Palm Beach County Department of (Facilities Development and Operations)

SELECTION OF THE DESIGN PROFESSIONAL

ENERAL: The selection of the Design Professional, in connection with the planning, design and construction of a project, is accomplished in accordance with the requirements of Section 287.055, Florida Statutes, (Consultants Competitive Negotiation Act) and County policy.

YPES OF SELECTION: Projects requiring professional services are categorized as either continuing services contracts or project specific contracts.

Continuing Services Contracts: Continuing Services Contracts are for projects whose basic construction cost does not exceed $1,000,000, a planning study activity of which the fee for professional services does not exceed $50,000, or for work of a specified nature as outlined in the RFP. Continuing contracts provide for professional services in specific disciplines on a continuing basis, as needed, for a set time, with renewable options. Some annuals used by Palm Beach County include Civil Engineering, Architectural Services, MEP Engineering, etc.

Project Specific: Those projects whose basic construction cost is estimated to be greater than $1,000,000 or for work outside of the specified nature outlined in the Continuing Services Contract.

ETHOD TO INITIATE PROCUREMENT:

Notification and advertisement for each project is accomplished with a public announcement in the Palm Beach Post Sunday edition with instructions on how interested firms may apply. Each public announcement states the exact requirements for providing professional services and the qualification data to be submitted for each. A selection is made from those firms submitting a letter of interest and the required supporting data.

Pre-qualification with PBC is a requirement for doing work with PBC. Firms which are pre-qualified receive an RFP mailing for our projects. Engineering (Roadway Production 684-4150) maintains the list of pre-qualified consultant’s from which the mailings are made. Certification consists of providing proof of registration with DPR, occupational license, and work experience in the category. More information is available at the Engineering web site: http://pbcgov.com/eng/CCNA_forms.html

ESPONSE TO RFP: The following information is required as qualifying data for a professional selection:

Letter of Interest

Standard Forms 330

PBC Consultant Questionnaire (describing proposed team members)

Volume of Previous Work Statements

Five References

ELECTION PROCEDURE:

A Shortlist Selection Committee is convened and members are briefed on the scope of the project and the services required. The Committee discusses the requirements of the project and reviews each proposal in depth and rates the applicants (100 points maximum) in each of the following categories: location of offices, volume of previous work with PBC, SBE participation, and experience and ability.

Location: Preference is given to Palm Beach County based firms. 10 points are given for a project team based entirely in PBC. Between 9 and 1 points are given depending on the overall makeup of the team and the location of their offices.

Volume of Previous Work awarded by PBC. A formula is used to calculate volume of previous fees earned by the prime consultant and his sub-consultants, based on periods of work in the past 4 years and percentage of work which the particular consultant will be performing on the project. Between 1 and 10 points will be awarded based on previous work volume with the County with higher points given to firms with less dollar volumes.

Small Business Participation: PBC Ordinance mandates that certain SBE goals be achieved. The Ordinance provides for goals for Professional Services Contracts of 15%. Consultant selection process includes 10 points if the prime consultant is a certified SBE with PBC or State Certified M/WBE and the consultant will be doing at least 51% of the work. Between 1 and 9 points can be earned if the sub-consultants on the project team are SBE firms.

More information can be obtained here: http://www.osba.co.palm-beach.fl.us/

Experience and Ability: The relative experience of all professionals proposed for use on the team in the planning, design and administration of the project, and the abilities and qualifications of the applicant and consultant(s) proposed staff as related to the project specific requirements and their ability to accomplish the project is evaluated by the committee. The relative experience and qualification of each applicant’s proposed team, with respect to the project scope, will be judged and a relative rating assigned. Also considered is the consultant’s approach to the project, understanding of the project and quality of the consultant’s proposal. A grading range of 0-70 is used.

The Shortlist Selection Committee will determine the preliminary ratings of the firms under consideration based on the above factors and select three firms with the highest scores to present oral interviews.

Oral Interviews: The three short-listed firms are invited in to give oral presentations. Usually, 15 minutes are given for the presentation followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. The non-subjective points (location of firm, volume of previous work and SBE / M/WBE participation) will carry forward to the Final Selection procedure, but the Final Selection Committee will independently evaluate each firm presenting and rate each firm in the same subjective categories used by the Shortlist Selection Committee.

Selection Recommendation: Based on the above, the Committee will recommend the three firms most qualified to accomplish the work, in priority order according to the final totals. After Board approval, the project manager begins negotiating the contract with the #1 ranked firm, and if successful, the contract is sent to the BCC for approval.

This website is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater version .

Click image to download Microsoft Internet Explorer

Disclaimer	HOME	SEARCH	JOBS	LINKS	FAQ	CONTACT US
Disclaimer	© 2002 Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners