City-Wide Architectural & Engineering Master Planning Services

Agency:	City of Buffalo
State:	New York
Type of Government:	State & Local
NAICS Category:	541310 - Architectural Services 541330 - Engineering Services
Posted Date:	Jun 4, 2026
Due Date:	Jul 8, 2026
Original Source:	Please Login to View Page
Contact information:	Please Login to View Page
Bid Documents:	Please Login to View Page

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MARIE CARONE, AIA

SENIOR DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

For City-Wide Architectural and Engineering Master Planning Services

June 4, 2026

The Department of Public Works, Buildings Division is soliciting proposals for professional Architectural

and Engineering Master Planning Services for budgeting, facility master planning, and building records

development. There are two distinct scopes of work associated with this RFQ:

Scope 1. Building Conditions Assessments and Capital Improvements Master Planning

Scope 2. Enhanced Documentation for Facilities

An optional, virtual meeting is planned for Wednesday, June 17, 2026 at 11:00 A.M. Registration is

required; log-in instructions will be provided upon registration by emailing Vince Dugo:

vdugo@buffalony.gov. The meeting will be recorded.

Submit questions or requests for information to vdugo@buffalony.gov. by Monday, June 22, 2026,

10:00 A.M.

Deadline for response submission is Wednesday, July 8, 2026 at 1:00 P.M. Submit electronic files of

less than 100MB to: vdugo@buffalony.gov, or deliver on portable media to: Department of Public

Works, City Hall Room 502, 65 Niagara Square, Buffalo, NY 14202.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Scope of Work/Terms of Service Overview ................................................................................ Page 1

Detailed Scope of Work............................................................................................................Page 3

RFQ Response Requirements .................................................................................................. Page 8

Contract Compliance Requirements ........................................................................................ Page 9

Instructions for Consultants Submitting Proposals.................................................................... Page 9

Evaluation ............................................................................................................................. Page 10

Schedules and Attachments .................................................................................................. Page 11

LIST OF SCHEDULES AND ATTACHMENTS:

Schedule A: City of Buffalo Insurance Requirements

Schedule B: Fee Proposal Form

Schedule C: Rates of Service Form – 2026 through 2031

Attachment A: Phasing Plan

SCOPE OF WORK/TERMS OF SERVICE OVERVIEW

The City of Buffalo (the City) currently owns and manages over 4,000,000 square feet in 200 plus

buildings of varying age and condition. Building types include, but are not limited to municipal buildings,

cultural buildings, community centers, fire stations, police stations, stadiums, lodges, and shelter

houses. Many of the buildings owned by the City are historic landmarks, on the national registry, or are

located within historic neighborhoods and/or parks.

The City of Buffalo Buildings Division of the Department of Public Works (the DPW) is seeking

architectural, engineering, and/or construction management firms to provide services for two

65 NIAGARA SQUARE / 502 CITY HALL / BUFFALO, NY 14202

City-Wide Architectural and Engineering Master Planning Services RFQ

objectives: a comprehensive Master Plan and buildings records augmentation. Both

scopes will assist with an understanding of current conditions and the scope of the work ahead.

Firms may provide qualifications and rates in response to one or both scopes. The scopes are not

required to be performed sequentially and may be managed by the selected Consultant for efficiency,

as agreed upon by the City. Firms may choose to team for efficiency and an expedited delivery of

services.

Facility Condition Assessments will be conducted by qualified architectural and engineering

professionals with experience in existing building investigations, deferred maintenance assessments,

capital planning, and facility asset management. The City seeks assessments based upon professional

architectural and engineering judgment. Assessments performed solely by inspectors or technicians

without direct oversight of licensed/senior design professionals and/or professionals with +15 years

experience in their building-related field, such as senior level construction managers, engineering and

architectural designers, are not acceptable. Prior experience in conditions assessments, building

scanning, and capital planning is required. The City encourages submittals from minority and women-

owned business enterprises. The City anticipates

Scope 1: The comprehensive plan will include facility conditions assessments and a Capital

Improvements Master Plan. Two capital plans will be developed: an immediate, fiscal year (FY) 2027-

2029, one- two- and three-year budget plans; and a long-look, fifteen-year capital plan. The City’s fiscal

year runs from July 1 through June 30.

