Active SLED Opportunity · WASHINGTON · CITY OF SEATTLE
AI Summary
The City of Seattle seeks qualified IT consultants to establish new consultant rosters for citywide technology projects and services.
The City of Seattle requests eligible Consultants submit qualifications for Information Technology related consultant rosters.
City of Seattle ordinance allows the City to establish lists of qualified Consultants for use by any Department for skills or services in specialized areas of knowledge or experience. The City refers to these lists of qualified Consultants as rosters. A Department may contract with a Consultant on the appropriate roster for assignments or projects without a formal, advertised competitive process as long as each Contract is estimated to cost below $410,000 and the Department has determined that its needs can be fully met without soliciting proposals through public advertising.
A small business priority is now in effect for the following roster categories:
Information Technology - General
Information Technology - Computer Systems and Internet Analysis
Information Technology - External Project Quality Assurance
Information Technology - Vulnerability/Security Analysis and Assessment
Please use the See What Changed link to view all the changes made by this addendum.
Those eligible will have experience providing consulting services that include any of the scopes detailed below. Consultants found to be qualified will be approved the City's consultant roster(s) for which they apply. This solicitation is looking for Consultants to be approved to the following categories:
City departments are authorized to enter into a Consultant Roster Contract (Agreement) with an approved roster consultant when they have determined that its contracting needs can be fully met without soliciting proposals through public advertising. Departments have discretion to identify a firm for contracting off a roster using one of the three methods below.
1. Informal solicitation (not publicly advertised) to the entire roster (Vendor List) of approved consultants for the appropriate category under which their needed scope of work falls.
2. Informal solicitation (not publicly advertised) to a subset of Consultants from the roster (Vendor List) of approved consultants for the appropriate category under which their needed scope of work falls.
3. Direct selection of a Consultant approved to the roster (Vendor List) for the appropriate category under which their needed scope of work falls.
Applications will be evaluated by City staff familiar with the consultant roster program and requirements. Evaluators will review responses to this RFQ, including Statements of Qualification, to determine that a Consultant meets the following requirements:
1. Consultant or firm has experience performing the scopes of work contemplated within the applicable roster category.
2. Consultant or firm has affirmed it has obtained all relevant licenses, certifications, and education necessary to perform the work it seeks through this solicitation.
3. Consultant or firm is considered a "small business concern" (when applicable) using the Small Business Administration's Table of Size Standards.
4. Category-specific qualification requirements.
Seattle Municipal Code 20.50.100 allows the City to establish lists of qualified Consultants for the use by any City department for skills or services in specialized areas of knowledge or experience. The City refers to these lists of qualified Consultants as rosters. A department may contract with a Consultant on the appropriate roster for assignments or projects without a formal, advertised competitive process as long as each contract is estimated to cost below $410,000 and the Department has determined that its needs can be fully met without soliciting proposals through public advertising.
Consultants must meet minimum qualifications in order to be considered for approval to a roster category. Those that are not responsive to these qualifications shall be rejected by the City:
All Categories in this solicitation require the following qualifications:
The scope of work covered by this category includes information technology hardware and software support, data storage and recovery, CAD / GIS application development, I/T planning, internet services, web page development, and LAN services.
Should a Consultant be approved to a roster, formal communication notifying Consultant of the approval will be sent either by email or through the Procurement Portal. The City will designate the Consultant as approved within the Procurement Portal by adding the Consultant to the appropriate roster(s). Approved lists of consultants can be found under the Vendors tab in the City's Procurement Portal by clicking on More Filters and selecting Vendor Lists.
City ordinance defines a Consultant as any person that by experience, training, and education of the principals, officers or employees thereof has established a reputation or ability to perform specialized activities on a discrete, nonrecurring basis over a limited and pre-established term as an independent contractor, delivering or providing advice, recommendations, reports, analyses, evaluations, audits, surveys or other products of cognitive processes or expert or professional services including but not limited to services from any attorney, architect, accountant, public relations advisor, dentist, physician, surgeon psychiatrist, psychologist, veterinarian, engineer, surveyor, appraiser, planning consultant, investment counselor and actuary.
Licensing and insurance requirements listed in Section 5, Selection of Consultants from a Roster for Contracting, are NOT required in order to submit an application to the consultant roster program. Business licensing and insurance requirements are applicable upon the City notifying you of its intent to enter into a formal consultant roster agreement and are required to be satisfied before an agreement is executed. Additional licenses and insurance may be required based on the project.
