Facility Professional Services (FPS)

It's important to become familiar with how consultants are selected and the overall bidding and selection process.

Bidding is the formal and competitive procurement procedure through which offers for construction are requested, received, and evaluated. The bid period begins with the publishing of the advertisement for bids, and ends with the contractors Notice to Proceed.

Private sector architectural and engineering (A/E) services required on projects managed by FPS must be publicly advertised. Advertisements may solicit for a general category of services or for a specific type of architectural or engineering service required for an individual project or a defined collective group of projects.

Abbreviated advertisements are normally made in the Daily Journal of Commerce, WEBS, and posted on Currently Advertised Projects.

The Department of Enterprise Services adds a monetary disadvantage to all public works bids submitted by contractors from states with an in-state bidding preference. The disadvantage amount is equal to the advantage given by a state with the bidding preference. This in accordance to direction given from the 2011 State Legislature.

How Consultants are Selected

Consultant selection is based on anticipated project fees:

• $350,000 or below: Consultants are selected from firms in the A/E Reference File.
• Greater than $350,000: Projects are advertised as described above. Consultants who submit qualifications in response to the advertisement will be considered for selection.

Phase I: Panelists consider the consultant’s written submittals and brochures, previous experience on state projects, and any listed or unlisted references.

Phase II: Firms short-listed will be interviewed by the selection panel and scored against criteria developed specifically for the project.

Selection Processes

Consultants must have submitted their qualifications in response to a public advertisement by E&AS to be considered eligible for selection on an E&AS managed project. [See RCW 39.80.030].

Prospective architects or engineers are evaluated on the basis of qualifications and performance data established for a specific project.

Applicant’s qualifications and performance data are measured against the specific project selection criteria established for each project. Each panel member independently scores each firm. The highest scored firm is deemed the most highly qualified of those considered.