Solicitation
CFLHD Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) for Architect-Engineer Design Services
Department of Transportation · Federal Highway Administration
AI summaryThe Federal Highway Administration's Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD) wants up to three architect-engineer (A-E) design contracts for rural, low-volume road projects in 14 western and central states, with a shared ceiling of $60,000,000 over five years. This is a two-phase selection: Phase 1 qualifications (SF 330, the federal A-E qualifications form) are due November 20, 2026, 2:00 PM Mountain, and only short-listed firms are called for Phase 2 oral presentations. At least one award is reserved for a small business. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
The Federal Highway Administration's Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD) wants up to three architect-engineer (A-E) design contracts for rural, low-volume road projects in 14 western and central states, with a shared ceiling of $60,000,000 over five years. This is a two-phase selection: Phase 1 qualifications (SF 330, the federal A-E qualifications form) are due November 20, 2026, 2:00 PM Mountain, and only short-listed firms are called for Phase 2 oral presentations. At least one award is reserved for a small business.
Who can bid (4)
- At least one award is reserved for a small business; the notice is otherwise open to all business concerns (SAM.gov shows no set-aside used)
- The team must be licensed and registered to provide engineering services in all 14 states CFLHD serves; the posted answers say any combination of the prime and subconsultants can cover the states
- Proof the firm is permitted by law to practice architecture or engineering (registration, or a summary of eligibility where no registration is required)
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- A joint venture must submit its joint venture agreement with the response
How to submit: Email to CFLContracts@dot.gov (maximum email size 30 MB), including the solicitation number, firm name and address. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
From the version posted Oct 26, 2026.
- Serious: Two-phase selection with oral presentations. Phase 1 is the SF 330 due November 20, 2026, 2:00 PM Mountain; only short-listed firms are notified and called to in-person oral presentations in Phase 2 at the CFLHD building in Lakewood, Colorado. No Phase 2 date is given.
- Serious: Licensing across 14 states. Between the prime and its subconsultants, the team must hold engineering licenses in all 14 states, which usually means teaming with firms in other states.
- Worth checking: Only one of up to three awards reserved for small business. The competition is full and open, so a small business competes against large firms for the other awards, and large firms must submit a subcontracting plan.
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- Worth checking: Strict package format and 50-page limit. Failure to follow the instructions can make the package incomplete and non-responsive.
- Minor: Question deadline November 13, 2026. Written questions go to CFLContracts@dot.gov, and answers are posted on SAM.gov.
- Minor: Work not guaranteed beyond the minimum. Each contract guarantees only a $25,000 minimum, and task orders depend on later demand.
- Minor: Set-aside shown differently in SAM.gov and the notice. SAM.gov says no set-aside is used, while the notice and RFQ say at least one award is reserved for a small business; ask the contracting office if unsure.
Read from the notice and 2 attachments. Show which files.
- AE IDIQ 2026 RFQ Final.pdf (read)
- QnA Design IDIQ 10.26.26.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Highway design for low-volume roads in environmentally sensitive areas, from pavement preservation and resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation (3R) to full reconstruction
- Environmental compliance studies and permit documents (National Environmental Policy Act, Section 4(f) and 6(f), Clean Water Act permits)
- Geotechnical, bridge and structural design and inspection, and hydraulic and hydrologic engineering
- Pavement and materials services, surveying and mapping, and right-of-way and utility services
- Project management with a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program
- Support for CFLHD-led construction administration and transportation planning
- Deliver files in MicroStation DGN, OpenRoads Designer, HEC-RAS or SMS, ESRI ArcGIS, Microsoft Office and Masterworks eDelivery formats
- Contract type
- Indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ: orders placed as needed) firm-fixed-price contracts; task orders are negotiated individually; up to three awards
- Period of performance
- Five years total
- Place of performance
- Lakewood, CO, USA (SAM.gov); projects are in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming
- Estimated value
- Shared maximum across all contracts of $60,000,000 over five years; minimum order guarantee of $25,000 per contract
- How they'll choose
- Qualifications-based selection under the Brooks Act: price is not evaluated in the initial qualification and ranking phase; short-listed firms then give oral presentations
- Offers due
- November 20, 2026, 2:00 PM Mountain (4:00 PM Eastern)
- How to submit
- Email to CFLContracts@dot.gov (maximum email size 30 MB), including the solicitation number, firm name and address
- Page limits
