Consultant_Contract_-_Reference.docx

Contracts Greater than $71,000

These guidelines are NOT to be used for the selection of licensed Architects/Engineers (A/E) Federally Funded Agreements: When a project is federally funded, departments must follow the procurement guidelines provided by the funding agency when instructed. This may include using the agency’s contract terms and conditions and any supplemental templates and forms required by the terms of the award. Please contact your department procurement manager or Krista Diaz at krista.diaz@Seattle.gov if you have questions.

OPTIONS

COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION: See #1 below Departments are required to advertise for services when the contract value is $71,000 or more, except when using the Roster (see option 2 below) where the total contract value is less than $420,000.

CONSULTANT ROSTER: See #2 below Departments can direct-select any Consultant from the City’s Consultant Roster list as long as the total contract value does not exceed $420,000.

EXCEPTIONS: See #3 below There are a few rare exceptions to the competitive solicitation requirement.

#1 COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION

#1 COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION

1) COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION: Departments are required to advertise for services when the contract value is $71,000 or more, except when using the Roster (see option 2 below) where the total contract value is less than $420,000.

If no qualified firms are found on the Consultant Roster for the services that you seek, advertising is the only other option to consider.

Use the following templates & forms when advertising your project: Required Templates & Forms:

1. Approval to Proceed Package (Optional for Departments. REQUIRED for FAS). This form provides a checklist as part of a two-step approval process. Section 1 green-lights the project, while section 2 finalizes the contract package review and prepares for City execution.

WMBE IDT Review: Invite the Department WMBE team to review the Scope of Work and Inclusion Plan Requirement ahead of time to assess opportunities and determine appropriate communication/outreach.

· CBO & Council Notification form (for projects greater than $250,000 and $750,000). After this form is completed and signed by the department head, send it to your department CBO and/or Council liaison. Note: this form does not require approval from CBO/Council for contract execution, but the department should allow sufficient time to provide notice.

· Risk Management Checklist. This is an internal risk assessment form.

· Insurance Requirements Transmittal Form . After completing the Risk Management Checklist, complete this transmittal form for the solicitation and attach to the RFP/Q. This form instructs the Consultant's insurance broker on the required insurance and submittal requirements. At a minimum, projects valued at $71,000 or greater will require proof of standard insurance certification.

· RFP / RFQ Solicitation Boilerplate (Create in OpenGov) Use the appropriate OpenGov RFP/RFQ template to draft your solicitation and to invite Consultants to participate.

NOTE: This template already includes the Consultant Questionnaire (w/Equal Benefits declaration), WMBE Inclusion Plan and the Standard/Roster Agreement Template, and located in the submittal response section within OpenGov.

RFP / RFQ Step-by-Step Planner (recommended)

· Advertisement: Prepare an advertisement and send it to the Daily Journal of Commerce (required) once the RFQ is ready to advertise. 2-days minimum advertisement is required. The ad should include a brief description of the services sought, Department contact information, website to obtain full solicitation documents and addenda, and submittal due date. Do not send the actual RFP/RFQ to the DJC.

Email to legals@djc.com and include invoicing instructions and ad dates. In the body of the email, reference City of Seattle Official City Newspaper blanket contract # (search in Masterworks). Send to DJC before 2 PM the day(s) prior to your project’s official release date.

Note: keep in mind that departments pay per line, so please be mindful of the length of your advertisement.

AMENDMENTS

For all amendments, follow the amendment guidelines in the Consultant Contracting Guidelines to find out if an amendment is applicable to your Work:

Agreements that are advertised do not have any maximum bid limit or threshold amounts governed by SMC unless the administering department has adopted a cost-control policy for amendments. Cost escalations are instead dependent on changes to the scope of work, project schedule, negotiated rates and any other appropriate changes authorized by amendment.

