ESBD_466019_1763159985486_Addendum 1 - RFQ 2026-Q02.pdf

ADDENDUM #1

RFQ 2026-Q02 Professional Engineering Services Pool

HAYS COUNTY PURCHASING OFFICE

Stephanie Hunt, Purchasing Agent

712 S. Stagecoach Trail, Ste. 1012 San Marcos, Texas 78666

512-393-2267 ● purchasing@hayscountytx.gov

November 14, 2025

Please find attached Addendum #1 to RFQ 2026-Q02 Professional Engineering Services Pool. All questions were answered by Hays County staff.

Attached to Addendum 1:

• Questions & Answers

Acknowledge receipt of this addendum by signing and returning this page with your proposal.

Signature

Company Name Date mailto:purchasing@hayscountytx.gov

Questions & Answers

Questions:

1. Can the proposal be submitted 100% electronically through Bidnet or is it electronic and physical? (either way is fine, just wanted to confirm as some sections appeared to state electronic ‘or’ physical)

• See F. Submittal Requirements – Electronic Proposals.

2. Can the overall page limit be confirmed? One section appears to state 40, but another section states 20.

• The page limit is 20 one-sided or 10 front and back.

3. May resumes be placed in an appendix? (or do they count towards the page limit?)

• Resumes of key individuals that could potentially work under an executed contract MUST be included in the proposal. Those would be placed in the appendix.

4. For the CE&I approach request in the Project Management section – does this need to be related to engineering? Or is it CE&I?

• Identify whether or not your firm offers CE&I services as division of your company and what the extent of those services cover, or if you would need to subcontract them out if needed.

5. Are subconsultants expected to be a part of this response?

• No, Hays County will contract with the awarded firm, per IV. General terms and

Conditions #14 all subconsultants must be approved by Hays County.

• This process will only happen if a contract is executed.

6. Page 8 of solicitation, D. Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)/Proposal Requirements, states: “SOQ/proposals shall not exceed forty (20) pages (10 sheets front and back) in length.” Please clarify if “forty” should be twenty (20).

• See Question 2.

7. Page 8 of solicitation, D. Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)/Proposal Requirements, Capacity to Perform (Technical Approach) section, third bullet states: “Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products use in the addressing and inserting process.” Can the County clarify what is meant by “inserting process.”?

• The following statement has been removed from the solicitation. “Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract, and any products use in the addressing and inserting process.”

8. Page 8 of solicitation, D. Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)/Proposal Requirements, Project Management Philosophy section, fifth bullet states: “Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.” Are subconsultants expected to be a part of the response?

• See Question 5.

9. Are we required to include subproviders within our SOQ response? Subproviders are mentioned in Key Personnel, but specific information is not included—i.e. are resumes required?

10. Under Project Management Philosophy in the RFQ: The section states, “Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.” This appears to mirror the language from the CEI RFQ. Could you please confirm whether this is a typo and should instead refer to QA/QC for design services rather than CEI?

• See question 4

11. Do the table of contents and section dividers count toward the 20-page limit?

• No, dividers do not count towards the page limit.

12. If we include content on the dividers, will those pages count toward the limit?

• If you are utilizing a divider to put information to assist in the review of the proposal and evaluation, then yes it will count.

13. Is glue binding an acceptable form of binding for the submittal?

• No, refer to D. Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)/Proposal Requirements, last paragraph.

14. Under Section III. B. Scope of Services, does each scope item require a designated Task Lead? We typically assign “Monitoring Project Performance” and “Monitoring Budget and Schedule” to the Project Manager—please confirm if this is permissible.

• The list provided is to share the engineering and technical areas of services most used by

Hays County but not intended to be all encompassing.

• Firms can structure their services however wors best for your firm.

15. Under Section III. D. SOQ Requirements – Project Management Philosophy, it appears the last bullet could be a duplicate from the Hays County RFQ 2026-Q01 Construction, Engineering, & Inspection (CE&I) and Testing Services Pool. Please clarify if this bullet, “Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any” is relevant to this

RFQ.

• See Question 4.

16. Under Section III. D. SOQ Requirements, it states, “SOQ/proposals shall not exceed forty

(20) pages...”. Please clarify the page count.

17. Under “XIV. Prohibition of Discrimination against Firearm Companies or Firearm Trade

Organizations Certification (TGC 2274.002)” there is no signature block above the Exclusion clause. Please clarify.

• The space on the form for Company Name, Date, Company Representative, and

Signature is certifying the non-discrimination. If there are exclusions that apply to your company, then select those exclusions and sign below.

