Environmental Water Testing - Contract Lab

The City of Ocala, Florida (Marion County) is issuing Invitation to Bid (ITB) WRS/260618 for Environmental Water Testing services to support the Water Resources Department's Compliance Monitoring Division. The procurement seeks an experienced vendor to provide comprehensive environmental water testing services, including wastewater and drinking water analyses for two wastewater treatment facilities, two water treatment facilities, and one water quality laboratory. Required services encompass all permit-required analyses for regulatory compliance agencies, including drinking water testing, quarterly and annual sludge testing, total kjeldahl nitrogen and sodium monitoring, reagent water testing, effluent and influent analyses, reclaimed water testing, and lead and copper rule compliance testing. The scope includes fourteen recurring annual testing items and seven testing items performed on a three-year cycle, with testing results to be reported in Florida Department of Environmental Protection format with turn-around times not exceeding 21 calendar days from sample receipt. Key qualifications require bidders to be certified under the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) by the Florida Department of Health for all requested analytes and to demonstrate a minimum of three years' experience in environmental water testing for compliance monitoring. The vendor must perform a minimum of 50% of the work with their own forces, with any subcontracted services requiring advance City Project Manager approval, and must carry Commercial General Liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate and Commercial Automotive Liability of $1,000,000 combined limit. The contract will be awarded to the lowest, most responsive and responsible bidder, though the City reserves the right to award to multiple bidders at its discretion. The invitation to bid was posted on April 9, 2026, with a deadline for proposal submission on May 7, 2026.

The solicitation document does not specify set-aside designations, disadvantaged enterprise restrictions, or incumbent vendor information. The vendor is responsible for all costs associated with shipment of sample kits to Ocala and pickup and return shipment of samples, as well as provision of sample bottle preparation and shipping containers. The resulting contract will be awarded for an initial three-year term with two optional one-year renewal periods, and any price increases for contract renewals are subject to negotiation and cannot exceed three percent annually unless mitigating market conditions exist, with vendors required to submit increase requests with CPI justification at least 90 days prior to term expiration. Specific award values or budget ranges are not disclosed in the available solicitation documents; however, bidders must submit detailed cost information on a standardized price proposal spreadsheet that requires specification of cost per test, total annual costs, and total three-year costs for both recurring annual tests and three-year cycle tests, as well as renewal pricing for the optional extension periods. The solicitation materials do not reference any existing infrastructure, technology requirements, or incumbent contractors that would require integration with the selected vendor's operations.