Developing a CWPP for a Regional District

Examples Of Request for Proposals Documents for solicitating Community Wildfire Protection Plans Services

Overview

The three key documents in the Request for Proposal process are the RFP document, the Evaluation Form and the Services Agreement.  The enclosed documents are provided as examples of the documentation needed for the solicitation process for services to develop or provide Community Wildfire Protection Plans; Risk Assessment and Hazard Mitigation Options.

These documents were developed for a Regional District to address the fuel assessment and hazard mitigation needs throughout the entire Regional District.  The RD was divided into four application areas providing the opportunity for proponents to bid on one or more (or all) of the areas and afforded the Regional District with a number of options for awarding the resultant service agreements.

• Areas within the Application Areas that were identified as meeting the minimum requirements of the Strategic Threat Analysis were classified into:
  • Community Assessment Areas – areas that local governments have the authority to undertake remedial action.
  • Unincorporated Rural Assessment Areas – areas that structural fire services are provided by Municipal/community or volunteer fire services. And, where the Regional District has the authority to initiate necessary mitigation work.
  • Other Assessment Areas – areas where other fuel assessment and hazard mitigation recommendation service could/should be provided by other than the formal RFP process.

• The documents are not templates but are in Word format with prompts where local information is to be inserted.  Document formatting and section numbering should be checked after local information is inserted.
• As these documents are very generic it is strongly recommended that local governments/agencies have them reviewed by their legal services.

RFP Document

A RFP document similar to the example was used to solicit proposals for fuel assessment and hazard mitigation services for a Regional District.   There are recommended minor changes and additional requirements included in this document that were excluded from the original posting.  In addition, it is suggested that the Evaluation Form and an example of the Service Agreement (Contract) should also be included in RFP package.

The RFP document was developed such that local governments could substitute their own administrative requirements as Part A and couple it with specific service requirements that are detailed in Part B.

• The discussion of the Application and Assessment Areas in Section 5.1 could be simplified if appropriate mapping and mapping index were available.
• If more or less Application Areas are proposed Section 5.1, Appendix C and Appendix E will need to be adjusted accordingly.
• If the Evaluation Form is not included in the RFP package, Section 6 will have to be expanded to identify the factors that will be evaluated
• Section 5.4.1 v. details the insurance requirement which should be reviewed to ensure that coverage is commensurate with the Regional District requirements.
• Wherever possible electronic maps (pdf) should be included within the RFP package.
• Consideration should be given to include the Fire Smart Manual and the Wildland Urban Interface Fire Hazard Assessment Guide within the RFP package.

Evaluation Form and Key

The Evaluation Form and key are essential to ensure a fair and transparent process of comparing proposals against the stated requirements.   Mandatory requirements must be satisfied in order for proposals to receive further consideration. 

• The evaluation factors should be reviewed and adjusted to meet local conditions.
• The key should be reviewed to ensure that it is appropriate to local conditions.
• Prior to RFP closing the evaluation team should review and confirm the evaluation process, form and key to ensure a fair and consistent process.
• Including the Evaluation Form (NOT the key) in the RFP package provides proponent a clear indication of the evaluation factors and their relative importance in the RFP process. 
• It also informs the proponents which evaluation system is to be used; lowest qualified price or lowest price per point.

Service agreement

The sample service agreement consists of a boilerplate conditions service agreement with specific requirement detailed in attached schedules. It is suggest that the local governments utilize their own boilerplate agreement and utilize the example Schedules to detail the required services and other conditions.

• The boilerplate conditions should provide the Regional District with the necessary safeguards and therefore in-house agreements are recommended.
• The boilerplate conditions in most service agreements provide provision for payment holdbacks. Regional District should consider if a holdback is to be appropriate.
• There maybe some duplication between the boilerplate and the schedules relative to insurance requirements. Including an Insurance Schedule provides the opportunity to detail specific coverage levels.
• It is recommended that a sample Service Agreement be included in the RFP document. It provides the proponents with an indication of the likely conditions and requirements of the service agreement that with result from the RFP process.