Client Confidential
Hall County Government
FINANCIAL SERVICES
PURCHASING DIVISION
POST OFFICE DRAWER 1435
GAINESVILLE, GA 30503
t: 770.535.8270 | f: 770.531.6711
FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR
Taylor Samples, CPA
ASSISTANT FINANCE DIRECTOR
Elizabeth White
PURCHASING MANAGER
Andrew Youngblood
Request for Qualifications
RFQ# 47-008
Master Planning & Architectural
Design Services for New Judicial
Complex Expansion
Hall County, Georgia (herein “County”), a municipal entity of the State of
Georgia, located at 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, is
seeking qualified Contractors to provide master planning and architectural
design services for the construction of a new judicial complex (herein
“Services”).
Schedule of Events:
Bid Post Date: March 25, 2026
Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting: April 7, 2026, at 2:00pm Eastern Time
Bidder’s Questions Due Date: April 17, 2026
Response to Bidder Questions Due: April 22, 2026
Bid Due Date: April 30, 2026
Bidding Process: Hall County is now accepting sealed bids for a Request
for Qualifications (RFQ) from qualified architectural firms (herein “Bidder”
or “Architect”) for the Services in the County’s Purchasing Division on the
fourth (4th) floor of the Hall County Government Center, located at 2875
Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504 until 2:00pm EDT on April
30, 2026. All RFQ packets must be sealed and must be time and
date-stamped by the Hall County receptionist on the 4th floor to be
considered responsive.
General Qualifications: Bidders must be in the regular business of
providing similar Services. Bidders must be licensed in the State of
Georgia.
Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting: The pre-bid meeting will begin promptly at
2:00 PM EDT and will be held at 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA
30504, in the Finance Training Room on the 4th floor. Failure to attend the
pre-bid meeting will disqualify a bid as non-responsible.
Term: The contract term will commence upon issuance of the Notice to
Proceed and will continue through substantial completion of the design
services and final inspection/acceptance by the County’s Project Manager
identified herein.
Client Confidential
Questions: All communications must be directed solely to Andy Youngblood, Issuing Officer at
andrew.youngblood@hallcounty.org for questions or clarifications of the RFQ requirements.
Addenda: If needed and in the best interest of the County, the Purchasing Division may make an
extension of the bidding period by a formal written addendum and publicly posted on the County’s
website. All addenda must be signed by the Bidder and returned with the bid packet.
Proposal Documents: Bidders may obtain all submittal documents at no cost via the County’s
Website at https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx, then click the link for Master Planning &
Architectural Design Services for New Judicial Complex Expansion and download all required
documents under “Related Documents”. Any addenda will also be posted in this same area.
Bidders are responsible for checking the County’s website for addenda.
Bid Response: The County considers a bid response as an irrevocable offer, valid for a period
of one hundred and twenty (120) days from submission. The County reserves the right to reject
all proposals, full or part, and to negotiate fees, conditions, or other terms with the Bidder(s)
submitting the overall best scored proposal. The County reserves the right to cancel this RFQ in
its entirety if in the best interest of the County. The County may waive nonmaterial irregularities,
informalities, and errors and may seek clarification of such.
Public Reading: Bid openings are open to the public and to Bidders. Bidders are not required to
attend but may do so. The Issuing Officer named Herein, or another Purchasing team member,
will open and publicly read all Bidder’s company names and their locations, on the date, time, and
at the address above.
Request for Clarification: The County reserves the right to request clarification or additional
information provided by any Bidder. The County may also request in-person or virtual
presentations, interviews, and may choose to enter negotiations with potential Bidders as needed.
Bid Retention: Bidders may not withdraw their bid after the bid opening. Bids must be valid for
one hundred twenty (120) calendar days. All forms, documents, and exhibits attached hereto must
be completed and returned with the bid. The County reserves the right to retain all proposals
submitted and use any idea(s) in a proposal regardless of whether contract award or not. The
County shall have the right to waive any informality or irregularity of immaterial deviation,
omissions and clerical errors in any bid received.
Legally Binding Agreement: The County and the awarded Bidder shall enter into a formal
agreement; substantially in the form of the attached Exhibit B – Contract for Services. Contracts
are only valid if they are signed by the County’s Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, or
his/her designee, and the awarded Bidder. Fee Proposals and contracts are not part of the Round
1 RFQ. This will be part of Round 2 which will take place after the RFQ has been scored and a
shortlist of firms has been determined.
BID EVALUATION
Evaluation and Selection: The County will evaluate all submittals in accordance with the Official
Code of Hall County, Georgia 3.10, and as further detailed herein. The County will evaluate
proposals using a two-round process: Round 1 is the “Technical Qualifications Proposal” that
outlines the bidding firm’s qualifications, experience, and its approach to deliver the services The
highest scoring Bidders will then be “short listed” and invited to Round 2 for an interview and to
submit a cost proposal for consideration. Bidders are not to submit a cost proposal until instructed
to do so in writing by the County.
