CHAPTER 15
GUIDELINES FOR RETAINING CONSULTANTS TO PROVIDE ARCHITECTURAL, PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING,
LAND SURVEYING, AND DESIGN SERVICES

OVERVIEW
The need for assistance in the performance and delivery of City services will periodically necessitate the utilization of outside service providers. Outside service providers are individuals or companies that provide a service to the City for remuneration such as architects, engineers, land surveying and planning professionals. In general, outside service providers can be classified as:

Contracted Services – Outside service providers who operate within the provisions of a signed contract with the City.

Professional Services – Outside service providers who are typically licensed or certified, usually with advanced educational requirements; they may also be Contracted Services.

Consultants – Outside service providers who are retained for a specific project and a specific time period; they may also be a Professional Service and/or they may be a Contracted Service.

Criteria and Guidelines for Utilization
Outside service providers are utilized when:

• Staff resources are not sufficient to perform these services and when the services are not of an on-going nature that would require a full-time employee, or;
• Staff does not possess the required expertise, or;
• The nature of the services requires third party objectivity, or;
• State or Federal law prohibits assigning such services to staff, or;
• The required services cannot be provided more economically by staff, or;
• There exists an emergency or urgent need for services to preserve public health and safety.

Criteria and Guidelines for Selection
Competitive bidding for specialized services is not in the best public interest because it may lead to employment of the least qualified, rather than the best qualified, as should be the objective. The objective of competitive bidding is low cost. Only when services or a product can be described in sufficient detail, where all parties can bid on the same basis for comparison, should bidding be considered. Professional services in engineering, law, architecture, medicine, land surveying, and planning, to name a few, are not recognized as being amenable to detailed specifications.

One factor – qualifications – far outweighs all other considerations in retaining consultants, especially price. Once qualifications are established, work scope, price and means of compensation can be negotiated with the selected firm; these three items must be in harmony with each other because experience shows that inadequate compensation for the effort expected can lead to inadequate results.

The variety, complexity, size and quantity of annual projects required of the City justifies an efficient procurement effort. The City of Visalia is interested in seeking broad competition and encouraging extensive participation by qualified firms. It is therefore incumbent upon the City to minimize the information and effort required to institute a short list. It is the intent of the City of Visalia to limit submittals by interested firms. It is believed that this is everyone’s best interest and allows for more equal competition between small and medium size firms and large firms that have substantial overhead or public relations budgets. The consultant is expected to extend costs and effort in applying for consideration without any guarantee of success. This would encourage greater participation, reduce cost to both the City and consultant, reduce selection time, and increase the responsiveness of the selection process.

The following guidelines have been developed to establish the City of Visalia’s policy for selection of consultants. Separate guidelines are established for three levels of anticipated fee:

• Informal Selection Process - Anticipated fees at $50,000 or less.
• Semi-Formal Selection Process - Anticipated fees from $50,001 to $100,000. This level uses QBS Process.
• Formal Selection Process - Anticipated fees over $100,000. This level uses QBS Process.

Selection factors may include:

• Educational background
• Experience
• Demonstrated record of success
• Individuals who will have direct charge of the work
• Adequate staffing for the time allowance
• Proposed method of addressing the work
• Ability to make public presentations
• Adequate knowledge of local conditions
• Current workload and relationship to proposed project
• Demonstrated record of keeping costs within project budgets
• Demonstrated support for Affirmative Action by having an Affirmative Action Policy

An outside service provider shall not be selected when a potential conflict of interest exists:

• Involvement in a related decision-making process as a member of a Committee/Commission/Board or a Council member, or;
• Potential for additional personal financial gain beyond that resulting from performing the service, or;
• Conflict with applicable provisions of the Fair Political Practices Commission and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

Local Preference
When the City determines a business within the City of Visalia is capable of adequately providing the services being sought by the City, and factors such as cost and quality are acceptable, the City will give preference to the local area business in selection over a non-local competitor.

Local businesses can be selected from a pre-qualified list for special projects. In addition, local businesses should be utilized to the maximum extent possible for those projects of $50,000 or less.

SELECTION PROCEDURES

• Informal Selection Procedure - Anticipated Fees $50,000 or Less
  The highest ranking registered Engineer or Architect in charge of the project shall select a consultant taking into account (a) the nature of the project, (b) the geographic proximity of the consultant to the project, (c) the capability of the consultant to produce the required service within a reasonable time, (d) past performance, and (e) ability to meet project budget requirements.
  
  The consultant will be selected from a list maintained by the Purchasing Division. New consulting firms shall be encouraged to make their capabilities known to the City. Selection of consultants by this method will be made on a rotational basis insofar as practicable; however, professional expertise and experience in the applicable field will be the major criteria for selection on any project.
  