Consultants are required to submit a new Consultant Questionnaire for each individual agreement entered with the City. It is not required as a condition of roster approval. For reference, the Consultant Questionnaire can be found: https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/FAS/PurchasingAndContracting/Consulting/fas-cpcs-consultant-questionnaire.docx.
The City has linked its boilerplate Consultant Roster Agreement so Consultants can be familiar with the standard terms of the City's roster consultant contracts. Should Consultant be approved to a roster and then selected for contracting, the selecting department may use this boilerplate to prepare the contract. Departments have discretion over whether to allow for negotiation of the standard terms. The City is not able to modify contract provisions mandated by Federal, State, or City law. Additional project- and/or department-specific terms and exhibits may be required in a resultant contract during the contracting process.
Consultant understands that the rosters are lists of Consultants the City has deemed as qualified to perform all or parts of the scopes of work designated under a particular category. Approval to any of the roster categories does not guarantee any Consultant any contract for any amount. See Section 5. Selection of Consultants from a Roster for Contracting for information on how Consultants may be selected for a Contract.
This solicitation is accepting applications for the City of Seattle's consultant roster continuously until this roster cycle ends on 12/31/2030. Consultants may apply at anytime within the cycle.
The scope of work covered by this category includes computer systems feasibility and requirements analysis, design, development, documentation, testing and implementation, computer programming, and RFP development including internet applications.
Consultants have the right to appeal rejection notifications to the Consultant Roster program. Only appeals alleging an issue concerning the following subjects shall be considered:
1. A matter of bias, discrimination, or conflict of interest.
2. Non-compliance with procedures described in the solicitation or City policy.
Formal appeals must be in writing and received within 3 days from the date the consultant roster rejection notification was sent by the City. A casual inquiry, complaint, or statement of the intention to appeal that does not provide the facts and issues or does not comply with the form, content, or deadlines will not be considered or acted on as an appeal. The following information must be included in the appeal letter to be considered:
1. Consultant firm name, mailing address, email address, phone number, and name and title of Consultant individual responsible for submission of the protest.
2. The basis for the appeal to the rejection decision including specific facts with back-up documentation.
3. A signature by an authorized agent of the business.
The Purchasing and Contracting division of Finance and Administrative Services will review the appeal. All available facts will be considered and a final decision shall be issued in writing. Each determination from the City will:
1. Find the appeal lacking in merit and uphold the City action; or
2. Find merit in the appeal and proceed with approval to the roster(s) that were previously denied to Consultant.
Consultants may submit questions about this process through the Procurement Portal by visiting the Question & Answer tab above. The City intends to answer questions within a timely manner. All questions and answers will be posted publicly with the submitter's name removed. Questions that apply to all roster solicitations may be added to all roster solicitations in process.
Upon notification of consultant roster contract award, Consultant agrees that, at a minimum, it will maintain premises operations and vehicle liability insurance in force with coverages and limits of liability typically maintained by consultants performing work of a scope and nature similar to that called for under the contract but in no event less than the coverages and/or limits required by Washington state law. Such insurance shall include “The City of Seattle” as an additional insured for primary and non-contributory limits of liability. Workers compensation insurance shall also be maintained if required by Washington state law. Project-specific insurance requirements may be added as a condition of contracting in addition to the City's standard Consultant insurance requirements.
The City intends for this consultant roster cycle to be approximately 5 years running from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2030. Consultants approved to one or multiple consultant rosters during this time period will remain approved until either (1) the Consultant no longer meets the requirements to be approved to a consultant roster or (2) until December 31, 2030. All consultant roster approvals will expire December 31, 2030 regardless of when the application was approved.
The scope of work covered by this category includes assessment of City information systems and business processes for compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) companies are organizations that have been qualified by the PCI Security Standards Council to have their employees assess compliance to the PCI-DSS. Includes analysis, review, evaluation, assessment, design, planning, development, documentation, reports, recommendation, testing and implementation.
Prior to the execution of a formal consultant roster agreement with the City, Consultants must meet all applicable licensing requirements or the City may reject the Consultant. Companies must license, report and pay revenue taxes for the Washington State business License (UBI#) and Seattle Business License, if required by law.
Seattle Business Licensing and associated taxes
1. If you have a “physical nexus” in the city, you must obtain a Seattle Business license and pay all taxes due before a Consultant Roster agreement can be executed.
