On-Call Engineering Services

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)
Request for Qualifications
for On- Call Engineering Services Contract
Issued September 23, 2026
Qualifications Due: October 14, 2026
The Village of Oak Park ("the Village") is requesting qualifications for on-call engineering services
to identify consultants to assure that it is receiving the optimum level of services at a competitive
price.
Responses shall be returned via email on or before October 14, 2026 at 5 p.m.:

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Section I. General Requirements
A. Introduction and Mandatory Terms
The Village is requesting statement of qualifications (SOQ) from multi-disciplined civil
engineering consultants for on-call professional engineering services. See Section II-
Scope of Services, for additional information.
The Village will receive electronic pdf responses via email, paper submittals will not be
accepted. Each Consultant shall provide one (1) pdf of their qualifications in an email
titled "Statement of Qualifications for On-Call Engineering Services_COMPANY NAME." It
is the responsibility of the consultant to notify the Village their intent of submitting a
proposal so that they are on the plan-holder list in case of addenda being issued.
All questions must be submitted via email to christopher.Welch@oak-park.us no later
than 5:00 p.m. on October 15, 2026. Responses will be provided to the known list of
RFQ recipients.
Submittals will be reviewed and evaluated, and all information regarding status will be
kept confidential until a decision is made and a recommendation provided to the Village
Board for approval.
B. Presentation of Request for Qualifications
The Village reserves the right to select a short list of Consultants at its own discretion to
present their qualifications, respond to questions, and supply supplemental information.
The Village reserves the right to reject any or all submittals and to disregard any
informality on the statement of qualifications when in its opinion, the best interest of the
Village will be served by such action.
C. Consultant Notification
Consultants will be notified in writing of further questions and/or decisions.
D. Award of Agreement
A Master Agreement, or equivalent agreement, may be executed once one or more
respondents are found to be qualified, a selection of the most qualified is determined by
the evaluation committee, and the Village Board approves of the award.
Any agreement with a selected Consultant or Consultants must be reviewed and
approved by the Village Attorney, may be approved and authorized by the Village of Oak
Park Board of Trustees, and executed by the Village Manager. The Consultants are
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advised that Village staff, other than the Village Manager, have no authority to sign
agreements or modify existing agreements on behalf of the Village and that any such
agreements are null and void.
E. Taxes Not Applicable
The Village as a municipality pays neither federal excise tax nor Illinois retailer's
occupational tax.
F. Interpretation of the Request for Qualifications Document
Any Consultant in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of this document may request
an interpretation thereof from the Village or its representative via email. The person
requesting the interpretation shall be responsible for its prompt delivery. At the request
of the Consultant or in the event that Village management deems the interpretation to
be substantive, the interpretation will be made by written addendum duly issued by the
Village.
In the event that a written addendum is issued, either as a result of a request for
interpretation or the result of a change in the requested RFQ specifications initiated by
the Village, a copy of such addendum will be provided to the known list of RFQ recipients.
The Village will not assume responsibility for receipt of such addendum. In all cases it will
be the Consultants' responsibility to obtain all addenda issued.
G. Competency of Consultant
No submission will be accepted from, or agreement awarded to, any person, firm or
corporation that is in arrears or is in default upon any debt or agreement. The Consultant,
if requested, must present evidence of ability and possession of necessary facilities, and
financial resources to comply with the terms of the scope of services. The consultant
must legally be allowed to operate in the state of Illinois.
H. Subletting of Contract
No contract awarded by the Village of Oak Park shall be assigned or any part subcontracted
without the written consent of the Village of Oak Park. In no case shall such consent relieve
the bidder selected from their obligations or change the terms of the contract.
I. Compliance with Applicable Laws
The Consultant will strictly comply with all Ordinances and codes of the Village of Oak
Park and applicable federal and state law.
J. Term of Agreement
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The initial Master Agreement shall be on the last date signed by both parties, whichever
is later, and shall continue for a period of approximately three (3) years. The Village
retains the right to renew this initial agreement under the same terms and conditions
upon mutual agreement with the respondent. Renewals are to be done on a yearly basis
for no more than two additional terms of approximately one year each.
Escalation of price will be allowed and subject to one (1) adjustment per year. The
increase requested must be that of the general industry. In this event, written notification
stating the requested increase and supporting document justification must be forwarded
to the Village. The annual adjustment shall be based upon 100% of the percentage of
change of the latest published Index (as defined below) as compared to the Index for the
previous year. The Index shall be the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Revised Consumer Price Index for all Urban Wage Earners for Chicago, Illinois -
Gary, Indiana - Kenosha, Wisconsin (all items, 1982-84 = 100). Notwithstanding anything
contained herein to the contrary, the annual adjustment shall not be greater than five
percent (5%) of the previous year's cost for services provided under this agreement in any
year. If the Respondent fails to justify the requested increase, the Village reserves the
right to reject the request and cancel the balance of the agreement.
If any price reductions are announced during the agreement period, the Village shall
receive benefit of such reductions. This request shall also be in the form of a written
notification and shall become effective thirty (30) days from the date the notice was
received by the Village.