  Maximum Fees Payable to One Person or Firm. Fees paid during the twenty-four month period immediately preceding the negotiation of the contract for professional services performed by any one consultant shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) under the informal selection procedure. All firms seeking to render professional services pursuant to this section shall furnish the City a list of professional services, including fees paid therefor, performed for the City during the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which the negotiations are occurring and during the fiscal year in which the negotiations are occurring.
  
  Projects may not be split into small projects for the purpose of circumventing the Informal Selection Process limit of $50,000.
  
  Effort must be made to distribute contracts fairly and equitably, without favoritism. Effort must also be made to utilize Minority and Women-owned businesses to the fullest extent possible.
  
  The resulting professional services contract shall be approved by the Purchasing Agent.
  
• Semi-Formal Selection Process - Anticipated Fees $50,001 - $100,000
  (Modified QBS)
  The professional community is notified, through advertisement in the newspaper and by other means, of the City’s proposed project. Interested consultants will be invited to obtain a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) from the City.
  
  The RFQ will contain a brief description of the project, the estimated budget and the selection criteria. Consultants will also be informed as to what is expected to be in the consultant’s submittal.
  
  The highest ranking registered Engineer in charge of the project, or his/her designee, shall implement a modified version of the Qualifications Based Selection process, as detailed in this chapter and develop a short list of at least three (3) firms who appear to have the desired professional expertise, experience and capacity to perform the work. These firms shall be invited to an interview to be conducted by a three (3) member committee comprised of City staff.
  
  The resulting professional services contract shall be approved by the City Manager and the Purchasing Agent.
  
• Formal Selection Process - Anticipated Fees Greater than $100,000
  (QBS Process)
  The professional community shall be notified of the proposed project through advertisement in the newspaper and by other means. Interested consultants will be invited to obtain a Request for Qualification from the City.
  
  The RFQ will contain a description of the work to be done, the estimated project budget and other pertinent information regarding the project. The RFQ will define the specific questions to be addressed in the proposal as well as the selection criteria to be used.
  
  The consultants will be informed as to what specific information should be contained in their written response. Question responses regarding the firms’ technical perspective of the project are to be strictly limited to brief statements addressing consultants’ general concepts and approach to the project. Detailed, voluminous design information is not desired and will not be considered in the selection process.
  
  A short list of at least three (3) firms shall be developed by either a committee comprised of City staff or by a formal selection committee comprised of City staff and additional experts.
  
  A formal selection committee shall be composed of three (3) or five (5) members. A diligent attempt should be made to obtain committee members who are not City employees (preferably a majority). Potential candidates for the formal selection committee are as follows: (a) City Engineer, Assistant City Engineer, Public Works Official, (b) Outside Public Works Officials, (c) Consulting firm representatives, (d) User department representatives, (e) Members-at large, (f) Public utility official. The committee chairperson shall be a registered professional engineer or architect. If feasible, the committee should be composed of other registered professional engineers or architects.
  
  Debriefing Policy. The City will conduct a debriefing meeting for any consultants interested in attending. The debriefing will focus on the specific items that the selection committee utilized as selection criteria, the procedures used, and an assurance that it was followed consistently with all firms. The debriefing will be limited to a general discussion of what the selection committee used as selection criteria and in which areas firms rated lower than the first-ranked firm.
  
  The resulting professional services contract shall be approved by the City Manager and the Purchasing Agent.

The City of Visalia will assist any firm in applying for future jobs with the City by insuring that the opportunity for information is always readily available. Not being selected once, or even several times in a row, is not necessarily a trend of disregard or lack of objectivity.

INTRODUCTION TO QUALIFICATIONS BASED SELECTION
When public officials undertake a construction project, whether it involves a study, new construction or expanding and existing facility, the professional consultant’s performance can influence the entire course of the project - financial, feasibility, public response, design, function efficiency, construction costs, operating costs and maintenance costs during the life of the facility.

Many public owners do not undertake projects often enough to know how to adequately plan for such a project, or how to go about selecting a professional consultant in the most cost effective and efficient manner.

In October 1972, the federal government enacted Public Law 92-582, covering the selection of architects and engineers based on qualifications. This bill has since been known as the Brooks Selection Bill, as it was introduced by U.S. Representative Jack Brooks of Texas. During years of use throughout the U.S., Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) has proven to be a more efficient and less costly than a selection system using price as its primary criteria.

Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) is a method of procuring professional consultant services which permits the City to tailor the selection process to meets its specific needs. QBS entails a step-by-step process that facilitates the City’s selection of a design professional on the basis of qualifications and competence in relation to the scope of the project. QBS meets the City’s primary concern to get the best available professional services for the taxpayer’s money, and to conduct a fair and equitable selection process.

QUALIFICATION BASED SELECTION PROCEDURES
The QBS process is a two-step process; first the selection of the consultant is made and then the financial arrangements are agreed upon.