18. On page 8, section D, it is stated “SOQ/proposals shall not exceed forty (20) pages (10 sheets front and back) in length.” Can you please confirm whether the page limit is forty (40) or twenty (20)?

19. Do we need to file a Form 1295 online and include a copy as part of the SOQ or should this be done after award? It is not included on the RFQ Submittal Checklist.

• The Form 1295 and Certificates of Insurance will only be needed by those who the

County enters into a contract with.

20. On page 8, under “capacity to perform,” is the following requirement relevant to this RFQ?

“Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products use in the addressing and inserting process.”

• See Question 7.

21. On page 8, under “project management philosophy” – if we do not offer in-house CE&I services, may we respond “N/A” to the following bullet, or do we need to include a subconsultant on our team to provide CE&I? “Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.”

22. On page 8, the last bullet under “project management philosophy” reads “Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.” Should we include our firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for design professional services?

• See question 4

23. Will there be any consideration for Landscape Architectural services within this request for qualifications?

• No.

24. Where it states construction support under the scope of services. Does construction materials testing fall under this category?

• No.

25. Do we include three projects per the scope of work we are providing services for? 3 for Geotechnical and 3 for Construction Support, totaling 6. Or do you want us to list only three projects in total?

• No, the Statement of qualifications (SOQ) should be all encompassing of the engineering services your firm can offer the County without having to subcontract.

26. In Section D – Capacity to Perform, the third bullet point ask for “information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products use in the addressing and inserting process.” Does the County intend us to answer this question or was it included in error?

27. In Section D – Project Management Philosophy, the fifth bullet asks to “explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.” Is this relevant to the RFQ?

28. Does the County desire resumes for key personnel? If so, would those be included in the

Appendix materials and therefore not count toward page count?

• See Question 3.

29. If we submitted a Form 1295 with the previous submittal, do we need to submit another with this one?

• See Question 19

30. On page 8 of 46, the third bullet under “Capacity to Perform” asks: Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products used in the addressing and inserting process. Can the County provide clarification on this bullet?

31. In the “Capacity to Perform (Technical Approach)” section, there is a bullet requesting information about “the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products used in the addressing and inserting process.” Since this solicitation is for engineering services, is it necessary to include this information, or can we leave it out?

Could you please clarify whether a response to this equipment bullet is required for engineering services, or if it is intended for other types of services? If a response is required, could you provide guidance on the level of detail expected?

32. In “Project Management Philosophy (in D. Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)/Proposal

Requirements),” the fifth bullet asks for a quality control and assurance plan specifically for CE&I professional services, including coordination with subconsultants. Since there is a separate CE&I RFQ, should this question be included in the Professional Engineering Services RFQ or only in the CE&I-specific RFQ?

33. Will an electronic e-signature suffice as a "manual signature" on the electronic copy submitted to BidNet? Or does each copy need to have a wet manual signature that is scanned and uploaded into the electronic copy?

• The County will accept either electronic or manual signatures, if those are approved signature types for your firm.

34. Can you confirm that the page limit is 20 pages and not 40?

35. In “Profile/Experience of the Company,” the third bullet asks for three projects that have been completed in the last five years. Is it OK if a project's design is complete but is still under construction?

• Yes.

36. In “Capacity to Perform (Technical Approach),” please clarify what the County is wanting when the RFQ requests information on "the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products use in the addressing and inserting process." Is this requirement applicable to the Professional Engineering Services RFQ, or should it be omitted or clarified?

37. In “AGREEMENT: EXCEPTIONS (in H. Elements of Statement of Qualifications),” where should we insert our exceptions to the contract within our SOQ? If we do include exceptions, will this count towards the 20-page limit or can we put them in an appendix?

• This can be submitted wherever it makes sense for you to include them, and ensure they are clearly identified.

• Yes, they would count towards your page count.

38. Hays County released a standalone survey RFQ, so it seems like a couple of items from the list should be removed from the engineering RFQ (copied below). These appear to be left over from the prior RFQ. Please confirm these should be removed from the list on the Professional Engineering Services Pool RFQ: Land Surveys and reviews; Surveying and mapping

• Land Surveys and reviews will remain, as it is reviewing finalized land surveys in conjunction with the contracted project.

• Surveying and Mapping will remain as well since some firms offer these services in-house.

39. In regards to the scope “Geological/Geotechnical”, I am seeking clarification if it is implies that “Construction Materials Testing (CMT)” are also to be included as part of Geotechnical services. If not, how are the construction materials testing services procured on projects where CEI Consultant is not involved?