This scope will be broken into a high-level review to meet the FY 2027-2028 budget timeline followed by

an in-depth, comprehensive assessment for a more deliberative and comprehensive management plan.

Buildings have been organized into Phases according to overall square footage. Phases 1 through 3 are

of primary concern for the immediate building needs. Phases 1 through 4 are included in the in-depth

assessments. This comprises scopes 1.A and 1.B; refer to the Detailed Scope of Work section below

and Attachment A.

Scope 2: Many DPW building records are out of date. With consultancy firms discontinuing use of 2-D

drafting software, Building Information Modeling services are being sought to deliver .rvt files of our

buildings over ~10,000 SF. Interior and exterior facility scanning is encouraged but not required.

Additionally, the DPW is implementing geo-centric software to manage maintenance (O&M) and capital

improvements of buildings and assets, and to track on leases, easement, franchises, etc. To assist and

further drive the process, the City is seeking firms to provide data needed for its final implementation.

Asset geotagging and geo-spatial location services are required to assist with the build out of the

platform. Phases 1 through 3 are of primary concern for the building models. Phases 1 through 4 are

included in the asset geotagging. This comprises scopes 2.A and 2.B; refer to the Detailed Scope of

Work section below and Attachment A.

The City is requesting fee proposals for planning purposes only. Fees will not be considered in the

evaluation of the responses and should be provided in a separate envelope, to be opened after scoring

and interviewing. Rates are being requested and the City will negotiate scope and fee with the selected

Consultant(s) upon award. The Consultant(s) will not be committed by providing fees, but will be

assisting the City with fiscal budgeting for duration of this contract. The City reserves the right to

negotiate consecutive and potentially concurrent scope and fee with the selected Consultant(s) on a

”work order” basis.

Page 2 of 16

City-Wide Architectural and Engineering Master Planning Services RFQ

While it is preferred that the Consultant’s headquarters or a primary office, and

deployable field staff, be located within 150 miles of Buffalo, it is not a requirement. The City recognizes

that experienced senior staff may be based outside this radius. Consequently, routine coordination

meetings may be conducted virtually. The City expects senior staff to attend key presentations to the

Office of the Mayor, Common Council, and key public meetings in person. Consultants proposing this

approach should anticipate a minimum of four trips to the City of Buffalo for the Master Planning scope.

The Consultant selected as part of this RFQ will be retained for a period of four (4) years, with options to

renew and extend the length of the agreement by up to three (3) additional one (1) year periods as

agreed upon by the City and Consultant. The Rates of Service to be provided by the Consultant in

Schedule C shall remain in effect and be inclusive of annual escalation of 3 percent. There will be no

change in the terms and conditions for the four-year term plus any extensions. A final rate table will be

incorporated into the contract establishing titles and rates, and the annually escalated rates will be

provided within. Each of the one (1) year renewal options shall be subject to appropriation and/or

continuation of funding, and upon agreement between the Consultant and the City.

The contract will be administered by the Department of Public Works, Division of Buildings and may

potentially be extended to other City of Buffalo Departments by their request. This RFQ may also provide

an opportunity for the Consultant to be engaged for detailed design, contract documents, and

construction administration services, particularly for emergency projects.

Anticipated project target dates:

Anticipated NTP / Start

Scope 1A – FY 2027-2028 budget

Scope 1A – FY 2028-2029, 2029-2030 budget

Scope 1B – Facility Master Plan

Scope 2A – Building Information Modeling

Scope 2B – Asset Geotagging

September 2026

March 3, 2027

Negotiated: Jan. 2028

Annually* by Phase, 2028 through 2031

Negotiated: May 2027

DETAILED SCOPE OF WORK

Scope 1: Building Conditions Assessments and Capital Improvements Master Planning

General: the immediate need and priority is budgeting accuracy. Budgeting for FY 2027-2028 will begin

in early 2027 and continue through late winter/early spring. The DPW seeks to understand budgetary

needs, particularly for responses to imminent probable failures and/or life-safety concerns.

A. High Level Building Condition Assessments: the selected firm will work to understand the

DPW’s current level of Building Condition Assessment documentation associated with

each facility and supplement each resource or create a new record. The selected firm will

work closely with City of Buffalo DPW Buildings and Inspections staff to assess occupied

facilities’ conditions and develop prioritized recommendations to address the conditions

found.