2. A “physical nexus” means you have physical presence, such as: a building/facility/employee(s) in Seattle, you make sales trips into Seattle, your own company drives into Seattle for product deliveries, and/or you conduct service work in Seattle (repair, installation, service, maintenance work, on-site consulting, etc).
3. All costs for any licenses, permits and Seattle Business License taxes owed shall be borne by the Consultant and not charged separately to the City.
4. The apparent successful Consultant(s) must immediately obtain the license and ensure all City taxes are current, unless exempted by City Code due to reasons such as no physical nexus. Failure to do so will cause rejection of the submittal.
5. The City of Seattle Application for a Business License and additional licensing information can be found this page here: https://www.seattle.gov/city-finance/business-taxes-and-licenses/business-licenses
6. For Questions and Assistance, call the Revenue and Consumer Protection (RCP) office which issues business licenses and enforces licensing requirements. The general e-mail is tax@seattle.gov. The main phone is 206-684-8484.
7. Self-Filing You can pay your license and taxes on-line https://www.filelocal-wa.gov/Default_FileLocal.aspx
8. If a business has extraordinary balances due on their account that would cause undue hardship to the business, the business can contact the License and Tax Administration office at tax@seattle.gov or 206-684-8484 to request additional assistance.
9. Those holding a City of Seattle Business license may be required to report and pay revenue taxes to the City.
The City may make changes to this RFQ if, in the sole judgment of the City, the change will not compromise the City’s objectives in this solicitation. Any change to this RFQ will be made by formal addendum issued by the City, through the Procurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/seattle and shall become part of this RFQ.
Consultants who have been notified of their denial of application to be added to a roster have the right to reapply after 6 weeks. Consultants can apply to additional roster categories at anytime.
The scope of work covered by this category includes “independent” assessment of large, complex City IT projects with the purpose of reducing project risks and improving the likelihood of delivering the required scope on time, within budget and with acceptable levels of user adoption. This role is independent of the project manager or any project team role that develops actual project deliverables, and involves evaluating the fit and adequacy of all project practices/processes (project management, systems development, business process design, and implementation/deployment) being applied by the project team, and making recommendations to reduce risk and improve practices. Applicants must provide a copy of their documented methodology for conducting independent project quality assurance assessments, and a sample of an actual monthly risk assessment report (client specific information may be redacted to preserve confidentiality) to demonstrate 3 or more years experience in Project Quality Assurance.
Per Seattle Municipal Code 20.50.110B, whenever 15 or more Consultants qualify as "small business concerns" in a single roster category, the category shall consist only of those Consultants who are eligible to be classified as a "small business concern." If 14 or fewer such Consultants are qualified, Consultants for that roster category shall be selected without regard to their eligibility under the small business criteria. The City currently uses the Small Business Administration's standards to identify small businesses. More information about small business size standards can be found at: https://www.sba.gov/partners/contracting-officials/small-business-procurement/small-business-size-standards.
Should Consultants graduate from the small business concern designation, Consultants are required to notify the City's Purchasing and Contracting division within Finance and Administrative Services by email to Julie.Salinas@seattle.gov for removal from the roster list. Graduation from the small business concern designation will have no effect on executed Consultant Roster contracts.
Should a Consultant be selected from a roster to enter into a contract, before the contract is signed, Consultant must have a State of Washington business license (a “Unified Business Identifier” known as a UBI#). If the State of Washington has exempted your business from State licensing (some foreign companies are exempt and sometimes, the State waives licensing because the company has no physical presence in the State), then submit proof of that exemption to the City. All costs for any licenses, permits and associated tax payments due to the State because of licensing shall be borne by the Consultant and not charged separately to the City. Instructions to apply for a business license can be found at https://dor.wa.gov/open-business/apply-business-license and the State of Washington Department of Revenue contact help page at https://dor.wa.gov/contact.
It is the Consultant's responsibility to respond to this solicitation in a manner that does not require interpretation or clarification by the City. The Consultant is to provide all requested materials, forms and information, ensure the materials are submitted properly, and accurately reflect the Consultant’s qualifications. This does not limit the City’s right to consider additional information (such as references that are not provided by the Consultant but are known to the City, or past City experience with the consultant), or to seek clarifications as needed.
At this time, not-for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply for the City's consultant roster program as they do not fall under the "small business concern" designation required by ordinance. Should a City department determine that a contract with a public benefit nonprofit corporation is the best option for consulting work, they are able to contract directly with the public benefit nonprofit corporation per Seattle Municipal Code 20.50.090C. Approval to a consultant roster is not necessary for a public benefit nonprofit corporation to contract with the City.