• Projects assigned may be in various phases of design, i.e. a study, schematic phase, construction, etc., data gathering depending on the phase refers to collecting historical information such as and not limited to environmental data, surveys, ROW records, traffic impacts/studies, etc. to serve in the design or construction of a project. As it applies in this solicitation, is your firm able to provide a service for collecting this data?

• A geological or geotechnical report is essential for road construction as it provides critical information about the subsurface conditions of a project site. Can your firm provide geotechnical services, or will a sub be required for this type of service?

40. The RFQ states proposal shall not exceed forty (20) pages (10 sheets front and back) in length. Is the proposal page count (20) pages (10 sheets front and back ) or (40) pages (20 sheets front and back)?

41. The RFQ states that a hard copy can be delivered “within 24 hours of proposal due date”.

Can you please clarify what this means? If submitting via BidNet, is the deadline for the hard copy submission 10am December 5?

• Yes, that is correct, but the electronic submission MUST be submitted before the deadline. The Purchasing Office will only accept hard copies of the proposal once verified that the electronic bid was submitted on time. The Electronic and Hard Copy proposal MUST be the same.

• If there are additional items included in the hard copy that were not submitted on time, then they will not be considered.

42. Section D Proposal Requirements requests "Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products use in the addressing and inserting process.” Please clarify - does this pertain to engineering services?

43. Section D Proposal Requirements requests "Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.” Please clarify - does this pertain to engineering services?

44. Please confirm that the page limit is 20 pages, not forty as stated on page 8 of the RFQ.

45. Are firms expected or required to include subconsultants on the proposed team?

46. Are resumes for key staff members desired or expected by the County? If so, can resumes be included in the appendix (not counting toward the page limit)?

47. Can litigation disclosure be included in an appendix?

• No, it needs to be included in your SOQ.

48. For firms who are able to perform multiple services, do we provide three projects and references per service, or three in total across all services?

• No, this is for Engineering services, you only need to submit one reference form.

• Some firms offer a wide variety of services, that is why they are listed so you can showcase what your firms have to offer the County as a whole.

49. If we are requesting to be considered for drainage/stormwater, will we be automatically considered for water/wastewater services as well, since the two are listed together in the scope of services?

• Firms are not selecting specific engineering services. Your firm needs to respond with the particular services you all offer.

50. For projects completed in the last 5 years, is design completed milestones acceptable if the project is still under construction?

• See Question 35.

51. Are resumes desired to be included for the project manager and key personnel? If so, would they be included in the Appendix and not counted against the 20 page maximum?

52. On Page 8 of 46, Under Section D, it is stated the ‘SOQ/proposals shall not exceed forty (20) pages (10 sheets front and back) in length’. Should this read “… twenty (20) pages…”?

53. Should we provide full resumes for all the key personnel, and if so, should these be included in the 20-page limit count ?

54. On section Project management Philosophy, they ask us to explain our QC/QA approach, but it’s directed to the CE&I services, does this apply to Professional Engineering Services as well?

55. Is CMT services under Geotechnical category or Construction Support?

• See Question 39.

56. If it’s under Geotech can we submit 3 separate project experience for each? (3 for geo, 3 for

CMT)

• See Questions 48 & 49.

57. Please confirm the number of pages – 40 is mentioned and also 20.

58. The RFQ requires a “list of any criminal charges, civil lawsuits, or dispute resolutions to which the Company is a part of in the past five (5) years…”. Since this information is part of the twenty-page submittal limit: Does this require all lawsuits in which the company was a party or can we omit lawsuits that the company was initially identified in, but were removed from early in the process? Should this include only lawsuits that involve only the local office, or Texas offices?

• You are required to list them all. If you were removed from the lawsuit, then you would explain when you were removed and why.

59. Do Resumes count toward the twenty-page limit, or are they considered as part of the Appendix?

60. Electronic Submission + Hard Copy Requirement Page 1 and Page 3 (RFQ Submittal

Checklist) state that electronic submissions via BidNet Direct must be followed by one (1) hard copy delivered within 24 hours of the proposal due date. Is the hard copy mandatory for all electronic submissions, or is it optional/alternative?

• See Question 1.

61. “Addressing and Inserting Process” Reference In Section III.D under Capacity to Perform

(Technical Approach), the RFQ requires: “Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products use in the addressing and inserting process.” This language appears unrelated to professional engineering services. Is this a copy-paste error from another solicitation? If so, should engineering firms omit this section entirely?

