Structural Engineering Services

The City of Portsmouth, Virginia is requesting proposals for structural engineering consulting services on an as-needed basis, with proposals due July 21, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. via eVA. The City intends to hire multiple consultants and reserves the right to negotiate contracts with up to five firms.

Structural engineers must be licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The scope covers structural design of new facilities, investigation and corrective action recommendations for existing structures including bridges, parking garages, waterfront and seawall structures, and municipally-owned buildings, and special inspections. Firms must maintain in-house drafting and design capabilities using AutoCAD and employ qualified, certified personnel to perform all work.

The contract period is one year with options to renew for four additional one-year terms. Proposals need not include cost estimates or man-hour projections; nonbinding hourly rate estimates may be requested during discussions. Payment is due upon project completion unless otherwise negotiated.

Successful offerors must maintain professional liability insurance of $2,000,000, workers' compensation and employer's liability insurance as required by Virginia state law, comprehensive automobile liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate, and comprehensive general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate. A current City of Portsmouth Business License is required. Prices may not increase upon contract renewal, though decreases are permitted with mutual consent.

Evaluation criteria are proposal responsiveness (20%), qualifications of the project manager (10%), personnel qualifications and experience (20%), firm organizational capability (20%), quality of workmanship and past performance (20%), and SWAM/MBE/SDVM participation (10%). The City strongly encourages small, women-owned, minority-owned, and service-disabled veteran-owned business participation.

Interviews with top offerors are anticipated during the week of August 17–21, 2026, with panel selection and approval by August 30, 2026. The City reserves the right to cancel the contract without penalty upon 60 days written notice.