QBS evolves from many variables that must be tailored to fit each specific project’s requirement and should include all or some of the following steps:

• The City identifies the general scope of work.
• The projected time frame is established.
• A list of professional consultant firms appropriate to the project is complied.
• Letters of Qualification are requested from the identified firms.
• Letters of Qualifications are received and evaluated.
• A short list of firms to be interviewed is established.
• A tour of the site and/or facility is arranged for the short listed firm.
• Interviews are conducted and the firms ranked for selection.
• A contract is negotiated with the top-ranked firm. If an agreement cannot be satisfactorily negotiated with the top-ranked firm, negotiations are terminated and the City enters into negotiations with the second-ranked firm, and so on down the line, until agreement is reached and a firm is selected.
• All firms involved receive post-selection communications.

Developing the General Scope of Work
The General Scope of Work defines the requirements and goals of the project. All services to be provided by the professional consultant, including feasibility studies, design, construction, coordination, budget, development, and funding strategy should be specifically identified in the General Scope of Work.

Establishing a Selection Time Frame
To keep the consultant selection process proceeding smoothly, owners should establish a time frame for completion of the selection process. This will prevent misunderstandings and last-minute "surprises" that might delay or sidetrack the project.

The time frame for each project will differ, depending upon the nature of the project, the concerns of the City, and other factors. In some instances, a tour of existing facilities may be provided to the firms before short listing.

Compiling a List of Design Professionals
Some factors to be considered when compiling a list of consultant firms from which to request Statements of Qualifications include:

• The type of firm needed, e.g. architectural, engineering, surveying or related design professionals.
• The reasonable number of firms that the owner can evaluate.
• The geographic locations and distribution of the firms.
  
• Advertisements for Projects
  Placing public notices of projects in newspapers and trade or professional publications allows the City to reach many in the design community and will result in a large number of responses. The advertisement should specify the person to contact in the City to obtain a package of information regarding the project.
  
• Directories
  Most professional organizations publish directories or make mailing lists of member firms available. These lists can help the City to identify firms with interest or experience in specific types of projects. Directories can be found in the reference section of the local library or are maintained by the associations, national or state, representing various design professionals. Local telephone yellow pages and other kinds of community business directories can also be used to identify professional consulting firms.
  
• Referrals
  To identify firms more selectively, the City may wish to contact other agencies who have recently used professional consultant services on similar projects.

Selection Review Group
A Selection Review Group should be appointed to evaluate qualifications, interview candidates and rank the firms for selection. The group should include a representative from the department responsible for the administration of the consulting contract, as well as a representative from the department responsible for the project’s functions and functionality. In addition, the group should include such other qualified professional individuals who have knowledge or capabilities that are valuable in interviewing the prospective consultants.

On occasion, the City may not have several people with expertise on projects with similar scope to that required for the anticipated project. In this case, it is helpful to enlist the aid of known experts from surrounding public agencies or private consultants to serve as members of the Selection Review Group.

Request for Qualification Documents
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) can be used to obtain the names and credentials of interested professional firms. The City will also need to advertise for interested design professionals in the local newspaper.

It is essential that all firms receive the same materials so that all firms’ responses will be based on the same project specifications and constraints and, therefore, can be compared fairly.

Evaluating Qualifications Submittals
The City policy is that qualifications submittals received after the deadline will not be considered or evaluated.

The number of firms to be included on the short list, and then interviewed, may vary depending on the size and scope of the project. Generally, three to five firms are sufficient.

A sample evaluation form is provided in the Appendix to assist with reviewing and short listing firms based on their qualifications submittals. This form should be tailored to meet specific project needs. A form is also included for checking the references of firms the City is particularly interested in; references should be checked between the time qualifications submittals are received and the time the selection committee meets to develop a short list.

All evaluations should provide equal-opportunity considerations.

Establishing a Short list of Firms to be Interviewed
Based on evaluation of qualifications submittals and reference checks, the City can establish a short list of three to five firms to be interviewed. Because all firms that submitted qualifications committed time and expense to pursue the project, the City should contact the firms not selected for the short list as well as those to be interviewed. The memo sent to the firms not making the short list should express thanks and identify those firms that will be invited to interview. A sample memo is included in the Appendix.

Firms selected for interviews should immediately be sent information regarding interview requirements.

Interviewing Short listed Firms

Purpose. Interviews with the short listed firms let the City compare the firms’ different approaches to the project, as well as their interpretations and understanding of the specific project requirements. The City should not expect sketches or other design work for the project at this time. The design requirements for even simple projects can be quite complex, and at this stage, the professional consultant will not be sufficiently aware of the City’s needs and requirements to be able to produce a meaningful design solution.

