RFQ 26-B14-24 Material Testing & Lab Services

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS #26-14-24
MATERIAL TESTING & LAB SERVICES
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Cupertino Union School District ("District") is seeking
qualified persons, firms, partnerships, corporations, associations, or professional
organizations to perform Material Testing & Lab ("MT&L") services for the Cupertino Union
School District under its Measure Z Bond Program and other capital improvement projects.
Respondents to this RFQ should mail or deliver one (1) bound copy and one (1) emailed PDF
copy of their submittal, labeled "Statement of Qualifications - Material Testing & Labs," as
further described herein, to:
Cupertino Union School District
10301 Vista Drive
Facility Modernization, Door 10
Cupertino, CA 95014
ATTN: Dana Ino, Director, Business Operations
RFQ #26-14-24
If you have any questions regarding this RFQ please submit them via email to Dana Ino, at
ino_dana@cusdk8.org before 2:00 PM on April 1, 2026. Responses will be provided by
an Addendum to this RFQ by 5:00 PM on April 8, 2026. Bid information is available on the
District's website,
https://www.cusdk8.org/departments/purchasing/bid-opportunities
ALL RESPONSES ARE DUE BY 2:00 PM ON April 15, 2026. It is the sole responsibility of
the Respondents to ensure that the Proposal is submitted on time to the District. Any
submittal received after that date and time will not be accepted and will be returned
unopened. FAXED RESPONSES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Each submittal must conform and be responsive to the requirements set forth in this RFQ.
The District reserves the right to waive any informalities or irregularities in received
submittals. Further, the District reserves the right to reject any and all submittals and to
negotiate contract terms with one or more respondent firms for one or more of the work
items. The District retains the sole discretion to determine issues of compliance and to
determine whether a respondent is responsive, responsible, and qualified.
RFQ RESPONSE SCHEDULE SUMMARY
The District reserves the right to change the dates on the schedule, set forth below, without
prior notice.
DATE / TIME EVENT
March 18, 2026 Issue RFQ #26-14-24 - Measure Z Material Testing &
Lab Services.
April 1, 2026 @ 2:00 pm Deadline for submission of written questions to District
concerning RFQ #26-14-24
Cupertino Union School District
RFQ #26-14-24- Measure Z Material Testing & Lab Services
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April 8, 2026 @ 5:00 PM Answers posted by addenda
April 15, 2026 @ 2:00 PM RFQ #26-14-24 Bids Due
April 22, 2026 @ 12:00 PM Release of short-listed firms.
April 29, 2026 @ 5:00 PM Notice of Pre-Qualification Status
BACKGROUND
The Cupertino Union School District ("District") comprises of 17 elementary schools, one TK8
school, and five middle schools located throughout the city of Cupertino and portions of
Sunnyvale, San Jose, Saratoga, Los Altos, and Santa Clara.
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, CUSD consistently ranks amongst the top performing
elementary (TK-8) school districts in California. The District employs approximately 1,480 Full
Time Equivalent (FTE) staff and serves a highly diverse student population of approximately
13,500 that encompasses over 20 nationalities and 45 languages.
In November 2024, the voters approved Cupertino Union School District's Measure Z
authorizing $347 million to make critical renovations and improve schools and classrooms
throughout the District.
Briefly stated, the District is seeking experienced and proven professionals to provide project
inspection services on an as-needed basis for projects. This Request for Qualifications ("RFQ")
defines the Material Testing & Lab services sought and generally outlines the District's
requirements. Respondents to this RFQ shall submit a completed Statement of Qualifications
("SOQ"). The District intends to select one pool, of qualified firms for future consideration to
provide project inspection services for certain future projects.
POOL OF QUALIFIED APPLICANTS AND RECERTIFICATION
Requests for recertification may be sent every two (2) years. Firms who do not reply to the
request for recertification may be deleted from the pool of prequalified firms, at the sole
discretion of the District. Additional firms may be added to the pool, at the District's sole
discretion, as the District determines the need for additional services.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
Any firm selected based on this RFQ process must be capable of providing Material Testing
and Inspection consulting services. The selected firms will be expected to be familiar and
experienced with all procedures and requirements with respect to California public schools
and the Divisions of the State Architect (DSA). Firms will be expected to demonstrate the
ability to provide services to meet schedule requirements. The Material Testing & Laboratory
(MT&L) firms must maintain their DSA certification valid throughout the duration of the
assignment to any project and fulfill the requirements of the DSA re-certification program as
necessary. The scope of each project will be specific for each project.
