Underground Utility Locating Services

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY (ALCOSAN)
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
for
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
UNDERGROUND UTILITY LOCATING SERVICES
September 16, 2026
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority ("ALCOSAN") is soliciting Letters of Interest and
Statements of Qualification (collectively, "Submittals") from firms interested in qualifying to
provide Underground Utility Locating Services.
The Allegheny County Sewer Authority (ALCOSAN) is seeking proposals, through this
solicitation (RFQ), from qualified utility locating companies to provide underground utility
locating services for our sewer infrastructure and provide expertise when and where required.
This RFQ is not for a specific project or location, but for the servicing of ongoing daily requests
received from the PA One Call system, as required by Pennsylvania Act 50 of 2017, the
"Underground Utility Line Protection Act".
The selected firm will provide all services necessary to conduct the following:
* Service Provider will be required to provide sufficient qualified staff, vehicles, paint,
flagging, and all other locating equipment to fulfill the duties outlined in this RFQ in a
timely manner.
* Provide for management of the tickets in Utilisphere which ALCOSAN currently uses or
some other compatible software program.
* For each locate request received, locate ALCOSAN's relevant facilities as required by
Pennsylvania Act 50, the "Underground Utility Line Protection Act."
* Safely manage ALCOSAN's location maps and records. This information shall not be
disclosed to or made available to persons not approved by the Authority. Additionally, the
Service Provider shall utilize all information transmitted by ALCOSAN solely for the
purpose of performing locates on behalf of ALCOSAN.
* Provide notification to the excavator of the presence of any identifiable, but unlocatable
facilities and caution the excavator that any location information supplied may not be
within the definition of reasonable accuracy.
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* Submit a photograph of the work performed including all markings for all work performed
on each ticket that includes Utility Field Locate work. Each photo will be labeled with the
ticket number and date.
* Provide a daily report of the day's activities (see Appendix A for an example). This daily
report lists the location of all completed markings and relevant data.
* Maintain records of all requests for a period of three (3) years from the date of receipt.
This document is intended to assist firms in preparing their Submittals for this project. All
Submittals that fail to conform to requirements set forth herein will not be considered by
ALCOSAN.
2.0 COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING THE REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
Questions and requests for clarification regarding this Request for Qualifications ("RFQ") must
be directed, in writing via email, to:
Tawanda Stamps
Director of Procurement
Allegheny County Sanitary Authority
Email: Procurement@alcosan.org
Please do not contact other ALCOSAN employees regarding this procurement; this may
result in your submittal being rejected. Responses to all general questions and requests for
clarification will be posted on ALCOSAN's website. ALCOSAN will provide, in writing, any
clarifications, changes and/or other information deemed to be necessary as addenda to this RFQ.
ALCOSAN cannot guarantee responses to any questions received after 2:00 p.m. seven (7) days
prior to the submittal date.
An informational meeting will be held October 1, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. via Microsoft Teams(C)
to clarify the goals and purpose of this Request for Qualifications. All parties interested in
attending the informational meeting shall notify the Procurement Department
procurement@alcosan.org. Once notifications are compiled, ALCOSAN will email a Microsoft
Teams meeting invite to participants. This meeting is not mandatory, but all interested parties
are strongly encouraged to attend.
3.0 OBJECTIVE
ALCOSAN proposes to retain a highly qualified firm to provide the services described herein.
Firms and team members with significant experience in projects with similar characteristics will
be given prime consideration for this project. Those firms that participate in this Request for
Qualification (RFQ) process will be referred to as "Proposers." "Proposer" and its
Subconsultants shall be referred to collectively as the "Team." The successful team shall be
referred to as the Consultant.
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4.0 SCOPE OF SERVICES
Project Name: Underground Utility Locating Services
Existing Location: 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Schedule: Begin August 2027 - End July 2029
The purpose of this contract is to provide professional utility locating services to ALCOSAN and
provide expertise when and where needed. ALCOSAN requires at least the services listed below,
including the specific tasks and work activities described.
