THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities

100 Cambridge Street Boston, MA 02108

DUE DILIGENCE POSTING OF NOTICE OF INTENT TO

Purchase a Proprietary Product or Service

DATE: 3/5/2026

DOCUMENT TITLE: Regional Capital Assistance Team (RCAT) Program

COMMBUYS BID#: TBD

AGENCY #: EOHLC2026-49

DIVISION: PUBLIC HOUSING

Please Note: This is a single document associated with a complete Bid (also referred to as Solicitation) that can be found on COMMBUYS (www.COMMBUYS.com). All Bidders are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all information, forms and requirements for the entire Bid, which are all incorporated into the Bid. Bidders may also contact the OSD Help Desk Helpdesk at OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov or the OSD Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The Helpline is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal, state and Suffolk county holidays

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announces its intent to Purchase a Proprietary Product or Service pursuant to the Commonwealth’s Due Diligence Posting policy, to contract for the following with the Chelmsford, Worcester and Taunton Housing Authorities, pending the results of this Notice of Intent (“Notice”):

EOHLC and all Massachusetts Local Housing Authorities (LHAs) shall be the only eligible entities for this contract.

Description EOHLC seeks to continue its current contracts with the Regional Capital Assistance Team (RCAT) Program. The RCAT Program is comprised of three (3) regional technical assistance teams that are hosted at three (3) LHAs:

· Chelmsford Housing Authority

· Worcester Housing Authority

· Taunton Housing Authority

EOHLC contracts with these LHAs to provide critical services and assist LHAs in executing capital plans and projects that serve to address capital needs, systemic maintenance deficiencies, the renovation of vacant units, the procurement of service contracts, and the submission of critical reporting that informs EOHLC on the condition of the MA state-aided public housing portfolio.

It is the intent of EOHLC to contract with the Chelmsford, Worcester and Taunton Housing Authorities for continued delivery of the essential RCAT services to the participating LHAs.

These services include:

1. Annual portfolio needs assessment and update of Capital Planning System (CPS) data;

2. Annual Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) creation, submission, and maintenance of the plan managing all revisions and periodic submissions to EOHLC;

3. Project management duties for all capital projects, including project closeout, with estimated construction costs (ECC) between $25,000 and $150,000;

4. Guidance on creation and improvement of the LHA’s annual Maintenance Plan;

5. Establishment and implementation of a multi-agency procurement program, and other special EOHLC initiatives as required;

6. Assistance with writing and submitting applications for Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA) or other applications for special awards;

7. Technical assistance on procurement and systemic maintenance issues and;

8. Coordination and implementation of sustainability and decarbonization measures consistent with EOHLC policies and initiatives.

· The proposed term is five (5) years total: from 6/30/2026 through 7/1/2031

· The Estimated annual budget = $1,150,000 per RCAT, funded from capital bond funds. The projected 5-year total expenditure would be: $17,250,000

EOHLC is posting this Notice rather than conducting a full procurement because EOHLC believes this opportunity represents best value to the Commonwealth and is utilizing this Due Diligence Posting to ensure that the process is open, fair and competitive.

Further Background and Supporting Information

In August 2014, Chapter 235 of the Acts of 2014, An Act Relative to Housing Authorities (“the Legislation”) was signed into law. The Legislation mandated a series of new performance management and capacity building actions to improve the management of state-aided public housing in Massachusetts. In accordance with Section 26C of the Legislation, EOHLC issued RFR DHCD-2015-5S on June 5, 2015, to solicit responses from LHAs to host and administer the RCAT program.

EOHLC received applications from three (3) LHAs that were ultimately awarded. Since that time, to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the RCAT services, the three (3) Host Housing Authorities have set up physical office spaces, hired multiple full-time salaried project managers and administrative staff, established close working relationships with their respective LHAs, and successfully implemented hundreds of capital improvement projects and various other special initiatives on behalf of EOHLC.

EOHLC is currently contracted with the three (3) Host Housing Authorities through FY 2026 (June 30, 2026). There is an ongoing and immediate need to continue the services with them annually. At this point, the services of the RCAT teams are so intensely customized to EOHLC’s needs and the state-aided public housing portfolio that it would be impossible to replicate from a vendor on the state-wide contract list. Additionally, because of the established operations, staffing and specialized processes at each of the Host Housing Authorities, it would be detrimental to the program to consider re-establishing it with new hosts. Not only would the continuity of custom services suffer, but the LHAs that significantly rely on their professional relationships with their RCAT project managers for both their day-to-day capital project management and assistance during emergencies, would be at a great detriment while a new team is vetted, established and brought up to speed.

Determination of Other Interested Vendors The intent of this posting is to determine if there are any other interested and qualified vendors. Any such vendors must submit documentation that they can also provide the same proprietary product or service.

Response Requirement and Deadline All Vendors and Offerors interested in responding to this Notice, regardless of prior communications with EOHLC, must submit a response to this posting containing evidence of their qualification and interest All required information must be submitted by 4:00PM (prevailing Eastern Time) on Friday, 3/20/2026.

Estimated Calendar:

If, after the posting deadline has passed, interest is generated by this Notice, EOHLC will review all Responses and will determine whether they will: (i) withdraw the notice and not accept the Offeror’s offer (and cancel the Notice of Intent) or (ii) accept the offer from the Offeror or (iii) accept an offer from another vendor offering a comparable or better value than the Offeror in their Response or (iv) accept the offer from the Offeror and from any other offerors offering similar value in their response.

Additional Terms Required for Doing Business with the Commonwealth

Quote Submission Method Online Quote Submission via COMMBUYS is required. All Interested Vendors and Offerors must submit Quotes online using tools available only to Sellers registered in COMMBUYS. COMMBUYS provides Seller registration functionality at no charge. To register, go to www.COMMBUYS.com and click on the “Register” link on the front page. All Interested Vendors and Offerors who are awarded a contract resulting from this Notice, if any, will be required to maintain an active account during the duration of the Contract, by reviewing their registration information regularly and maintaining its accuracy.

COMMBUYS Quote Submission Training and Instructions The following resources are provided to assist Interested Vendors and Offerors in submitting Quotes:

· An online job aid on How to Create a Quote;

· Webcast video on How to Find Bids (Solicitations) and Submit Quotes (Responses) through COMMBUYS;

· Instructor-led trainings (ILT) and live webinar sessions on “How to Locate and Respond to Bids” may also be available. Check the OSD Training Courses schedule for Sellers/Business Entities for available locations, dates and times. Note that space is limited and pre-registration for trainings is required to attend. Follow instructions on the course schedule to register.

COMMBUYS Support Technical assistance is available during the procurement process. Every effort is made to respond to inquiries within one business day.

· Website: Go to www.mass.gov/osd/commbuys and select the COMMBUYS Resource Center link offered under Key Resources.

· Email: Send inquiries to the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us

· Telephone: Call the COMMBUYS Help Desk at 1-888-MA-STATE (1-888-627-8283). The Help Desk is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal and state holidays.

Interested Vendors and Offerors are advised that COMMBUYS will be unavailable during regularly scheduled maintenance hours of which all users will be notified.

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