The interviews allow for evaluation of the personal styles of each firm’s management and key personnel, and their compatibility with pre-identified criteria for the project. It is imperative that design personnel assigned to the project, as well as key representatives from the firm’s consultants, be present at the interview. It is also essential for the project users to be involved in the interviews. Direct interaction between the City/user and the professional consultant is essential for the development of a design that truly meets the City’s needs.

Set-up. The physical set-up for the interview should be comfortable, with good acoustics and ample room. A separate waiting area should be provided for other firms to be interviewed. Equipment such as blackboards, flip charts and audio-visual screens probably will be useful if available, although most firms will bring the equipment they will need. Since equipment set-up time will cause delays, two rooms should be used, if possible. If not, interviews should be scheduled far enough apart to allow the prospective firms adequate time to setup their equipment without feeling rushed.

The City may elect to interview the short listed firms in the professional consultant’s office. This can provide greater insight regarding the firm’s work setting as well as methods, equipment and informational resources, and key team members proposed for the project.

Some Interviewing Guidelines
The following are suggested guidelines for setting up and conducting the interviews.

• Interview only the firms communicated with during the selection process, to ensure that all interviewed firms have had equal opportunity to prepare presentations.
  
• Schedule at least 45 minutes for each presentation, and 15 minutes between interviews. It’s important to allow ample time for the presentation and question-and-answer period, and also for the committee to discuss the presentation privately before beginning the next interview.
  
• Schedule all interviews on the same day or on consecutive days. This permits the committee to compare all of the interviewed firms while information is freshly in mind, and ensures consistent interview scoring.
  
• The evaluation criteria for the interview scoring system should be communicated to all firms in advance.
  
• While it is appropriate to question firms about their approach to the design of a project, owners should not ask for an actual solution during the interview. Appropriate and responsive designs require considerable more interaction between the City and design professional than is possible during the selection phase. Preconceived design solutions brought to the table by either the design professional or the City rarely address the true needs of the City’s program. Considerable time and effort, however, may be expended trying to salvage preconceived ideas and make them fit the program. This actually impedes progress and prevents the exploration of more responsive solutions to identified design issues.
  
• The City may want to ask how the firms develop an appropriate level of compensation for their professional services. However, compensation amounts are best resolved through detailed discussions with the firm finally selected, and only after there is a comprehensive and mutual understanding of the actual scope of services.
  
• Let all firms know when the selection decision will be made. It is recommended that, if possible, the decision be made on the same day as the interviews, after the committee has had ample time to evaluate all firms.

Use of Technical Proposals
Technical proposals should be required only when the project is well defined, and if the significance of the project justifies the expense and time to the short listed firms and the City. The process will add several weeks, and commensurate cost, to the preparation time for the short listed firms. The City will also require technically-experienced staff, as well as several additional weeks to review the technical proposals.

The technical proposal may be requested from short listed firms. This technical proposal can be used as a forerunner to the interviews, or as a substitute for the interview. The technical proposal should be requested of each of the short listed firms. The request should include the areas to be addressed in the technical proposal.

Ranking the Firms in Contention for Selection
An evaluation form that includes a weight and a score for each criteria or question is useful for evaluating, ranking and, finally, selecting the most qualified firm. Each firm should be evaluated separately by each interviewer during the presentation and interview. When all interviews have been concluded, the head of the selection committee should compile the individual score sheets. This system provides a documented selection process as support for the committee’s actions. It is recommended that committee members take the time to achieve consensus rather than just ranking and selecting by majority vote. If technical proposals are included in the process, the results of the review should be incorporated in the evaluation process.

Negotiating an Agreement with the Selected Firm
As soon as possible after the selection, the owner should begin negotiations with the firm deemed most qualified. Normally it is not difficult to reach an agreement on fee, since the QBS process facilitates an early understanding of the project scope and requirements. If agreement on the scope of services and compensation cannot be reached, negotiations with the first-ranked firm should be terminated, and the City should open negotiations with the second-ranked firm.

The following considerations are also suggested:

• A detailed and comprehensive scope-of-services should be developed jointly by the City and the top-ranked firm. This is often accomplished through one or more meetings of the professional consultant and the City, after which the professional consultant submits a project and work plan. The work plan should list consultants and the roles and responsibilities of all members of the design team, as well as the responsibilities of the City.
  
• Once there is agreement on the work plan, the design firm should submit its proposal for compensation, to initiate fee negotiations.
  
• A written contract should be used. All contracts must be approved as to form by the City Attorney, the Risk Manager, the Purchasing Agent and signed by the City Manager.
  
• The agreement between the City and professional consultant should ensure that both parties have the same expectations and understanding of the project requirements.

Post-Selection Communications
After interviews and/or technical proposal reviews and ranking are completed, a post-selection memo should be prepared and mailed to all firms that participated in the process. After a contract is awarded, a debriefing for each short listed firm should be provided upon request. The debriefing will include information on ranking and scoring of that firm’s proposal.