The scope of work covered by this category includes analysis and assessment of City information systems for confidentiality, integrity, security, and availability of City information systems and the data which they process. This includes application code reviews, application penetration testing, and network and application vulnerability testing and scanning. It may also include recommendations to assist in prioritizing immediate needs and in changes to policies and procedures. It may also include assistance with digital investigations, recovery of lost or deleted date, or other forensic analysis. This does not include physical security analysis and assessment.
The scope of work covered by this category includes telecommunication studies, analysis, evaluation, monitoring, recommendations, design, planning, specifications and estimates, plan review, permitting, reports, construction administration and inspection, or serving as a telecommunications-related expert witness.
The City does not guarantee utilization of any agreement(s) awarded to a Consultant who was selected off of a consultant roster. The agreement may provide estimates of utilization; such information is for Consultant convenience and not a usage guarantee. The City reserves the right to order work based on City needs. The City may turn to other appropriate contract sources or supplemental contracts to obtain these same or similar services. The City may re-solicit for new additions to the Consultant pool. Use of such supplemental contracts does not limit the right of the City to terminate existing contracts for convenience or cause.
City departments may contract with Consultants on the roster for contracts estimated to cost no more than $410,000. The limit applies to the entire estimated contract, not per year of the contract. Each department may only use an approved roster Consultant up to a maximum amount of $819,000 per year, per approved roster category.
Consultants shall not interfere in any way to discourage other potential and/or prospective Consultants from applying to this solicitation. Prohibited contacts includes but is not limited to any contact, whether direct or indirect (i.e. in writing, by phone, email or other, and by the Consultant or another person acting on behalf of the Consultant) to a likely firm or individual that may discourage or limit competition. If such activity is evidenced to the satisfaction and in sole discretion of the City, the Consultant that initiates such contacts may be rejected from the process.
The City may formally remove a Consultant from any City roster at its discretion before the current cycle ends.
Prior to City's evaluation, a Consultant may update their application through the City's Procurement Portal.
The City of Seattle, as a Washington governmental entity, is subject to Washington Laws regulating governmental entities, including the Washington Public Records Act (“Public Records Act”), RCW 42.56, which provides that any writing (including handwriting, typewriting, printing, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation) containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared owned, used or retained by state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics, must be promptly disclosed upon request, unless specifically exempted under the Public Records Act. Exemptions are narrow and explicit and contained in RCW 42.56 and RCW 19.108.
Accordingly, the City cannot represent or guarantee that any information submitted by Consultant will be confidential. In the event the City receives a request under the Public Records Act, the City's sole responsibility will be to follow the procedures set forth in the Public Records Act; provided that the City shall, in accordance with the Public Records Act, use reasonable efforts to provide prior notice to the Consultant when appropriate under the Public Records Act in order for Consultant to either promptly provide a redaction of such records to maintain confidentiality of its information, intellectual property rights, and trade secrets or for Consultant to file an injunction through the state or federal courts in King County, Washington to block the release of the requested records. Regardless, Consultant agrees that the City will not be required to notify Consultant in connection with the City's compliance with the Public Records Act.
For more information, visit the Washington State Legislature’s website at http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.56.
A Consultant is considered a "small business concern" if it qualifies as a Small Business under the Small Business Act of the United States, 15 USC Section 632, and its implementing regulations. The Small Business Act empowers the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish specific size standards based on various factors like number of employees, revenue, and net worth which vary by industry.
You can select see if you qualify by finding your industry in the SBA's Table of Size Standards found here: https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards.
Nonprofit organizations are not eligible to apply to the Consultant roster program.
Seattle Municipal Code provides another avenue for which City departments are able to contract out with public benefit non-profit organizations without public advertisement. Non-eligibility for the consultant roster program does not preclude your firm from working with the City.
Qualified consultants will have experience providing consultation on information technology hardware and software support, data storage and recovery, CAD / GIS application development, I/T planning, internet services, web page development, or LAN services.