62. CE&I (Construction Engineering & Inspection) Requirement The same section requires:

“Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services…” CE&I is not listed in the Scope of Services (Section III.B). Is this section required for all respondents, or only for firms offering CE&I? If our firm does not provide CE&I, should we state “Not Applicable” or omit this response?

63. Can you clarify and state the page limits for the following, since the word “forty” appears in the page limit statement: Total Maximum Pages (if printing on the front and back of sheets) 10? Total Maximum Pages (if printing only on one side of a sheet) 20?

64. I didn’t see specific mention of commissioning services or testing and balancing services, and

I wanted to confirm whether those services are intended to be procured under this RFQ or through a separate solicitation.

• No, they are not.

65. I’d like to submit an inquiry related to the completion date on the Project Experience of the Company section. To clarify, do you have a preference if the completed date is design completion vs. construction completion, or can either be used if identified?

• See Question 35.

66. I was trying to find the current pool of engineers that were awarded 2024 contract.

• Please submit an open records request to obtain that information.

• Effective October 30, 2020, all public information requests/open records requests must be submitted in one of the following manners to be considered a valid request to Hays County, triggering the Public Information Act rules and timelines:

i. (PREFERRED METHOD): Online via the Hays County Public Information Request System at https://hayscountytx.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/(S(mjm3xwtqkpa0av5x1fyreifq))/Su pportHome.aspx?s; or

ii. Via email to PIA-Requests@co.hays.tx.us; or

iii. Via mail to the Hays County Criminal District Attorney’s Office – Downtown

Office, Attn: PIA, 111 East San Antonio Street, Suite 202, San Marcos, TX 78666;

or

iv. By hand-delivery to the Hays County Criminal District Attorney’s Office – Downtown Office, Attn: PIA, 111 East San Antonio Street, Suite 202, San Marcos, TX 78666; or

v. By fax to (512) 392-6500

• In accordance with the Public Information Act, any request not received by one of the above-listed methods will not be processed by Hays County. We will keep our eye out for a proper submittal and process it upon receipt.

67. We recently submitted a proposal for the previous Professional Engineering Services Pool (RFQ 2025-Q01 Professional Services Pool). Could you please confirm whether this new solicitation is different from the one we submitted to?

• The last pool was terminated; therefore, this is a new solicitation.

• Rather than having a large pool of companies that provide professional services, the

County has opted to break them into individual solicitations per scope of work.

68. Could you please confirm whether the resume is included in the total page count?

69. Can you clarify if the Professional Service Pool RFQ’s that were posted for bid last week are for City of San Marcos or Hays County? The bid docs say Hays County, but they were posted on the City’s website so I wanted to make sure.

• These solicitations are for Hays County. The County utilizes the City of San Marcos’

CivicPlus page to post solicitations.

70. What exactly is the County looking for in response to this bullet point: “Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products used in the addressing and inserting process.”

https://hayscountytx.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/(S(mjm3xwtqkpa0av5x1fyreifq))/SupportHome.aspx?s https://hayscountytx.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/(S(mjm3xwtqkpa0av5x1fyreifq))/SupportHome.aspx?s mailto:PIA-Requests@co.hays.tx.us

71. Section III, Paragraph B. Scope of Services on page 6, states “professional engineering expertise performed or supervised by a registered professional engineer in the State of Texas.” If the contract principal is a PE, does our project manager also have to be a PE?

• As long as your project manager is being supervised by your principal then no.

72. Do prime firms need to provide all services listed in Section III, Paragraph B. Scope of

Services on pages 6 and 7?

73. Should we submit as a team with subconsultants to provide all services listed in Section III, Paragraph B. Scope of Services?

• See Questions 4 & 5.

74. Due to the page requirements, can we limit our litigation history to open cases from the past

5 years? If not, can we provide our litigation history in the appendix?

• See Question 58.

75. May the County confirm the terms and conditions of an eventual contract, in addition to the hourly rates, will or not be subject to negotiation by the County with the top-ranked Professional?

• All possible contracts will include the terms and conditions of the RFQ, and the Firm’s

SOQs.

• If a vendor is selected and approved for a project, then they will enter contract negotiations.

76. May the County clarify on what they consider to be a defect, an irregularity, or an informality (as seen on page 11 under the "RESERVATIONS BY COUNTY" heading) or please provide examples of what they have considered to fall into those categories in the past?

• The County’s waiver of a defect, irregularity, or informality would exist in circumstances where there is an immaterial issue or variation from the exact requirements of the solicitation that can be corrected or waived without being prejudicial to other respondents. Typically, an opportunity to cure would be provided. (For example:

including 4 copies of printed proposals instead of 5.)

