Vacant Unit Cleaning Services

The Harrisburg Housing Authority (HHA) in Pennsylvania is soliciting competitive bids for comprehensive vacant unit cleaning services to be provided across all HHA and HHA-affiliate-owned or managed residential communities within the City of Harrisburg, encompassing nine residential communities with a total of 1,640 units including family garden-type apartments and three high-rise buildings. The selected contractor(s) must furnish all labor, tools, equipment, materials, and supervision necessary to clean vacant units to HHA's specified standards, with services to be completed within three business days of receiving a Request for Services via electronic mail. The procurement is federally funded through HUD and operates on an as-needed, indefinite quantity basis with no guaranteed minimum or maximum volume. Key qualifications include possession of a Harrisburg Mercantile License, appropriate insurance coverage (workers' compensation, general liability with minimum $500,000 per occurrence/$1,000,000 aggregate with $50,000 fire damage limit, and automobile insurance with $1,000,000 combined single limits), and compliance with prevailing wage requirements (custodians compensated at minimum $17.55 per hour with no fringe benefits). The contract term is one year from execution with four optional one-year renewal periods available by mutual written agreement. The RFP will be evaluated on a 100-point scale allocating 35 points each to Respondent Profile/Experience and Proposed Cost, 20 points for RFP Instruction Compliance, and 10 points for Safety Record/Practices, with pricing submitted on an hourly rate basis for labor and equipment plus allowances for nights, weekends, holidays, emergency trips, and equipment usage. Critical deadlines include a pre-bid meeting on April 16, 2026, written questions due by April 23, 2026, at 2:00 PM via the Bonfire e-procurement platform, and sealed proposals due by May 1, 2026, at 2:00 PM, with public bid opening scheduled for the same date and time.

The procurement includes Section 3 compliance requirements mandating that contractors allocate at least 25 percent of total labor hours to Section 3 workers (low and very low-income persons with prior year income below $59,050, employees of Section 3 business concerns, or YouthBuild participants) and at least 5 percent to targeted Section 3 workers, with contractors required to submit a detailed Section 3 action plan with their bids; alternatively, contractors may contribute to HHA's Section 3 Training Fund at percentages ranging from 0.75 to 5 percent based on contract value. Section 3 Business Concerns—entities at least 51 percent owned and controlled by low or very low-income persons, current public housing residents, or Section 8-assisted housing residents, or with 75 percent of labor hours performed by Section 3 workers—receive preference in contract awards and may be selected if their bid does not exceed HHA's budget estimate and does not exceed a specified percentage above the lowest responsive bid. Contractors must also maintain Commercial General Liability insurance at $1,000,000 minimum combined single limit, Automobile Liability at $600,000 minimum, and Workers' Compensation with $500,000 employer's liability limits, and must complete various federal certifications including HUD Form 4736A/B (Worker/Employer Certification), HUD Form 4736C (Section 3 Worker Self-Certification), HUD Form 4737A (Section 3 Labor Hours Utilization Tracker), and compliance with the Certificate of Interested Parties Form (HB 1295) within ten business days of contract notification. No specific incumbent vendor or award value is identified in the procurement documents, though the contract operates on an as-needed basis with pricing submitted on hourly rates and additional fees for specialized services; invoices must be submitted within 30 days of job completion with detailed work documentation, wage rates by classification, MBE/WBE/Section 3 utilization reports, and the signed Request for Services form, with payment terms of net 30 days.