Each project must have included at least one of the following scopes:
Information technology hardware and software support, data storage and recovery, CAD / GIS application development, I/T planning, internet services, web page development, or LAN services
Qualified consultants will have experience providing consultation on computer systems feasibility and requirements analysis, design, development, documentation, testing and implementation, computer programming, or RFP development including internet applications
Each project must have included at least one of the following scopes:
Computer systems feasibility and requirements analysis, design, development, documentation, testing and implementation, computer programming, or RFP development including internet applications
Qualified consultants will have experience providing consultation on assessment of information systems and business processes for compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) companies are organizations that have been qualified by the PCI Security Standards Council to have their employees assess compliance to the PCI-DSS. Includes experience with analysis, review, evaluation, assessment, design, planning, development, documentation, reports, recommendation, testing or implementation.
Each project must have included at least one of the following scopes:
assessment of information systems and business processes for compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) including analysis, review, evaluation, assessment, design, planning, development, documentation, reports, recommendation, testing or implementation.
Qualified consultants will have experience providing consultation on analysis or assessment of information systems for confidentiality, integrity, security, or availability of information systems or the data which they process. This includes application code reviews, application penetration testing, or network or application vulnerability testing or scanning. It may also include recommendations to assist in prioritizing immediate needs or in changes to policies or procedures. It may also include assistance with digital investigations, recovery of lost or deleted date, or other forensic analysis. This does not include physical security analysis or assessment.
Each project must have included at least one of the following scopes:
Analysis or assessment of information systems for confidentiality, integrity, security, or availability of information systems or the data which they process. This includes application code reviews, application penetration testing, or network or application vulnerability testing or scanning. It may also include recommendations to assist in prioritizing immediate needs or in changes to policies or procedures. It may also include assistance with digital investigations, recovery of lost or deleted date, or other forensic analysis.
Qualified consultants will have experience providing consultation on independent assessment of large, complex IT projects with the purpose of reducing project risks and improving the likelihood of delivering the required scope on time, within budget and with acceptable levels of user adoption. This role is independent of the project manager or any project team role that develops actual project deliverables, and involves evaluating the fit and adequacy of all project practices/processes (project management, systems development, business process design, and implementation/deployment) being applied by the project team, and making recommendations to reduce risk and improve practices
Each project must have included at least one of the following scopes:
independent assessment of large, complex IT projects with the purpose of reducing project risks or improving the likelihood of delivering the required scope on time, within budget or with acceptable levels of user adoption, evaluating the fit or adequacy of all project practices/processes (project management, systems development, business process design, or implementation/deployment) being applied by the project team, or making recommendations to reduce risk and improve practices.
Qualified consultants will have experience providing consultation on telecommunication studies, analysis, evaluation, monitoring, recommendations, design, plans, specifications or estimates, plan review, permitting, reports, construction administration or inspection, or expert witness regarding telecommunications.
Each project must have included at least one of the following scopes:
A statement of qualifications is a document that details how a Consultant firm's skills and experience align with the specific scope of work covered by the roster(s) attempting to be qualified for. There is not an official City of Seattle template for a Statement of Qualifications as they can vary significantly from field to field.
In general, the City is looking for evidence that the firm has completed projects or assignments related to the scope of work and that the key personnel and/or Principal have the required licenses, certificates, or education to perform the type of consulting work described for each category applied to.
Statements of qualification are generally set up in a resume style format as opposed to a narrative format. City departments may use these statements of qualifications to determine whether a Consultant has the proper experience to be considered for contracting. Upon approval to a consultant roster, Consultant must add this document to their Documents tab in the business profile of the CIty's Procurement Portal.
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Q (location question): Is it a requirement that the vendor have a physical presence within the City of Seattle? Many potential vendors have a WA State business license, but operate remotely or are based in a different city, county, or even state.
A: A physical presence within the City of Seattle is not required in order to be approved to a consultant roster.
Q (project experience): Section 3.1 "Consultant must have completed three or more projects that fall under the scope of work description for the roster category they are applying to." Do these need to be government projects, or can commercial projects be included?
A: Projects do not need to be government projects. Commercial projects can be included in the three or more projects.
Q (RFQ Due Date): Please provide the RFQ due date
A: The City is accepting applications on a rolling basis for this consultant roster cycle until December of 2030. Consultants may apply at any time.
Q (Project Experience): Can you clarify if project experience examples for specific support areas are required to be Seattle City based, or can we use projects executed in the greater King County, Washington State or Nationwide?
A: Consultants may list project experience examples for specific support areas from any source. Experience with a public agency is not required. Experience is also not required to be local.
Q (No subject): Can you clarify this statement: A Department may contract with a Consultant on the appropriate roster for assignments or projects without a formal, advertised competitive process as long as each Contract is estimated to cost below $410,000 and the Department has determined that its needs can be fully met without soliciting proposals through public advertising Is the $410,000 for a three year project and are all projects $410,000 or less?
