Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for Architectural & Engineering (A&E) Services, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Pool Contract

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for a multi-disciplinary Architectural and Engineering (A&E) Services Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Pool Contract. The procurement seeks qualified firms to provide professional services across 22 categories, including architectural design, civil and transportation engineering, geotechnical investigation, environmental planning, rail systems engineering, tunnel engineering, and construction management. Services will support the Authority's high-speed rail infrastructure development program, with task orders to be issued competitively on a project-specific basis. The RFEI was released on November 13, 2025, with a Virtual Industry Forum scheduled for November 24, 2025, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Key dates include written questions due by December 5, 2025, at 12 p.m. Pacific Time, Authority responses posted by December 12, 2025, and Expressions of Interest (EOI) responses due by December 19, 2025, at 12 p.m. Pacific Time. Respondents must be licensed or capable of obtaining applicable California professional licenses, and the contract will have an ordering period not to exceed five years from the effective contract date.

The Authority plans to establish two primary pools for this IDIQ contract: a Minor Works Pool for small businesses and a Major Works Pool for large business prime consultants, with a potential third Intermediate Works Pool. There are specific small business participation goals, including 25 percent Small Business participation (with 3 percent for Microbusinesses), 10 percent Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), and 3 percent Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) for contracts with blended state and federal funding. Small business respondents must be certified or capable of certification as SB, SB-PW, DBE, or DVBE by the California Department of General Services or applicable Unified Certification Programs. Compensation will be structured on an actual cost basis, with hourly billing rates including actual hourly rate, fringe, indirect/overhead, and administrative expenses. The Authority makes no guarantee of the number of task orders or actual services to be requested, and the total contract value is not explicitly stated. Participants must commit to performing a Commercially Useful Function and may be off-ramped from the program for failing to participate in at least 50 percent of Task Order Proposal Requests or maintaining unacceptable performance ratings.