RFQ-25-401 - Energy Code Compliance Evaluation Support

The California Energy Commission has issued Request for Qualifications RFQ-25-401 to select a Prime Contractor and team of professional architectural and engineering consultants to provide technical support for the state's Energy Code compliance evaluation program. The procurement seeks to establish comprehensive statewide compliance assessments across seven building categories—existing single-family residential, existing multifamily residential, existing nonresidential, newly constructed single-family residential, newly constructed multifamily residential, covered processes, and related work—through methodologically defensible field studies and empirical data collection. Primary objectives include designing and executing evaluations to address critical statewide data gaps, improving understanding of process-based and energy-based compliance pathways, identifying systemic challenges and root causes of noncompliance through field data rather than advocacy-focused analyses, and establishing technical foundations for future statewide compliance rate analyses through validated evaluation methodologies, sampling frameworks, data collection instruments, and analytical approaches. Deliverables include comprehensive field studies, evaluation methodologies, sampling plans, qualitative information gathering, field data collection and analysis, technical reports, knowledge transfer materials, compliance implementation solutions, and evaluation-informed recommendations and pilot concepts. The contractor must demonstrate expertise in architectural and engineering consulting, energy code compliance, field study methodology, data analysis, and workforce technical assistance. The mandatory pre-bid conference is scheduled for May 19, 2026, with written questions due by 5:00 p.m. that same day; Statements of Qualifications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on July 14, 2026. Discussions with selected firms are scheduled for August 10-11, 2026, with a Notice of Selection anticipated on August 26, 2026, cost negotiations between August 27 and September 11, 2026, and a Notice of Proposed Award on September 21, 2026, with contract commencement on January 1, 2027, and conclusion on December 31, 2029.

This is a no-fee retainer contract with no set-asides required; however, firms incorporating 0.01 percent or greater Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) participation will receive incentive points ranging from one to five points depending on participation level. All prime contractors must comply with extensive state and federal certifications and requirements, including information security program certifications, nondiscrimination compliance, Drug-Free Workplace Act compliance, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, California Civil Rights Laws certification, Darfur Contracting Act certification, and Iran Contracting Act compliance for contracts valued at $1,000,000 or more. Contractors must also comply with state conflict-of-interest restrictions regarding former state employees and provide three client references for both the prime contractor and each subcontractor. The maximum contract value is $11,500,000 over the three-year period, funded through the California Energy Commission's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Building Energy Codes Award from the United States Department of Energy's Office of State Energy and Community Energy Programs. The contract will operate under hourly rate plus cost reimbursement terms with rate caps specified in the award, direct labor, fringe benefit, indirect, and general and administrative rates with reimbursement for actual expenses, and a maximum ten percent profit allowance on the selected firm's and subcontractors' actual allowable labor expenses. The CEC reserves the right to reduce the contract amount if federal funding falls short of expectations or to cancel and amend the RFQ based on the state's best interests.