77. Will the terms of this RFQ be incorporated into the contract and if so, will the terms of this RFQ or the terms of the awarded contract take first precedence?

• See Question 75.

78. The RFQs do not specifically request resumes as part of the submittal requirements. Can we include resumes in the Appendix section of the SOQ, and if so, will they count toward the 20-page limit?

79. Under the Project Management Philosophy tab, final bullet point: CE&I is included in every RFQ. Will this be updated to the correct discipline in the RFQs? Located in: RFQ 2026- Q02, RFQ 2026-Q03, RFQ 2026-Q05, RFQ 2026-Q06. “Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.”

80. Are final proposal responses required to be both physical (hard copy) and electronic

(bidnet upload) submissions, or do proposing firms have the option to choose between physical and electronic submissions?

• See Question 1.

81. Does Hays County have a HUB goal % amount? Does the prime consultant need to address a certain percentage, or is this portion of the points system based on a GFE (Good Faith Effort)?

• No, this will vary per project, if applicable. This will be discussed during contract negotiations.

82. On Page 8, there is a discrepancy on the page limit, it lists 40 pages in one section and 20 in another. Please clarify.

83. Do resumes count toward the page limit or can they be placed in as appendix materials?

84. Does the Vendor Reference Form count toward the page limit? Is it to be placed in the appendix or within the body of the proposal?

• See D. Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)/Proposal Requirements – Appendix Materials.

85. On Page 9 of 47, it states, “Explain your firm’s quality control and quality assurance plan for

CE&I professional services and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any.”

Is it intended we explain our ROW Quality Assurance plan and how it relates to work performed by subconsultants, if any?

• See Questions 4 & 5.

86. The RFQ states: “SOQ/proposals shall not exceed forty (20) pages (10 sheets front and back)...” Could you please clarify whether the intended page limit is 20 pages or 40 pages?

87. The RFQ requests identification of key personnel and an organizational chart with contact details and responsibilities. Could you please confirm whether full-page resumes for these individuals are also required as part of the SOQ, or if a summary of qualifications within the organizational chart will suffice?

88. Considering the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we wanted to ask if there is any possibility that the submission deadline might be adjusted or extended to accommodate holiday schedules?

• No, the holiday was taken into consideration when the dates were published.

89. Can you please clarify the page limit? Item D page 8 indicates “SOQ/proposals shall not exceed forty (20) pages (10 sheets front and back) in length”

90. Can you please expand on the scope of services for Geological/Geotechnical and

Environmental documentation?

91. Does Geotechnical include Materials Testing services?

92. Under Capacity of Perform, we are asked to include “information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products use in the addressing and inserting process” – can you please expand on what you are looking for in regards specifically to professional engineering services?

93. Are we permitted to include resumes in our SOQ? If so, can we include them in the Appendix

(excluded from page count)?

94. We recently submitted and were approved for the following services pool in March of 2025:

Professional Engineering, Construction Engineering & Inspection, Land Surveying, Utility Coordination. We are interested to know if the current posted solicitations will be replacing the pool of qualified consultants awarded in 2025 and if we need to resubmit for the above-mentioned categories?

• The attached email was sent to the following point of contact that you all provided when you submitted your proposals.

95. Do resumes need to be included for key personnel?

96. Do resumes count toward the 20-page limit, or are they part of the appendix materials?

97. Under the Capacity to Perform section of the proposal, the last bullet states, “Include information about the age and type of equipment you intend to use for this contract and any products used in the addressing and inserting process.” Could you please clarify whether this item is intended to be included in the RFQ?

98. Would the county like qualifications for materials testing services as well? If so, can we include them with the Geological/Geotechnical category or under the Construction Support category?

• See Question 39

99. Wondering if firms responding to more than one category of services need to submit separate packages?

• See Questions 48 & 49.

100. SOQ/proposals shall not exceed forty (20) pages (10 sheets front and back) in length, later on it says 20 page limit. Will you please confirm actual page limit?

101. Are staple bound submissions considered?

• No, refer to D. Statement of Qualifications (SOQ)/Proposal Requirements, last paragraph.

102. I am inquiring about the two RFPs that were published today (2026- Q01 and 2026- Q02). I see the Question deadline is 11/10/2025. Would it be possible to schedule a meeting in person to discuss the two solicitations? We would really appreciate a brief meeting to discuss the two RFQs.

• During a live solicitation, I am not allowed to meet with any potential respondents regarding the solicitation. If you have specific questions, then you need to submit them per the guidelines laid out in the procurements.