K. Payments
The Village shall pay the consultant on a monthly basis based on the services provided
during the month as set forth in this section and in such task order. Payment to the
consultant shall be made within 30 days of the receipt of an invoice. A detailed summary
of costs will be submitted to the Village for review and approval. Invoices shall be mailed
to the Village Engineer located at the Village of Oak Park, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park,
Illinois 60302 or delivered via email. All invoices will be paid within 30 days of approval.
Charges for late payments must be in accordance with the Local Government Prompt
Payment Act, 50 ILCS 505/1, requiring a maximum interest penalty of 1% per month or
portion thereof.
For all services provided which are not covered by a task order, the Consultant shall
invoice the Village on an hourly basis for direct labor to perform the work based on rates
provided.
L. Termination of Contract
The Village reserves the right to terminate any multi-year agreement if the Village's Board
of Trustees fails to appropriate funds for this purpose in any subsequent fiscal year. All
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funds for payments after December 31st of the current fiscal year are subject to
appropriation by the Village for this purpose.
The Village further reserves the right to terminate the whole or any part of this
agreement, upon written notice to the consultant, in the event of default by the
consultant. Default is defined as failure of the consultant to perform any of the
agreement or failure to make sufficient progress so as to endanger performance of this
agreement in accordance with its terms. In the event of default and termination, the
Village will procure upon such terms and in such manner as may be deemed appropriate
services similar to those so terminated. The consultant shall be liable for excess costs for
such similar services unless acceptable evidence is submitted that failure to perform the
agreement was due to causes beyond the control and without the fault of negligence of
the consultant.
M. Consultant Personnel Assigned to the Village of Oak Park Account(s)
The Village reserves the right to accept or reject any staff designated by the Consultant.
The Consultant shall request approval for substituting any key staff identified in the RFQ.
If no suitable replacement staff is provided, the Village reserves the right to terminate the
agreement.
N. Confidentiality
The Consultant shall keep the Village's employee and all related data confidential.
O. Insurance Requirements
The selected Consultant must purchase and maintain for the length of the agreement, the
lines of insurance described in this section. All insurance coverage shall be on an
occurrence basis. The Consultant shall provide evidence of such insurance to the Village
together with its proposal, and will provide evidence that the Village has been added as
a named insured, where applicable, before commencement of the services and on an
annual basis thereafter. Certificates of Insurance shall contain a clause stating that the
coverage afforded by the policies listed will not be canceled or materially altered, except
after forty-five (45) days advance written notice to the Village. The Consultant shall
secure the following endorsements to each of the required policies: "It is understood and
agreed that the insurance company will give not less than forty-five (45) days advance
written notice of any cancellation or material change under any of these policies to the
Village of Oak Park. "In the event that such notice is not given to the Village of Oak Park
at least forty-five (45) days prior to cancellation or material change, the policy will
continue in full force and effect for the benefit of the Village as if such change or
cancellation had not occurred." The limits of liability for the insurance required shall
provide coverage for not less than the following amounts, or greater where required by law:
(a) Commercial General Liability:
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i. Coverage to include, Broad Form Property Damage, contractual and
Personal Injury.
ii. Limits:
General Aggregate $ 2,000,000.00
Each Occurrence $ 1,000,000.00
Personal Injury $ 1,000,000.00
iii. Coverage for all claims arising out of the Proposer's operations or
premises, anyone directly or indirectly employed by the Proposer.
(b) Professional Liability:
i. Per Claim/Aggregate $2,000,000.00
ii. Coverage for all claims arising out of the Consultant's operations or
premises, anyone directly or indirectly employed by the Consultant,
and the Consultant's obligations under the indemnification
provisions of this Agreement to the extent same are covered.
(c) Workers' Compensation:
i. Workers' compensation insurance shall be in accordance with the
provisions of the laws of the State of Illinois, including occupational disease
provisions, for all employees who perform work pursuant to the agreement, and in
case work is subcontracted, the Consultant shall require each subconsultant similarly
to provide Workers' Compensation Insurance. In case employees engaged in
hazardous work under this Agreement are not protected under said worker's
compensation insurance, the Proposer shall provide, and shall cause each
subconsultant to provide, adequate and suitable insurance for the protection of
employees not otherwise provided.
(d) Comprehensive Automobile Liability:
i. Coverage to include all owned, hired, non-owned vehicles, and/or
trailers and other equipment required to be licensed, covering personal injury, bodily
injury and property damage.
ii. Limits:
Combined Single Limit $1,000,000.00
(e) Umbrella:
i. Limits:
Each Occurrence/Aggregate $2,000,000.00
(f) The Village, its officers, officials, employees and agents shall be named as
additional insureds on all insurance policies set forth herein except Workers'
Compensation and Professional Liability. The Consultant shall be responsible for the
payment of any deductibles for said insurance policies. The coverage shall contain
no special limitations on the scope of protection afforded to the Village, its officers,
officials, employees and agents.
