Spalding County RFQ Architectural Engineering.pdf

Spalding County, GA – RFQ – Architectural Engineering Services P a g e | 1

Spalding County Board of Commissioners Request for Qualifications for County

Architectural Engineering Services

RFQ 2025-001

July 12, 2024

Spalding County Government, a vibrant and progressive public entity, is seeking qualifications from Architectural Engineering firms that can support the county’s mission to enhance the quality of life for its 68,919 residents across 201 square miles.

Our vision is to maintain the rural character of our community while promoting balanced growth. We aim to achieve this through the continued development of industrial, manufacturing, commercial, and residential spaces that harmonize with our natural, eco-green friendly landscape. We believe that the right engineering partners can help us realize this vision by bringing innovative solutions, technical proficiency, and a deep understanding of our community’s unique needs and environmental considerations.

In line with this, the Board of Commissioners intends to appoint two architectural engineering firms for a two-year contract, which is annually renewable. This RFQ is the first step in our search for these partners.

We invite firms that share our commitment to sustainable development and have a proven track record in Architectural engineering to submit their qualifications. Through this process, we aim to identify firms that can help us navigate the complexities of modern infrastructure development while preserving the rural charm and natural beauty of Spalding County.

We look forward to reviewing your qualifications and potentially partnering with you to shape the future of Spalding County. Together, we can build a community that respects its roots while embracing progress and innovation.

Responses to this solicitation are due no later than 2:00 p.m. on August 8, 2024. Sealed responses are due to Mitzy Campbell, Procurement Director, 119 E Solomon Street, Griffin GA 30223. Upon receipt of proposals, a review team will evaluate the proposals and recommend to the Board of Commissioners the top-ranked firm or firms for an interview.

The complete RFQ document is available for review at the Spalding County website (https://www.spaldingcounty.com) or the Georgia Procurement Registry website at (https://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/gpr/).

Legal add to run a total of four (4) weeks.

Please run the attached legal ad for the following dates:

Saturday, July 13, 2024 Saturday, July 20, 2024 Saturday, July 27, 2024 Saturday, August 3, 2024 https://www.spaldingcounty.com/ https://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/gpr/

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I. Purpose

Spalding County Board of Commissioners (“County”) is soliciting statements of qualifications from qualified firms to provide Architectural services for Spalding County, Georgia. It is the intent of the County to engage services from two qualified architectural engineering firm(s). The County may select multiple firms to serve its specific needs, but its preference is to select two firms for general Architectural services.

II. Instructions to Respondents

A. All responses to this Request for Qualifications shall be sent to:

Spalding County Board of Commissioners Attn: Procurement Director 119 E Solomon Street Griffin GA 30223

B. Please place one (1) original and four (4) copies of your response in a sealed envelope and clearly labeled in the lower left corner “Solicitation No. 2025-001 Request for Qualifications – Architectural Engineering Services, no later than Thursday, August 8, 2024. No faxed, emailed, or telephone statements will be accepted.

C. All responses must be received by August 8, 2024 @ 2:00 p.m. ET, at which time they will be opened. It is the responsibility of the respondent to ensure that the RFQ is received by Spalding County by the date and time specified above. Late responses will be returned to the respondent unopened. To ensure a fair review and selection process, firms submitting qualifications are specifically requested not to make other contacts with Spalding County staff regarding this request.

D. Any questions regarding this Request for Qualifications shall be in writing by email to mcampbell@spaldingcounty.com. No questions shall be received after 5:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 20, 2024. Responses will be provided in an addendum by 5:00 p.m. ET, Tuesday, July 23, 2024. No other County Staff or officials associated with this project should be contacted regarding this RFQ. DOING SO, MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION.

E. All addenda, notices, additional information, etc. will be posted to Spalding County’s website at www.spaldingcounty.com under the Purchasing Departments bid opportunities.

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III. Time Schedule

The following schedule is supplied as a guideline rather than a set of absolute deadlines. The County reserves the right to modify or alter the schedule as needed.

Event Date & Time Issue RFQ – First Advertisement Saturday, July 13, 2024 Second Advertisement and Questions Due Saturday, July 20, 2024 Addendum/Responses to Questions Tuesday, July 23, 2024, 5:00 pm ET Third Advertisement Saturday , July 27, 2024, 5:00 pm ET Fourth Advertisement Saturday, August 3, 2024 Deadline for submittal of RFQ Thursday, August 8, 2024, 2:00 pm ET Selection of respondent(s) to interview Wednesday, August 14, 2024, 6:00 pm ET Interviews Monday, August 19, 2024 BoC Award Monday, September 16, 2024, 6:00 pm ET

IV. Terms and Conditions

A. The County reserves the right to reject any and/or all proposals, call for new proposals, to waive any informalities in a proposal, and to select the qualified parties. The County reserves the right to accept, reject, and/or negotiate all proposals or parts of proposals deemed by the Board to be in the best interest of the citizens of Spalding County.

