Qualified Vendor List (QVL) for Tree Work Services

The City of Tucson is conducting an open and continuous solicitation for a Qualified Vendor List (QVL) for Tree Work Services to provide routine and on-call urban forestry services on public property in support of the city's comprehensive urban forest management program. This solicitation encompasses three service groups: Group 1 (Mature Tree Maintenance), Group 2 (Tree Planting & Young Tree Maintenance), and Group 3 (Consultation, Outreach, Instruction, and Data Collection), with contractors able to apply for one or multiple service groups. The required services include care, expansion, and protection of Tucson's diverse urban forest network comprising young and mature trees, varied species portfolios, and vacant planting locations, with all work performed in accordance with the City of Tucson's Standards and Best Practices for Trees 2023, the Landscape Maintenance Manual Update 2.0, and the Tucson Community Forest Action Plan. Contractors must demonstrate qualifications including International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist status for complex operations, compliance with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z133.1 safety standards, and liability insurance coverage including Commercial General Liability ($1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 general aggregate), Commercial Automobile Liability ($1,000,000 combined single limit), Workers' Compensation (statutory), and Professional Liability ($1,000,000 per claim, $2,000,000 annual aggregate). Pricing is submitted on an hourly basis for four labor categories—Crew Lead/Arborist, Crew Member/Tree Worker, Additional Staff, and On-Call/Emergency services—with separate pricing tables submitted for each applicable service group. The initial submittal deadline is 2:00 p.m. Arizona local time on March 16, 2026, with a non-mandatory pre-submittal meeting scheduled for March 2, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. via Microsoft Teams, questions due by March 6, 2026, and the solicitation remaining open and continuous through March 16, 2031, with the City reviewing proposals twice annually in March and September, though evaluation may occur at the City's discretion. All submissions must be made electronically through the City's online bidding system at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/tucson-az.

The City has imposed multiple federal compliance requirements applicable to this solicitation due to funding derived from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) sources. Contractors must comply with Executive Order 11246 regarding equal employment opportunity and affirmative action for Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) and Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 requiring that employment opportunities be directed to low- and very low-income persons with Section 3 compliance benchmarks requiring 25 percent or more of labor hours performed by Section 3 workers and 5 percent by targeted Section 3 workers, prevailing wage requirements under HUD maintenance standards for contracts exceeding $2,000, and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act for contracts exceeding $100,000. Contractors must also comply with suspension and debarment regulations under 2 CFR parts 180 and 3000, the Byrd Anti-Lobbying Amendment, the Clean Air Act and Federal Water Pollution Control Act for purchases exceeding $150,000, Davis-Bacon wage requirements for construction activities exceeding $2,000, Buy America requirements for steel and manufactured products, and maximize use of EPA-designated recovered materials. Contractors must comply with the City's Living Wage Ordinance, register with the City's Business Services Department, and obtain a City Business License, with contract terms extending one year from award with City options to extend for up to four additional one-year periods. The solicitation explicitly states that no guarantee of work availability exists and the City reserves the right to adjust the scope based on anticipated needs and available funding; no specific contract award value or budget range is stated in the solicitation documents. Contractors may request early payment discounts of 21 calendar days or more, which will be factored into pricing evaluations during the competitive selection process. The HCD Section 3 Project Coordinator contact for compliance inquiries is HCDSECTION3MBEWBE@tucsonaz.gov.