Demystifying the Local Agency Procurement and Selection Process for Professional Engineering Consultant Services

Local agency procurement and selection of professional engineering consultant services has often been a misunderstood process. Consultants often wonder why they fail to be selected and wonder what mysterious process is used by local agencies to make their selection. These questions may be best answered by evaluating the common fundamentals used by consultants that are successful in this process: (1) they know their client (and, their client knows them); (2) they provide a well-qualified team; (3) they develop a well-defined project approach that reflects their knowledge of the common partnering approach used by local agencies to complete key project work elements; and (4) they communicate effectively. The true mystery regarding local agency procurement of professional engineering consultant services is how often these fundamentals are overlooked by a consultant's management team during statement of qualifications, proposal, and interview preparation. Perhaps it is time to revisit them.