A: Yes, the $410,000 limit is per contract/project and may be multi-year.
Q (The Solicitation Date Clarification): The Solicitation dates show December 1, 2030, 12:00am does then mean work will begin then or will you continual accept different vendors up until those dates?
A: The City will continue to accept new roster applications up until the December 1, 2030 deadline. The earliest an approved consultant may be awarded a contract is January 1, 2026 when the roster lists become official.
Q (Amount of Work Available): Is there a ballpark percentage for how much of the work coming out of the Roster is anticipated to be under service category 2.4 Payment Card Industry Compliance Assessment?
A: The City is unable to estimate future contracting needs.
Q (Qualification Packet Deliverable): Section 6 of the RFP, Consultant Roster Application, is a questionnaire format. Would you like us to answer questions directly on that form, and attach experience/details as a separate document? Or may we transfer your questionnaire into our branding and deliver a more cohesive package?
A: Questions must be answered directly onto the form. The statement of qualifications document can have your branding and be in any format.
Q (Not a small business - are we still eligible?):
A: I would like to confirm whether we, as a large organization, are eligible to participate in the RFQ CTY-CR-2025-01 for the Citywide Consultant Roster Solicitation: Information Technology Consulting At this time, large organizations are eligible because the roster program is making every consultant reapply. As of today, we have approved less than 15 small businesses to the information technology rosters. However, once 15 small businesses are approved to any roster, we will amend the solicitation to reflect that a small business priority is in effect. Due to the fact that we are accepting applications for three months before the City officially uses the new rosters, it is expected that most rosters will only have small businesses approved to them. You may apply and be approved during the transition period, however, you may be removed as soon as the 15th small business is approved. This removal may happen before the rosters are eligible for use on 1/1/2026.
Q (No subject): Is there a mandatory goal of WMBE. If so shall we subcontract with WMBE vendor to satisfy the goal?
A: This solicitation does not have a WMBE goal.
Q (Regarding Timeline for Roster Selection after submission): After how long post submission, can we except some updates regarding the roster selection?
A: At this time the City is receiving a high volume of applications. Our aim is to respond to each application within 3-4 weeks.
Q (Different Roster?): If we already are on the City of Seattle Consultant Roster and are working on projects currently for Seattle IT, do we also need to apply to be on this specific roster?
A: Yes, all currently approved roster consultants must apply through this new process in order to be considered for consultant roster contracts after 1/1/2026.
Q (IT Project Specific Roster): Is this roster replacing the existing City of Seattle Consultant Roster list, or is this a more specific list for IT only? Thanks
A: The current rosters include 96 categories. Other categories are represented in the other Citywide Consultant Roster Solicitations on the Procurement Portal. Please refer to section 1.3. Roster Program Transition Period and section 1.4. Consultant Roster Duration.
Q (1.2. Consultant Definition and 1.5. Opportunities for Small Business and 1.7. Consultant Roster Program Limitations): Section 1.2 appears to define “Consultant” as an individual performing work on this contract, whereas 1.5 appears to indicate “Consultants” who graduate from the small business designation represents a firm. Please confirm in section 1.5 and Section 1.7 “Consultant” is referring to the company entity and not an individual performing work on the contract.
A: "Consultant" can be an individual or a company entity. For the purposes of the roster, it will be the entity that the City may enter into a contract with, whether it be a firm or an individual.
Q (Responses to the Questions ETA): I see that all the questions submitted by various individuals have been acknowledged, but I don’t see the responses posted yet. Could you please let us know when we can expect the responses to be shared? Thank you for your time and support.
A: We sincerely apologize for the delay. We are receiving a high volume of questions and submissions that we are attempting to work through. Responses to questions will be much quicker after we transition fully to OpenGov as our roster lists of record. Currently, we are prioritizing consultants who need to be approved for a current procurement process before the end of the year. Thank you for your patience. We appreciate the effort it takes to be considered for the City's consultant roster.
Q (Response and approval estimates): Will respondents be notified if they are approved/denied, and is there a rough estimate for how long it may take to know?
A: Yes, respondents will be notified whether they are approved or denied. Prior to December 31st 2025, also called the transition period, notifications and responses to questions will be slower as we prioritize current live roster program. Departments are unable to use the consultants approved to roster lists in OpenGov until January 1, 2026.
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
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