Client Confidential
Award Process: The County reserves the right to reject any or all bids, in whole or part, or to
select any Bidder, without liability on part of the County to the Bidder, to complete the described
work. The County intends to award the contract to one (1) company that deems to be the most
responsible and responsive Bidder to perform all the work described herein. Lead times and
length of time to complete the work may also be a factor in award. The County will not make an
award of contract solely based on lowest cost bid, but also on approach, references,
qualifications, and other subjective criteria as the County may deem necessary and determine at
its sole discretion.
Technical Qualifications Evaluation: Bidders must respond to all scored questions included in
Exhibit F – Scored Questions, which are weighted and evaluated by the County’s Evaluation
Committee. The Committee will review each response and assign point values accordingly. The
maximum total score is 1,000 points.
The County has established a 70/20/10 evaluation structure, consisting of:
• Seven hundred (700) points (70%) are allocated to Round 1 Technical Qualifications
• Two hundred (200) points (20%) allocated to the Round 2 interview.
• One hundred (100) points (10%) allocated to the Round 2 cost proposal.
The Bidder achieving the highest total score, approaching the maximum of 1,000 points, will be
identified as the apparent awardee.
Unanswered questions will return to a 0-point score. The Bidder’s response should limit answers
directly to the questions asked. Each answer will be scored on a scale of twenty-five (25)
percentage points as shown:
Excellent = 100%
Good = 75%
Adequate = 50%
Marginal = 25%
Poor = 0%
In addition to the space provided on Exhibit F – Scored Questions, Bidders may expand their
answers to the questions onto separate pages if needed with the question repeated at the top of
each page. Bidders may input “see attached” in the space provided next to each question.
Responses to the questions should be clear and concise. Where appropriate, Bidder’s should
show statistical information in a tabular chart format and textual information in bullet point format.
Summarize key points at the beginning of each answer. All quantitative material should include
complete assumptions and be supported by detailed schedules, evidencing all calculations and
results.
Provide one-sided documents only. Do not include superfluous marketing brochures or
unnecessary promotional materials. These will not be evaluated. Address each specific question
with direct, detailed answers.
BIDDER RESPONSE
RFQ Technical Qualifications: Bidders must submit a total of six (6) hard copy sets of their
technical qualifications: one (1) labeled “Original” and five (5) labeled “Copy.” All six (6) hard-copy
sets must be submitted in sealed envelope(s).
Client Confidential
Digital Response: Bidders must provide their responses on one (1) USB drive.
Validation: Hall County requires that Bidders provide a cover letter with a signature by an officer
of the firm with the submittal to ensure its originality.
Mandatory Documents: Bidders must complete and return all forms, documents, and exhibits
attached herein with their bid proposals. Failure to do so may deem the proposal non-responsive
and the County may not evaluate it for award.
Non-Collusion Requirement (Cone-of-Silence): Bidders must not have contact of any nature
with other Bidders, County staff members (except for the Issuing Officer), elected officials, nor
County Commissioners during the RFQ evaluation process. The County may deem such as
collusion, thus rendering the submission in violation of the Official Code of Hall County, and
therefore the County may deem the proposal as non-responsible and not evaluate the proposal
for an award.
By submitting a proposal, the Bidder represents and warrants that no official or employee of Hall
County Government has, in any manner, an interest, directly or indirectly, in the proposal or in the
contract which may be made under it, or in any expected profits to arise there from.
County Consultants: From time to time, the County may select an outside consultant at its own
discretion who will act under the direction of County’s Project Manager. The consultant will have
full authority to act on behalf of the County; however, the consultant may not solicit goods and
services on behalf of the County without prior written approval from the County. Architects MUST
follow all specifications prepared by the County’s consultant, and Architects MUST allow the
consultant to inspect the work. Architect will be responsible for working in collaboration with all
County consultants and will support the consultants in their engagement with their design and
construction specifications, review of design submittals, and field inspections.
Taxes: The County is exempt from State of Georgia Local Sales and Use Tax. The Bidder
understands and acknowledges that it is responsible for any sales and use taxes it may incur.
The Bidder will not charge or invoice the County any sales and use tax as a separate line item.
The Contractor may request a copy of the County’s Georgia Sales and Use Tax Exemption
Certificate.
Bonds: Not required for this solicitation.
Client Confidential
Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION
2.0 STATEMENT OF NEED
3.0 GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
4.0 SCOPE OF WORK
5.0 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
6.0 RFQ RESPONSE PREPARATION
7.0 SELECTION PROCESS
8.0 STEPS TO AWARD
9.0 EXHIBITS AND ATTACHMENTS
This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.
