Sports Field Maintenance

Florida Atlantic University (FAU), a public institution located in Palm Beach County, Florida, is issuing an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) for comprehensive sports field maintenance services across its Boca Raton and Jupiter campuses. The procurement encompasses maintenance of thirteen fields to an elite level meeting or exceeding NCAA Division I standards, including one stadium baseball field, one practice baseball field, three soccer fields for athletics, two shared soccer fields for athletics and recreation, two football practice fields, one football stadium, one softball field, one synthetic turf track and field facility, one synthetic turf field at A.D. Henderson School, and one recreation sports field at the Honor College in Jupiter. The selected vendor must provide all material, labor, equipment, and supplies necessary for field maintenance, with specific deliverables including three-times-weekly mowing, irrigation system monitoring and repairs, twice-annual soil testing, integrated pest management and weed control programs, disease control protocols, 24 tons of sand top dressing per acre annually, aerification services, quarterly turfgrass consultant visits, fall overseeding with certified perennial ryegrass, laser grading for infields, spot sodding, and field striping. The contractor must also provide game-day support with four staff present for football games and two staff each for baseball and softball games. Vendors must demonstrate a minimum of five years of experience in athletic field maintenance in South Florida, maintain an operational service location within 60 miles of FAU's Boca Raton campus, employ a full-time on-site Sports Turf Manager with a minimum of five years of collegiate or professional experience and Florida pesticide certification, and maintain active certification throughout the contract term. The ITN is posted as of January 30, 2026, with a proposal due date of March 2, 2026, and vendors must direct all questions to Sean Cunningham, Procurement Coordinator, through the Q&A board at https://fau.bonfirehub.com/. The evaluation process, governed by FAU Regulation 6.008 Procurement, will be conducted by an ITN Evaluation Committee that may conduct site visits, vendor presentations, management team interviews, and negotiations with short-listed vendors, with the committee recommending award to the responsive and responsible proposer whose proposal is deemed most advantageous to the University based on service and price considerations.

The solicitation documents do not specify set-aside designations or restrictions limiting participation to particular types of organizations, disadvantaged enterprises, or women-owned or minority-owned business enterprises. No incumbent contractor or current service provider is identified in the available documentation. All resulting contracts will be governed by Florida law and enforced in Palm Beach County courts, and proposers must comply with Florida statutes and FAU regulations, including E-Verify requirements, conflicts of interest disclosures, equal opportunity provisions, and public entity crime law restrictions. The selected vendor will be awarded an initial five-year contract term with five optional one-year renewal periods, potentially extending the engagement to ten years. The solicitation documents do not disclose a specific bid amount, award value, or budget range for this procurement; pricing will be evaluated as part of the proposal submission and negotiation process. Vendors must acknowledge FAU's standard purchase order terms available at https://www.fau.edu/procurement/files/poterms.pdf and either accept all terms or submit proposed variations for consideration as part of their proposal response.