- Whole package: 50 pages total, 8.5 x 11 inches; cover letter: 1 page; Item F: 10 projects. Cover, cover letter, Part II forms, tabs, table of contents, back covers and section dividers do not count toward the 50 pages
What they'll judge offers on
- Specialized experience and technical competence on projects completed within the last 6 years, mainly rural low-volume two-lane highways in environmentally sensitive areas, covering all disciplines (A) through (K), with representative work in the states CFLHD serves
- Project delivery process, including a QA/QC program and completed multidiscipline task orders
- Professional qualifications of the firm, staff and subconsultants
- Innovative project delivery methods, risk and opportunity management, and scalable approaches
- Workload management strategy and capacity, with firm and subconsultant size standards and how small business participation will be encouraged
- Recent (0-6 years) past performance on quality, schedule compliance and working with government agencies
What to include when you submit
- Send one PDF with the completed SF 330, with a front cover showing firm name and address, solicitation number and closing date
- Section 1: a one-page cover letter
- Section 2: SF 330 Part I, Items A through I, with an organizational chart under Item D and only key personnel resumes under Item E, stating whether each person had a lead or support role
- Item F: no more than 10 projects, each with scope, schedule, size, cost, project staff and subconsultants, and their roles
- Section 3: SF 330 Part II with a bookmark for each firm
- Number pages consecutively; body font Times New Roman at least 10 pt and table font at least 8 pt; no brochures or capability statements
- Answer all six evaluation criteria; any not covered elsewhere go in Section H of the SF 330
- Include proof that the firm is permitted by law to practice architecture or engineering (state registration, or a summary of eligibility where no registration is required)
- Per the posted answers, give a table of each state and license number, placed in Item H
- A joint venture must include a copy of its joint venture agreement (not counted in the 50 pages)
After award, you must have
- Selected large businesses must provide a subcontracting plan, but not with the SF 330 From AE IDIQ 2026 RFQ Final.pdf:
Subcontracting Plans are not required with submission of SF 330.
Current contractor
No incumbent is named.
Not in the notice text
- The date of the Phase 2 oral presentations and how short-listed firms are chosen are not given
- The required labor categories will be specified later in a request for proposal (RFP), according to the professional qualifications criterion
- Price proposals are not part of this phase; how pricing is handled in task orders is not detailed
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to CFLContracts@dot.gov (maximum email size 30 MB), including the solicitation number, firm name and address. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Architect-engineer services tied to buildings or construction are usually bought under the Brooks Act: the agency ranks firms on qualifications from an SF 330 first, then negotiates a price with the top firm. How A/E contracts work.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 26, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- 6982AF Central Federal Lands Divisi, Lakewood, CO
- Product/service code
- C1LB · Architect and Engineering – Construction: Highways, Roads, Streets, Bridges, and Railways
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541330)
- Versions
3 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 26, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 20, 2026
- Oct 20, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 20, 2026 (changed)
- Sep 29, 2026 · PresolicitationDate Oct 15, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Architect and Engineering (A-E) Services The Federal Highway Administration, Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD), anticipates soliciting and awarding multiple Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts for A-E services with a partial small business set-aside. CFLHD provides engineering and construction services on projects in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming on behalf of Federal Land Management Agencies and other Agencies. These Agencies include: the National Park Service (NPS); USDA Forest Service (Forest Service); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS); Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Tribal Governments; Bureau of Land Management (BLM); Department of Defense (DOD); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). The shared capacity of the IDIQs will be $60 million. The acquisition will be solicited and awarded on a competitive basis and is being made under the North America Industry Classification Code 541330 and is open to all business concerns. The planned duration for the contracts is a total of five years. Projects are typically located in environmentally sensitive areas that necessitate context-sensitive design techniques and processes. Project topography type and climatic zones vary greatly including coastal, mountainous, desert and plains regions. Projects will primarily involve improvements to low-volume and low-speed roadways ranging from 3R (resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation) to full reconstruction. The geographic jurisdiction of CFLHD includes, but is not limited to, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
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