Services shall include and meet the following requirements:
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* The consultant shall work under the direction of the Inspector of Record (IOR) and will
notify the IOR immediately of any discrepancy between construction and contracts
documents, deficiency of workmanship, or unacceptable test results. The MT&L
consultant, the IOR and District representatives shall meet periodically to plan and
schedule testing and inspection services.
* The testing laboratory shall be responsible for the quality of services provided and
maintain the necessary equipment required to satisfy the testing requirements. Upon
completion of inspection services, the MT&L consultant will provide a field report to the
IOR prior to leaving the project site. Formal reports shall be mailed or delivered within
seven (7) working days to the IOR and District representatives as determined at
preconstruction meetings.
* Project Firm: The respondent shall be fully qualified and experienced in the area of
Materials Testing and Inspections. California DSA school experience is required.
* Project Management: The respondent must have verifiable experience in managing
numerous public school projects. Any consultants working under the direction of this
consultant must be experienced in the management and supervision of similar
projects.
* Project Requirements: The MT&L consultant shall furnish all labor, supervision,
technicians, tools, equipment, supplies, reports, documentation and tests to perform
all sampling and ensure the contractor complies with all applicable regulations and
procedures. Consultant's fees shall be all inclusive; reimbursable expenses including,
but not limited to, communications, postal, transportation, photos, and per diem, as
related to the services provided. Documentation of the reimbursable expenses shall
be provided when invoicing for such expenses. MT&L firms selected will be allowed to
charge no more than a two-hour minimum.
* Required Certifications and Accreditations: Testing laboratory shall be accepted by the
Division of the State Architect (DSA) Laboratory Evaluation and Acceptance Program
prior to performing any testing or inspection services for DSA-regulated projects.
Laboratory personnel shall be certified and qualified for the type of work performed in
accordance with applicable industry standards (including, but not limited to, ICC, ACI,
AWS, or equivalent certifications).
* Services/Deliverables: Construction Phase Services include the consultant attending
the Preconstruction Conference. The MT&L consultant will establish the job start date
with the District's representative. The Consultant is required to monitor the quantity
of testing units for each project and notify the District if it appears that any quantity
may be exceeded regardless of reason. Post Construction/Project Close-Out Services
include but are not limited to the following: Upon completion of the project, the
Consultant will submit to the District all logs, forms and information collected during
the project and the Final Inspection Report, certifying the work area is released for
normal activity.
Cupertino Union School District
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The District's form of Professional Services Agreement ("Agreement") is distributed with this
RFQ as EXHIBIT A and incorporated herein by this reference. The exact scope of services,
however, will be negotiated with the selected firm and finalized in any resulting contract.
LIMITATIONS
This RFQ is neither a formal request for bids nor an offer by the District to contract with any
party responding to this RFQ. The District makes no representation that participation in the
RFQ process will lead to an award of contract or any consideration whatsoever. The District
shall in no event be responsible for the cost of preparing any response to this RFQ. The
awarding of a contract, if at all, is at the sole discretion of the District.
The submittals and any other supporting materials submitted to the District in response to
this RFQ will not be returned and will become the property of the District unless portions of
the material are designated as proprietary at the time of submittal and are specifically
requested to be returned. Vague designations and/or blanket statements regarding entire
pages or documents are insufficient and will not bind the District to protect the designated
matter from disclosure. Pursuant to Michaelis, Montanari, & Johnson v. Superior Court (2006)
38 Cal.4th 1065, submittals shall be held confidential by the District and shall not be subject
to disclosure under the California Public Records Act until after either: (1) the District and the
successful respondent have completed negotiations and entered into an agreement, or (2)
the District has rejected all respondents. Furthermore, the District will have no liability to the
respondent or any other party as a result of any public disclosure of any submittal or
supporting material.
FULL OPPORTUNITY
No respondent will be discriminated against on the basis of race, religious creed, color,
national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic
information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual
orientation, or military and veteran status in any consideration leading to the award of the
contract. The District also affirmatively ensures that Disadvantaged Business Enterprises
("DBE"), Small Local Business Enterprises ("SLBE"), Small Emerging Local Business
Enterprises ("SELBE"), and Disabled Veterans Business Enterprises ("DVBE") shall be afforded
full opportunity to respond to this RFQ.
RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYING AND CONTACTS
From the period beginning on the date of the issuance of this RFQ and ending on the date of
the award of the contract, no person, or entity submitting in response to this RFQ, nor any
officer, employee, representative, agent, or consultant representing such a person or entity
shall contact through any means or engage in any discussion regarding this RFQ, the
evaluation or selection process, or the award of the contract with any member of the District,
Board of Education, Selection Committee, or any member of the Citizens' Bond Oversight
Committee. Any such contact shall be grounds for the disqualification of the entity submitting
a response.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTALS
A. FORMAT REQUIREMENTS
Respondents must comply with the following format requirements. Material must be in 8-1/2
x 11 inch format with font no less than 11 point font size. Submittals shall include divider
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tabs labeled with boldface headers below; e.g. the first tab would be entitled "Cover Letter",
the second tab would be entitled "Business Information", etc.
Submittals shall be no more than thirty (30) total printed pages. Pages may be printed double-
sided, but the total number of printed pages may not exceed thirty (30). This page limitation
excludes front/back covers, divider sheets/tabs, and allowed appendices. Submittals
containing more than the authorized number of pages will not be considered.
Provide one (1) bound copy and one (1) PDF copy via email of the submittal. The electronic
copy will only be accepted via email as a PDF.
B. CONTENT REQUIREMENTS
1. COVER LETTER
Provide a letter of introduction signed by an authorized officer of the firm. Clearly identify
the individual(s) authorized to speak for the firm during the evaluation process. If the
respondent is a joint venture, duplicate the signature block and have an authorized officer
sign on behalf of each party to the joint venture.
Include a brief description of why your firm is well suited for, and can meet, the District's
needs.
Respondent must include one (1) of the following statements:
"[INSERT FIRM NAME] received a copy of the District's form of Professional Services
Agreement ("Agreement") attached as EXHIBIT 'A' to the RFQ. [INSERT FIRM NAME]
has reviewed the indemnity provisions and professional liability insurance provisions
contained in the Agreement. If given the opportunity to contract with the District,
[INSERT FIRM NAME] has no objections to the use of the Agreement."
OR
"[INSERT FIRM NAME] received a copy of the District's form of Professional Services
Agreement ("Agreement") attached as EXHIBIT 'A' to the RFQ. [INSERT FIRM NAME]
has reviewed the indemnity provisions and professional liability insurance provisions
contained in the Agreement. If given the opportunity to contract with the District,
[INSERT FIRM NAME] has objections to the use of the Agreement, as listed in this
Submittal."
Respondent shall certify that no official or employee of the District, nor any business entity
in which an official of the District has an interest, has been employed or retained to solicit
or assist in the procuring of the resulting contract(s), nor that any such person will be
employed in the performance of any/all contract(s) without immediate divulgence of this
fact to the District.
Respondent shall certify that no official or employee of the firm has ever been convicted of
an ethics violation.
Respondent shall sign and add the following language: "By virtue of this submission,
[INSERT FIRM NAME] declares that all information provided is true and correct."
Cupertino Union School District
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2. BUSINESS INFORMATION
Company name.
Address.
Telephone.
Fax.
Website.
Name and email of main contact.
Federal Tax I.D. Number.
License or Registration Number.
Type of organization (i.e. corporation, partnership, etc.). If a joint venture,
describe the division of responsibilities between participating companies,
offices (location) that would be the primary participants, and percentage
interest of each firm.
A brief description and history of the firm, including number of years the firm
has been in business and date firm was established under its given name.
Number of employees (licensed professionals, technical support).
Location of office where the bulk of services solicited will be performed.
State of California certification for your firm of Small Business or Disabled
Veteran Business Enterprise status, if any.
3. RELEVANT QUALIFICATIONS
* The proposer's laboratory shall be currently accepted by the Division of the State
Architect (DSA) Laboratory Evaluation and Acceptance Program for the types of testing
and inspection services proposed. The laboratory shall maintain active DSA acceptance
for the duration of the contract term.
* Laboratory personnel shall be certified and qualified for the type of work performed in
accordance with applicable industry standards, including but not limited to ICC, ACI,
AWS, NICET, or equivalent certifications, as applicable to the services provided.
* The proposer shall demonstrate experience providing material testing and inspection
services on DSA-regulated projects of similar size, scope, and complexity. The proposer
shall have successfully completed and closed out a minimum of five (5) projects that
received DSA certification.
