Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Master Services Agreements for As-Needed Professional Consulting Services

The City of Carlsbad and the Carlsbad Municipal Water District (CMWD) are requesting qualifications for Master Services Agreements to establish as-needed professional consulting services across five disciplines, with qualifications due September 14, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. PST and pre-submittal questions due by September 4. The RFQ seeks to award multiple consultants per discipline to maintain a diverse and qualified consultant pool. CMWD may open these agreements to other California public agencies for cooperative purchasing.

The five discipline categories are Underground Utility Infrastructure Closed-Circuit Television Inspection & Condition Assessment (2 awards), Civil Engineering General (4 awards), Environmental Planning/Studies (2 awards), Labor Compliance and Grant Administration (2 awards), and Municipal Infrastructure Finance & Fee Consulting Services (2 awards). Work is assigned on a task-order basis at the Agency's sole discretion through individual Project Task Descriptions and Fee Allotments.

Each Master Services Agreement carries a not-to-exceed cumulative amount of $250,000 per agreement year. Pricing shall remain firm and fixed for the initial three-year term, with rate adjustments permitted only upon renewal based on the San Diego Area Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) or 5.0 percent, whichever is lower. The term extends three years initially with options to extend for up to two additional one-year periods (maximum five years). Subcontractors require prior written approval and may be billed at direct cost plus a maximum 10 percent markup.

Submissions must include a Statement of Qualifications questionnaire, project team and approach description, three minimum project reference summaries, Standard Form SF330, fee schedule, and insurance compliance certification. Proposals will be evaluated on a weighted scoring system: specialized experience and technical competence (45 points), capacity to accomplish work (35 points), personnel qualifications (10 points), and location/local environment familiarity (10 points). Firms currently holding active Master Services Agreements with the Agency are encouraged to apply and will be evaluated equally with all other respondents. The Agency reserves the right to award more or fewer agreements than tentatively identified or make no awards based on respondent qualifications. Master Services Agreements are anticipated to be awarded in late September 2026.