#2 CONSULTANT ROSTER

2) CONSULTANT ROSTER: Departments can direct-select any Consultant from the City’s Consultant Roster list or solicit to the entire service category as long as the total contract value does not exceed $420,000. http://web6.seattle.gov/fas/registration/ click on "Advanced Search" to view filter options.

· IMPORTANT: A Consultant that is “Approved” to the Consultant Roster will have an asterisk “*” next to the Roster category title to indicate that the Consultant is approved to provide those services under the Roster program.

· If the Consultant is only registered, but not “Approved”, you cannot use the Roster selection process for procurement.

· If you already know the Consultant you want to use, you can direct-select the Consultant for Work from the Roster list.

· If you know of a Consultant firm that is not on the Roster list, but is qualified to be placed on the Roster, you can invite the firm to register and apply to be on the City’s Consultant Roster. Once approved to the Roster, you can then direct select them.

Total compensation should not exceed $420,000. However, you can amend your Agreement without violating any contract bid limits or thresholds up to $524,000 to add Work that was not originally foreseen. >>See “AMENDMENTS” below<<

Required Templates & Forms:

· Approval to Proceed Package (Optional for Departments. REQUIRED for FAS). This form provides a checklist as part of a two-step approval process. Section 1 green-lights the project, while section 2 finalizes the contract package review and prepares for City execution.

· CBO & Council Notification form (for projects greater than $250,000 and $750,000). After this form is completed and signed by the department head, send it to your department CBO and/or Council liaison. Note: this form does not require approval from CBO/Council for contract execution, but the department should allow sufficient time to provide notice.

· Prepare an informal, private (or invitation only) solicitation in OpenGov. At a minimum, provide the Consultant(s) a Scope of Work, deliverables, project schedule/timing and request pricing.

· Standard/Roster Agreement Template. Departments can draft their contracts in Masterworks with the included templates or attach an executed contract in the Masterworks contract file.

· Risk Management Checklist. This form helps you to determine the level of risk and appropriate insurance for your project.

· Insurance Requirement Transmittal Form. After completing the Risk Management Checklist, complete this transmittal form for the project and attach to the solicitation and/or contract. This form instructs the Consultant's insurance broker on the required insurance and submittal requirements. At a minimum, projects valued at $71,000 or greater will require proof of standard insurance certification.

· Consultant Questionnaire. The Consultant must complete and return this form with the signed contract. The form includes the Equal Benefits declaration.

· IMPORTANT: Your solicitation announcement / email should include a general statement that the solicitation is intended for the original recipients that are currently Approved through the City’s Consultant Roster. One of the minimum qualifications should include language requiring “Approval” to the City’s Consultant Roster in order to submit a response. This is to ensure that any non-Roster firms that may have been forwarded the solicitation are not allowed to submit a response.

AMENDMENTS

For all amendments, follow the amendment guidelines in the Consultant Contracting Guidelines to find out if an amendment is applicable to your Work:

AMENDMENT RESTRICTIONS FOR THE CONSULTANT ROSTER: Agreements that are executed through Roster selection process have restrictions in place governed by SMC 20.50 to limit total compensation. Amendments shall not bring the total compensation above $524,,000. If you anticipate additional amendments to bring the total compensation above $524,000 you should re-examine the Scope of Work and project immediately to determine the maximum value and duration of the project. Consider whether the project should continue under the current Agreement or terminate and re-assess for competitive solicitation or other procurement method.

#3 EXCEPTIONS

#3 EXCEPTIONS

EXCEPTIONS

There are some exceptions to the competitive solicitation requirement, as authorized by SMC 20.50.090. These should be rare and not be treated as a blanket exception as there may be certain projects with high public interest and visibility that would greatly benefit from a competitive solicitation.

The exceptions include:

· Emergency situations. Complete the linked form for your files.

· Adverse Effect situations. Complete the linked form for your files.

· Sole Source situations. Complete the linked form for your files.

· Doing business with a 501 c 3 public-benefit non-profits.

· Doing business with other public agencies or municipalities directly or through an Inter- local / Cooperative Purchase Agreement.