* Service Provider will be required to provide sufficient qualified staff, vehicles, paint,
flagging, and all other locating equipment to fulfill the duties outlined in this RFQ in a
timely manner.
* Provide for management of the tickets in Utilisphere which ALCOSAN currently uses of
some other compatible software program.
* For each locate request received, locate ALCOSAN's relevant facilities as required by
Pennsylvania Act 50, the "Underground Utility Line Protection Act."
* Safely manage ALCOSAN's location maps and records. This information shall not be
disclosed to or made available to persons not approved by the Authority. Additionally, the
Service Provider shall utilize all information transmitted by ALCOSAN solely for the
purpose of performing locates on behalf of ALCOSAN.
* Provide notification to the excavator of the presence of any identifiable, but unlocatable
facilities and caution the excavator that any location information supplied may not be
within the definition of reasonable accuracy.
* Submit a photograph of the work performed including all markings for all work performed
on each ticket that includes Utility Field Locate work. Each photo will be labeled with the
ticket number and date.
* Provide a daily report of the day's activities (see Appendix A for an example). This daily
report lists the location of all completed markings and relevant data.
* Maintain records of all requests for a period of three (3) years from the date of receipt.
Each year, ALCOSAN receives approximately 5600 notifications from PA One Call of utilities,
contractors or developers doing work near our interceptor lines. With the Regionalization Program
acquiring municipal transferred sewers, this number will only increase. ALCOSAN needs to
respond and clear these tickets, usually within 48 hours. About 10% of these tickets require a field
mark. ALCOSAN also needs to respond to design and emergency one calls as the need arises.
Please note that the base period of this contract will be for two years with two one-year option
periods; however, the contract may be modified to accommodate the Clean Water Plan schedule.
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5.0 EVALUATION OF QUALIFICATIONS SUBMITTALS/SELECTION PROCESS
The Consultant will be selected based upon the following process:
Shortlist: Once the deadline for the RFQ has lapsed, ALCOSAN's Procurement Project Team
shall review, discuss, and independently rank all Submittals. The Procurement Project Team will
evaluate Submittals based upon the following criteria:
* Firm's history and resource capability to perform required services
* Evaluation of assigned personnel
* Related experience
* Ability to meet schedule and project budget
* Familiarity with local area geography and facilities
* Local office within Allegheny County
* Ability to relate to project requirements
* MBE/WBE/SDV Participation
Based upon the evaluations of the Submittals, the Procurement Committee will develop a
shortlist of firms which will be presented to the ALCOSAN Professional Services Committee for
approval. Only information provided in this Submittal regarding this RFQ will count toward the
firm's score.
Request for Proposals: Shortlisted firms will be emailed a Request for Proposal ("RFP").
All proposals will be individually evaluated utilizing criteria clearly set forth in the RFP.
6.0 QUALIFICATIONS SUBMITTALS
An electronic copy must be received by the Procurement Officer no later than 2:00 p.m. on
October 21, 2026. It is the Service Provider's responsibility to ensure the documents have
arrived on time.
Submittals should be addressed as follows:
STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS
UNDERGROUND UTILITY LOCATING SERVICES
Tawanda Stamps
Director of Procurement
Allegheny County Sanitary Authority
Email: Procurement@alcosan.org
Late and/or noncompliant Submittals will not be accepted for any reason. Submittals that do not
include requested information and/or do not follow the requested format will be considered non-
responsive. Non-responsive Submittals will not be evaluated. To enable ALCOSAN to
efficiently evaluate the Submittals, Proposers must strictly follow the required format in
preparing their Submittals.
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Proposers shall use Standard Form 330, Part I (Part II is not required) for the submittal.
Excluding sections 3, 4, and 5 of this submittal, the SF 330 should be the submittal.
Each section (as set forth below) shall be separated by a tabbed divider. Elaborate covers,
binding, dividers, and the like are not required. Electronic copies shall be submitted as a PDF
document or other appropriate electronic document format.
