RECS RFP Design Water & Utility Infrastructure Upg

The Minnesota Department of Administration, Real Estate and Construction Services (RECS) issued this Request for Proposal (RFP #78FA0100) on April 7, 2026, for engineering design services to upgrade water and utility infrastructure at the Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) in Faribault, Minnesota. The procurement seeks qualified civil, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering firms to provide comprehensive design services for domestic water quality improvements at the facility serving approximately 2,000 male inmates. Primary deliverables include an investigation and report phase, combined schematic design and design development phase, and construction documents phase, with the project scope encompassing evaluation of the facility's non-transient non-community water system, potential new water treatment plant design, piping upgrades connecting the existing wells, elevated 300,000-gallon storage tank (constructed in 1960), and boiler plant systems. Qualified respondents must be registered in Minnesota as architects, engineers, landscape architects, or land surveyors under Minnesota Statute 326.02-14 and must maintain professional liability insurance with minimum limits of $2,000,000 per claim and $2,000,000 annual aggregate. The RFP evaluation will be based on a 100-point scale assessing key personnel and specialists (20 points), work samples demonstrating qualifications (20 points), approach, methodology, work plan and schedule (20 points), one previous relevant project experience (10 points), and fee proposal (30 points). Critical deadlines include a mandatory site visit meeting on April 21, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. with pre-registration required by April 16, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. CT; questions due by April 23, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. CT with answers provided by April 28, 2026; and proposal submissions due May 4, 2026, by 12:00 noon CT. The anticipated contract term runs from June 1, 2026, through May 30, 2028, with an option to extend for three additional years.

The State offers a twelve percent preference for certified Targeted Group and Economically Disadvantaged businesses as well as certified veteran-owned small businesses on the amount bid, and encourages participation from small businesses certified under Minnesota's Small Business Procurement Program, including minority-owned, women-owned, disability-owned, and veteran-owned enterprises. All work must be performed within the United States, and E-Verify certification is required for contracts exceeding $50,000. The facility's existing water infrastructure includes two onsite wells, chlorination and water softening treatment systems, phosphate-based corrosion inhibitor application, and manual operational controls with no existing SCADA systems; the State will procure third-party commissioning services separately. The budget range for infrastructure improvements identified in the Water Management Plan is approximately $340,000 to $760,000, with short-term capital improvements estimated at $230,000 and long-term tank rehabilitation work estimated between $575,000 and $625,000, though the RFP fee structure requires consultants to submit compensation proposals for investigation/report, design development, and construction documents phases separately. No incumbent contractor was identified in the RFP documentation, indicating this is an open procurement available to qualified engineering firms meeting the specified registration and insurance requirements.