B. The County reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted and to request additional information from any respondent.

C. The County reserves the right to award any contract to the next most qualified respondent if the successful respondent does not execute a contract within thirty (30) days after the selection of the respondent.

D. Any proposal may be withdrawn up until the date and time set above for opening of the RFQ responses. No proposal may be modified or withdrawn for a period of one hundred-twenty (120) calendar days thereafter.

E. The professional services contract resulting from acceptance of a proposal by the County shall be in a form supplied or approved by the County and shall reflect the specifications in this RFQ. The County reserves the right to reject any proposed agreement or contract that does not conform to the specifications contained in this RFQ, and which is not approved by Spalding County Board of Commissioners.

F. Ownership of all data, materials, and documentation prepared for and submitted in response to this

RFQ shall belong exclusively to Spalding County and will be considered a public record and subject to public inspection in accordance with Georgia public records laws. Exceptions may be requested by the applicant, citing applicable statutory authority for holding specific information in confidence.

The approval of exceptions will be in the sole discretion of the County.

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G. By submitting their qualifications, all proposing parties certify that their proposals are made without collusion or fraud and that they have not offered or received any inducements from any other person or party in connection with their proposals, and that they have not conferred on any Spalding County employee or official having official responsibility for this procurement transaction of any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services, or anything of value of more than nominal value, present or promise, unless consideration of substantially equal or greater value was exchanged.

H. By submitting their qualifications, all proposing firms certify that they are not currently debarred from submitting bids or proposals on contracts by any agency of the State of Georgia and the federal government, nor are they an agent of any person or entity that is currently debarred from submitting bids on contracts by any agency of the State of Georgia or the federal government.

I. Those submitting responses do so entirely at their expense. There is no expressed or implied obligation by the County to reimburse any individual for any costs incurred in preparing or submitting bids or providing additional information when requested by the County.

V. Scope of Services

The selected Architectural Engineering firms will be expected to provide a comprehensive range of services to support the Spalding County Government’s operations and development initiatives. The scope of services includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Architectural Engineering Services:

1. Land Development: Assist in planning and designing infrastructure for industrial, manufacturing, commercial, and residential spaces. This includes site selection, feasibility studies, conceptual design, and multidiscipline building design.

2. Transportation Engineering: Design and oversee the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and traffic systems. Must have awareness of local, state and national building codes.

3. Water Resources Management: Working closely with the Spalding County Water & Sewerage

Facility Authority, develop and implement strategies for supporting water supply and wastewater treatment infrastructure. Additionally, the firm will support Spalding County in developing and implementing strategies for stormwater management, and flood control. Must have design capabilities related to LEED and Energy efficient structures.

4. Environmental Engineering: Ensure all projects comply with environmental regulations and are designed with eco-green friendly principles, also have the ability to work with civil engineering firm or have in-house civil engineer.

Construction Engineering Services:

1. Project Management: Oversee all stages of construction projects, from planning and design, bid creation, project management, execution through completion and contract close-out.

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2. Quality Assurance: Implement quality control procedures to ensure that all construction activities meet the required standards and specifications.

3. Safety Management: Develop and enforce safety protocols to ensure the well-being of all personnel involved in construction activities.

4. Cost Estimation and Control: Provide accurate cost estimates for projects and implement cost control measures to ensure projects stay within budget.

5. Explain what systems your firm utilizes for project timelines and planning.

The appointed firms will be expected to work closely with the Spalding County Community Development, Public Works, Parks & Recreation, and Construction Maintenance and other stakeholders to ensure that all engineering projects align with our vision of maintaining the rural character of our community while promoting sustainable development. The firms should be prepared to provide additional services as required and be responsive to the evolving needs of Spalding County.

This RFQ represents an opportunity for architectural engineering firms to contribute to the growth and development of Spalding County. We look forward to receiving your qualifications and learning how your firm can help us achieve our vision.

Key elements for consideration include the ability and willingness to meet our needs in a timely manner. Our ask of the selected engineering firm includes agreeing to the following minimum response standards:

• Respond to phone inquiries the same business day.

• Respond to onsite requests within one business day. Onsite request response includes qualified engineering personnel to render an opinion on the question or concern.