* The proposer shall demonstrate sufficient staffing, resources, and organizational
capacity to support multiple concurrent projects within the District.
4. PROPOSED PROGRAM TEAM
The selected firm shall employ at its expense professionals properly licensed and skilled in the
execution of the functions required for the architectural services.
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Identify the key personnel you would assign to the District's Program for each phase of work,
including their roles and their relevant experience related to the Exhibit 'B' - Bond Project List.
Describe for each his or her experience with public school construction projects, including
identifying those projects for the past five (5) years. The District expects that the team shall
remain intact through the duration of the project(s). If a team member must leave, the District
reserves the right to approve that team member's replacement.
5. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND REFERENCES
Provide information about prior services furnished by your firm in the last ten (10) years for a
minimum of five (5) TK-8 educational projects, and list the following for each project:
o District name and name of contact person, title, telephone number, and email
address to be contacted for a reference.
o Project name and location.
o Beginning and end dates of project (i.e., Notice of Completion and DSA final
certification).
o Square footage.
o Main program elements.
o Original budget, bid amount & final amount at close-out.
o Number of RFI's and Change Orders.
o Project delivery method utilized.
o Briefly state relevance of the project for consideration in this RFQ.
o Specify role of firm or individual if work was not exclusively by the firm (i.e.,
joint venture, association).
o Key individuals of the firm involved and their roles in the project.
o Any sub-consultants that worked with the firm.
Identify any and all TK-8 educational projects that have not been closed-out by DSA and
provide explanation.
6. LITIGATION HISTORY
Provide a comprehensive five (5)-year summary of the firm's litigation, arbitration and
negotiated/settled claims history with previous clients. State the issues in the litigation, the
status of the litigation, names of parties, and outcome.
Provide a comprehensive five (5)-year summary of any claims (whether or not pursued
through litigation) in which your firm has been involved. Provide details as to the parties
involved, the scope and nature of the claim, the status of the claim, and the outcome of the
claim, if any.
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Responses failing to provide the requested information on litigation, and responses which
assert attorney-client privilege and fail to provide the information requested, will be considered
non-responsive, disqualified from the selection process, and will not be evaluated.
7. FEE INFORMATION
Provide fee information, including, at a minimum, hourly billing rates by position (proposed),
daily minimums, billing rates for travel time, and overtime rates. The final scope of services
and not-to-exceed fee will be negotiated in any resulting contract.
8. COMMENTS TO FORM OF AGREEMENT
A form of the Professional Services Agreement has been distributed with this RFQ as Exhibit
'A'. The final form of the Agreement will incorporate the final scope of work and final fee,
which shall be negotiated with the successful proposer. As noted above, any proposed
changes to the form of Agreement must be identified in respondent's submittal;
undisclosed change requests may not be entertained.
EVALUATION AND SELECTION
The District's Selection Committee will evaluate all submissions. The District retains the sole
discretion to determine issues of compliance and to determine whether a respondent is
responsive, responsible, and qualified.
A. CRITERIA
The criteria for evaluating submissions may include, without limitation, the following:
Experience and performance history of the firm with similar services;
Experience and results of proposed personnel;
References from clients contacted by the District;
Technical capabilities and track record of use;
Value of services under proposed fees; and
Overall responsiveness of the submittal.
Demonstrated ability to meet the requirements outlined in the Relevant Qualifications
section.
B. DISTRICT INVESTIGATIONS
The District may perform investigations of respondents that extend beyond contacting
references identified in the submittals. The District may request a firm to submit additional
information pertinent to the review process, and the District also reserves the right to
investigate and rely upon information from other available sources in addition to any
documents or information submitted.
CREATION OF A POOL AND AWARD OF CONTRACT
After the interviews, if any, the Selection Committee will create a pool of qualified firm(s). The
District makes no representation that participation in the RFQ process will lead to an award of
contract or any consideration whatsoever. The District reserves the right to seek proposals
from or to contract with any firm not participating in this process. The District shall in no event
be responsible for the cost of preparing any response to this RFQ.
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The District reserves the right to contract with any entity responding to this RFQ for all or
portions of the above-described services, to reject any submittal as non-responsive, and/or
not to contract with any respondent for the services described herein. The awarding of
contract(s) is at the sole discretion of the District.
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