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The Consultant understands and agrees that any insurance protection required by the
agreement or otherwise provided by the Consultant shall in no way limit the responsibility
to indemnify, keep and save harmless, and defend the Village, its officers, officials,
employees and agents as herein provided.
P. Hold Harmless and Indemnity
Notwithstanding any limitations or restrictions applicable to any insurance or bonds
required hereunder, the Consultant shall defend, indemnify and hold the Village of Oak
Park and its officers, officials, employees, and agents harmless from and against any and
all liability, loss, damage, claim, payment or expense, including attorney fees, which the
Village or its officers, officials, employees, and agents may incur resulting from or arising
out of any error or omission in the performance of the agreement by the Consultant,
including, without limitation, errors or omissions in the handling, accounting for, or
transferring of funds, or to work, services or systems or products provided in the
performance of the agreement by the Consultant or its employees, agents, servants,
associates, Consultants, subconsultants, or assignees.
Q. Tentative Schedule
Below is a tentative schedule for the request for qualifications, evaluation of responses,
selection and approval of on-call Consultant(s):
VOP issues RFQ September 23, 2026
Questions due at noon by October 5, 2026
Qualifications due to Engineering Division by 5 p.m. October 14, 2026
Review October 15-30
Interviews if deemed necessary November 9-13, 2026
Recommend Agreement Approval of consultant pool December 1, 2026
Board Approval of consultant pool January 5, 2026
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Section II. Scope of Services
The Village is requesting statement of qualifications (SOQ) from multi-disciplined civil
engineering consultants for on-call professional engineering services. Selected consultants
would support Village staff in areas where assistance is required due to workload or due to
specialized technical requirements of certain projects.
The Village will retain approximately three (3) on-call consultants for a period of approximately
three (3) years. Selected consultants will still be able to submit proposals for any projects the
Village chooses not to utilize the on-call list. This on-call list will only be utilized for locally funded
engineering tasks and does not apply to federally funded engineering projects/phases.
The on-call consultants shall provide staffing and other resources on an as-needed basis for
professional engineering services that may include, but are not limited to:
* Grant writing and assistance
* Design and construction engineering of water-sewer, roadway, alley, traffic signal
upgrade and bike projects
* Assistance with project budgeting for future years
* Assistance in preparing traffic studies
* Surveying and construction-staking
* Water and sewer modeling services
Individual task order assignments will be designated to only one of the firms from the pool of
selected on-call consultants.
For each task performed, the on-call consultant will develop and submit a specific scope of work
and fee estimate to the Village of Oak Park for negotiation and approval prior to the start of any
work.
While the final determination of which projects will be implemented during the term of the
contract is not yet determined, the Village's most recent 5-year Capital Improvement Plan can be
downloaded from the Village's website at:
https://www.oak-park.us/files/assets/oakpark/v/1/finance/capital-improvement-plan-cip/cip-
fy26-30_final.pdf
For the immediate future, potential task orders include design engineering contracts for water-
sewer projects, alley reconstruction projects, street resurfacing projects and traffic signal
upgrades. Construction engineering for the above as well as streetscape improvements are
possible in the near future as well.
SOQ Submittal Instructions
* Consultants eligibility to submit SOQ:
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Licensed with the state of Illinois as a Professional Design Firm, and listed
o
in good standing with the Office of the Illinois Secretary of State.
Shall have a presence in the greater Chicagoland area.
o
Construction staff shall be IDOT documentation certified.
o
Staff shall be managed by personnel with the appropriate licensing (e.g.
o
P.E., S.E., P.G.)
* Village Selection Team
The Engineering Division will utilize a selection team of Public Works and
Engineering staff members to be part of the process to review all the
consultant SOQ's received for the RFQ process. Evaluation will be based on
criteria outlined herein which may be weighted by the Village in a manner
it deems appropriate.
* SOQ evaluation- A Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) methodology will be
utilized according to the Village's purchasing policy. The Village will consider all
the material submitted by each Consultant, and other relevant material it may
otherwise obtain, to determine whether the proposer is capable of and has a
history of successfully completing agreements of this type; criteria includes, but
not limited to:
Firm Experience and Municipal Experience
o
The Village may contact references directly to inquire about the
quality and type of services currently being provided to other
customers.
Staff Capabilities
o
The Village will assess the experience and relevant knowledge of
the proposed dedicated team of personnel.
* SOQ Outline: Submittals are requested to cover all of the aforementioned
services. Excluding the required Village forms it is encouraged for the consultant
to limit SOQ length to 10 pages (not including required documents attached to
this RFQ). Submittals shall include the following information:
1) Information about the consultant firm: Include a listing of different
services offered and include all current IDOT pre-qualifications.
Summarize how the consultant in qualified to assist in meeting the
Village's goals for the contract. Describe the consultant's capabilities,
strengths and relevant experience in municipalities with infrastructure
similar in character to Oak Park.
2) Organization Chart & Key Staff: Provide listing of key staff assigned to the
contract along with a brief summary of their relevant experience and
qualifications and note location of offices for key staff. Include a team
organization chart indicating the key staff and their areas of involvement.
Staff resumes do not count towards page total.
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