VI. Submission Requirements

A. Summarize the respondent’s unique qualifications in providing engineering services including brief history of the firm, size, structure, and areas of practice.

• Complete resumes for three (3) qualified architectural engineers designated by the firm at which Spalding County will select one of the three as the point of contact or lead engineer if the firm is selected.

• Provide information on certifications or licenses, educational institutions conferring degree and year of degree, professional background, and professional associations.

• Provide information about the range of services offered and available support staff.

• Provide details of any ethics violations or board actions against the firm, its engineers, and employees within the last ten (10) years.

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• Define the CAD systems used by the firm and whether your preferred CAD system is compatible with Bluebeam or similar plan review systems.

• Explain how your firm receives, processes, approves, returns, and manages plans. Discuss your firm’s preference of printed copies or digital plans; does your firm have digital capabilities to incorporate plan reviews through digital portals/software.

• Explain how your firm incorporates GIS into plan reviews. How do you provide shapefiles that will seamlessly incorporate into the County’s GIS system?

• Explain how your firm incorporates ID designs.

B. Architectural Engineering Experience

• Provide experience advising local and county governments.

• Provide experience advising clients providing similar services.

• Provide experience in relation to historical structures.

• Provide examples of expertise in the Architectural engineering projects.

• Provide at least three (3) professional references including the names, addresses, and telephone numbers, email addresses, preferably references similar to Spalding County for the firm.

• Provide experience on the conducting of public hearings related to project design.

• Provide at least three (3) professional references including the names, addresses, and telephone numbers, email addresses, preferably references similar to Spalding County for each of the three (3) qualified architectural engineers designated by the firm which Spalding County will select one of the three as the point of contact or lead.

C. Provide information on the following to demonstrate the respondent’s availability and capacity to provide timely legal services.

• Provide a statement describing how the respondent proposes to provide architectural engineering services to the County. Address issues such as office location, accessibility to Spalding County Staff, Board Meeting attendance, and other meetings including any virtual meetings that may be required.

• Provide documentation of workload capacity commensurate with the level of service required by the County.

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• Provide information about the respondent’s availability and capability to perform on short notice and to ensure timely response and completion based on the County’s schedules and deadlines.

D. Understanding the required services and quality assurance.

• Provide a list of all local agencies or clients the respondent now supports which may cause a potential conflict of interest with Spalding County Board of Commissioners.

• Describe how the respondent protects client confidentiality. This applies to all information and communications, including electronic communications, unless available to the public through a public records request and otherwise not subject to specific exemption.

• Describe the respondent’s intended approach to communicate with the County regarding progress reports, status reports, recommendations, status of opinions, etc.

VII. Selection Criteria

The relevant experience of each assigned party will be evaluated as it relates to the scope of services. A committee will review the responses to the Request for Qualifications and will make a recommendation to the Spalding County Board of Commissioners. The committee may elect to conduct interviews with any shortlisted person(s) or firm(s).

Proposals will be evaluated based on the criteria and scoring system shown below:

EVALUATION CRITERIA WEIGHT GIVEN

Respondent Qualifications 20 Experience of the engineers 20 Respondent’s availability and capacity to provide timely engineering services 40

Level of Education and Years of Experience of assigned Engineers 3

Understanding the required services and quality assurance 10

Hourly Cost to include support staff and subsequent costs – include when billing begins and ends

Diversity of Assigned Engineers 2

VIII. Contract

A. Contract Negotiations: Upon selection of the most qualified respondent based on demonstrated competence and qualifications for the type of professional services required, the County will

Spalding County, GA – RFQ – Architectural Engineering Services P a g e | 8 negotiate payment terms which it determines is fair and reasonable and negotiate any other portion of the contract deemed necessary. In the event the County is not able to negotiate successfully with the top ranked respondent, the County shall cease negotiations with that respondent and either begin negotiations with the next ranked respondent or may choose to cancel the solicitation in its entirety. Award shall be made to the respondent whose submittal and subsequent negotiation is most advantageous to the County. The County reserves the right to renegotiate terms as needed to obtain the most cost-effective services.

B. Contract Term: The contract term is two (2) years at the hourly rate proposed with the option to renew up to two (2) additional one-year extensions upon mutual agreement from both parties. A signed contract extension should be executed within thirty (30) days of the original contract term.

C. Termination of Contract: This contract may be terminated, in whole or in part, at any time by mutual written consent, or by the County, with or without cause, upon giving sixty (60) days written notice to the successful respondent. If this contract is terminated, the County shall be liable only for payment under the payment provisions of the contract for services rendered and accepted material received by the County before the effective date of termination.