Each Submittal shall be organized in the following order:
A. Outside Cover and/or First Page: Shall contain the name of the RFQ, the name of the
Proposer, a point-of-contact, contact information (telephone and email) and the submittal
date.
B. Letter of Commitment Provide a cover letter and company profile introducing the firm.
This letter shall commit the firm to the terms of this RFQ and shall be signed by a person
authorized to bind the company.
C. Table of Contents
D. Team's Experience/References (Tabbed Section 1): The Proposer shall select five (5)
similar projects using Part I, Section F, SF 330, to highlight, as best representing the
Team's project experience. For each project, the Proposer shall prepare a brief, two-page,
summary of the project including the following information:
* Project Name and Location
* Date(s) of Project
* Project Owner
* Contact Name/Address/Telephone Number/Email Address
* Description of the Project, identifying and highlighting the Proposer's
involvement;
* Firm Name and Role
* Key Personnel involved in the Project, including Subconsultants
* Year Completed
* Total Fees
E. Team's Experience (Tabbed Section 2):
The Proposer shall attach an Organizational Chart (Part I, Section D) of the proposed
Team, not to exceed one (1) page. The organizational chart should have enough detail for
ALCOSAN to understand roles and responsibilities of each person and company.
The Proposer may provide no more than ten (10) resumes of key personnel for Part I,
Section E, with each resume not exceeding two (2) pages. The resumes should be project
based and not a chronological listing of employment.
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The Proposer shall provide a matrix of the Projects identified in Section 1 and the team
members, including subconsultants, participation on each project.
F. MBE/WBE/SDV Participation (Tabbed Section 3): ALCOSAN requires all awarded
Consultants to commit to utilizing 10-25% of the contract budget for businesses owned
and operated by minorities (MBE) and women (WBE), and 3% service-disabled veteran
(SDVOSB) small business enterprises, either as subconsultants or suppliers if not as
prime. The Proposer shall be required to utilize MBE/WBE/SDVOSB enterprises to the
fullest extent possible. The Proposer shall identify potential team members, if any, and
integrate the firms into the project in a meaningful capacity. At this stage of submitting
qualifications, ALCOSAN is looking for more than a general commitment to the goals of
the policy. ALCOSAN understands that the ability to use subconsultants will vary and
depend greatly on the size and type of project. The Proposer shall describe its
commitment to the policy, highlighting MBE/WBE/SDVOSB participation rates on the
Proposer's past projects. The Proposer shall also include Letters of Commitment from
each diversity subconsultant/supplier. For more information, refer to ALCOSAN's
Supplier Diversity Business Policy Statement available on the ALCOSAN website.
ALCOSAN does not accept self-certification, nor certifications from other agencies who
accept self-certification. SDVOSB must be certified by the Small Business
Administration.
Failure to provide a clear MBE/WBE/SDVOSB team structure where the team members
are integrated into the program will impact a submittal's evaluation.
G. Right to Know (Tabbed Section 4): ALCOSAN is a municipal authority and is
therefore subject to requests through the Pennsylvania Right-To-Know Law (RTKL).
Submittals may become part of a RTKL request during and after the subsequent contract.
All Proposers shall clearly identify the portion(s) of their Submittal considered
company proprietary information and, therefore, exempt under the RTKL. Any
pages marked exempt will not be released should ALCOSAN receive a RTKL request. A
legend at the beginning of the proposal and/or on every page will not be considered
sufficient. If the Submittal contains no information that may be exempt from the RTKL,
Proposers shall make a statement to that fact in the Submittal. Please note, unless the
page is specifically identified, all parts of the Submittal will be subject to a right-to-know
request.
H. Conflict of Interest (Tabbed Section 5): Prior to submitting, Proposers and their team
members should review current and past projects which may pose a potential or real
conflict of interest. If there is a potential and the Proposer would still like to submit, the
Proposer shall identify the issue and mitigation efforts. Having different employees from
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the same company work on conflicting projects is not considered an appropriate
mitigation factor as the conflict is with the company and not the individuals.
***** End of RFQ *****
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