees the work of others. This level person generally has less than 10 years of engineering, technical, and project management experience.

v. Engineers or Architects by Grade. Architects and Engineers who by education, practical experience or a combination of education and experience have the knowledge and skills to perform analyses, calculations, and detailing for portions of a project in a particular discipline. Depending on grade, this level person may possess any combination of a degree, experience, certificate, license, or registration and has or is obtaining experience in layouts, detailing or calculations. Such persons may be at higher grades based on having a combination of a degree, higher level of experience, and/or certification, license, or registration. This person works under the supervision of a licensed professional and/or more senior licensed professional.

vi. CADD/Drafting Supervisor. A highly experienced individual with extensive knowledge and supervisory responsibility over the office’s CADD/Drafting section.

vii. Senior CADD/Drafting Technician. A highly experienced individual with extensive knowledge and experience in CADD, drafting and GIS.

viii. Junior CADD/Drafting Technician. A less experienced or entry level CADD or drafting technician.

ix. Senior Inspector. A highly experienced individual with extensive knowledge of one or more facets of construction applicable to the specific project.

x. Specialty Inspector. A highly experienced individual with extensive knowledge of one specific facet of construction applicable to the specific project such as instrumentation and controls or tunneling.

xi. Junior Inspector. A journeyman level individual with some experience in one or more facets of construction applicable to the specific project, who will generally be working under the supervision of either a senior inspector or a project Engineer.

xii. Specification/ Report Writer. A professional level architect or engineer skilled in writing technical specifications for building and site related systems, equipment and components. The writer is also skilled in preparing contract documents and understanding the basic legal requirements and applications thereof.

xiii. Expediter/Clerical. Skills required include knowledge of the terms and procedures of the design and construction process and a proficiency in the use of word processing and spreadsheet applications used in the production of specifications, reports, and associated typing and clerical functions.

i. Special Consultants. The City may require the use of a special consultant with a particular expertise related to some feature of the project. The Contractor shall engage such a required consultant as a subcontractor, subject to the City’s approval, and incorporate such work in the services for the project. The compensation for such special consultant will be negotiated and set out in the Task Order and included in the total fee for that Task Order. The compensation for such special consultant will be negotiated and set out in the Task Order and included in the total fee for that Task Order.

j. Additional Services. The Contractor and the City normally will determine the additional services (i.e., services in addition to the “Basic Services” identified in the

Request for Proposals) required of the Contractor, and the compensation for such will be negotiated and set out in the Task Order. Once the Contract is signed, any additional routinely used personnel classifications required, other than special consultants as outlined above, must be authorized in writing by the City. Any payroll or other records documenting the authorization of work performed which was not specifically authorized as a fixed sum amount must be retained and subject to audit by the City for a period of three years following conclusion of the Contract.

k. Reimbursable Expenses.

i. The cost of home office, branch office, field office or other office space and all associated utilities, telegrams, FAX transmissions, local telephone service, long distance, and wireless phone calls, postage, general office supplies (paper, pens, binders, folders, printer/copier consumables, etc.) and all other similar expenses incurred by the Contractor in the performance of the Contract are considered by the

City to be part of the Contractor’s overhead expenses and are not separately reimbursable.

ii. The cost of reproduction of plans and specifications or requested reports will be reimbursed if approved in the Project Task Order.

iii. The City will reimburse the Contractor for the actual costs of overnight or second day shipping of submittals and shop drawings when such method of shipping is directed by the City.

iv. Travel and living expenses associated with the performance of the project scope of work that cannot be adequately sourced with personnel residing within commuting distance (within 100 miles of the State Capitol Building) or for special consultants may be compensable, if authorized by the City. Travel and living expense compensation may be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and included in the “Other

Direct Charges” fees in the Project Task Order as a lump sum amount for travel and subsistence for each particular facet of the work where travel compensation is proposed by the Contract, and deemed necessary and approved by the City. The travel and per diem rates for lodging and subsistence may not exceed the maximum amounts allowable for such expenses in the City’s Travel Policy which generally conforms with the IRS High/Low Substantiation Method. Payment for authorized travel and living expenses for project personnel may either be at a flat monthly rate or based on actual lodging, mileage, per diem rates, or other documented expenses as agreed upon between the Contractor and the City.