Historical Engineering Records Preservation

The City of St. Petersburg's Engineering Department has issued a Request for Quote (RFQ) for Historical Engineering Records Preservation services to digitize and preserve historical engineering records currently stored in analog formats. The procurement seeks to convert approximately 65,000 microfiche slides, 20,000 aperture cards, and 200 reels of microfilm into searchable, high-quality PDF files, with the objective of preserving important historical information while improving staff access and enabling digital management capabilities. The project is structured as a one-time engagement with pricing submitted on a lump-sum basis across five line items: Project Setup, Coordination, Management, and Travel; Digitization of Microfiche Slides; Digitization of Aperture Cards; Digitization of Microfilm Reels; and File Organization, Quality Review, and Digital Delivery, with all labor, materials, tools, equipment, software, and transportation costs to be included in bid pricing. Qualified vendors must be registered with the Florida Division of Corporations, maintain a facility within one hundred driving miles of the Municipal Services Center, and provide at least three customer references demonstrating similar experience with document digitization or records conversion for governmental entities or organizations managing historical records. The RFQ was released on March 27, 2026, with a deadline for submittal questions on March 31, 2026, and a response deadline of April 7, 2026, at 3:00 p.m., with responses required to be submitted electronically through the OpenGov Procurement portal. The City will award the contract to one vendor, and contract terms are non-negotiable, including provisions for indemnification, insurance coverage, governing law and venue, and limitations on dispute resolution and liability.

The solicitation contains no formal set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises or specific business categories; however, the City encourages proactive engagement with small business enterprises, women business enterprises, veteran-owned businesses, and minority business enterprises through a voluntary Subcontractor Utilization Plan with no minimum participation requirements mandated as a condition for award. Vendors are permitted to subcontract up to eighty percent of the contract work, provided that subcontractors are approved by the City and cannot be changed or substituted after contract award without documented justification. All vendors must maintain commercial general liability insurance of at least one million dollars per occurrence and two million dollars aggregate, commercial automobile liability insurance of one million dollars combined single limit, and workers' compensation insurance as required by Florida law. No incumbent vendors, current contractors, or specific funding sources are identified in the solicitation, and vendors must deliver completed digitized files with organized file structures subject to quality review by the City. No specific budget or award value is disclosed in the available solicitation documents, and the contract is governed by Florida law with venue in Pinellas County, St. Petersburg Division.