1. At the beginning of the project, Consultant shall develop a brief logistical plan

and timeline for the progression through each facility.

a) Facilities staff will be available for interview during surveys.

Page 3 of 16

City-Wide Architectural and Engineering Master Planning Services RFQ

2. The expected work product will deliver an assessment in tabular

format:

a) Building information and statistics.

b) Major facility components and their condition.

(1) Anticipated service life remaining.

c) Visual survey for suspected asbestos-containing materials by a certified

professional – sampling and testing will occur under a separate contract.

d) Capital planning timing recommendations.

e) Recommendations for replacement or renovations of buildings, systems,

and components.

Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) costs for renovations and

replacements.

3. Deliverables will include a budget report inclusive of:

a) Executive Summary.

b) Building data sheets.

c) Scope of work recommendations by building, noting areas of imminent

failure or life-safety concerns.

d) Rough-Order-of Magnitude opinion of costs.

e) FY 2027 – 2028 recommendations and budget narrative.

FY 2028 – 2029 recommendations and budget narrative (escalated).

g) FY 2029 – 2030 recommendations and budget narrative (escalated).

B. Condition Reports and Comprehensive Master Plan: for a more complete and detailed

understanding, an in-depth facility condition index report and long-term capital

improvements plan will assist in developing the potential costs for both operations and

maintenance (O&M) investments and capital investments (CI).

1. In a phased manner according to Attachment A, the selected firm will:

a) Perform assessments of site and buildings systems such as site, MEP,

fire protection and life-safety, security, architectural/structural

components.

b) Classify deficiencies as code/life safety, deferred maintenance, capital

improvement, and/or program improvements.

c) Review maintenance operations and recommend improvements to the

program.

d) Determine the cost of renovations or replacements and calculate current

replacement value (CRV).

e) Calculate FCI scores and assign ratings with consideration of project

criticality.

Assist the City in establishing criteria for renovation vs. replacement of

the existing facility including, if needed, the identification of replacement

buildings or lots in concert with the Department of Real Estate.

g) Develop a prioritized Capital Improvements Plan with annual funding

targets and bundling strategies over 15 years.

Page 4 of 16

City-Wide Architectural and Engineering Master Planning Services RFQ

2. Systems to evaluate will include:

a) Site: features, hardscape, access, parking features, drainage/stormwater

management, fencing, canopies, exterior walls, stairs, ramps,

furnishings, etc.

b) Mechanical/HVAC systems: functionality as building system, heating,

ventilation, air conditioning, distribution, BMS integrations, etc.

(1) Systems and components.

c) Electrical systems: service, transformers, distribution, emergency/stand-

by power, fixtures, emergency fixtures, communication systems, etc.

(1) Systems and components.

d) Plumbing systems: functionality as building system, fuel systems, cold

water, hot water, distribution, drainage – storm and sanitary, fixtures, etc.

(1) Systems and components.

e) Fire protection: fire department connection, backflow prevention,

standpipes, distribution, sprinkler system, hose cabinets, etc.

(1) Systems and components.

Life-safety and compliance systems: fire alarm, CO detection, fire-

resistive construction, opening protection, compartments, accessibility

features, egress, etc.

(1) Systems and components.

g) Security and IT systems: head-end equipment, cabling, local devices,

public announcement, door access, etc.

(1) Systems and components.

h) Building components, including but not limited to:

(1) Structure: foundations, footers, slabs, framing/structure.

(2) Envelope: roof, parapets, copings, flashings, fenestration

systems, cladding, masonry, curtain wall, canopies, etc.

(3) Vertical transportation: stairs, elevators, penthouses, escalators.

(4) Interior conditions: bearing walls, partitions, openings/hardware,

finishes, toilet rooms, locker rooms, casework and millwork,

kitchens/kitchenettes, specialty rooms, etc.

Other necessary systems but identified here.

3. Deliverables will include:

a) Capital Improvements matrix,

b) Cost estimating forms,

c) Facility Master Plan.

4. Phasing:

a) Refer to Attachment A for the phasing of this multi-year scope.

Page 5 of 16

This page summarizes the opportunity, including an overview and a preview of the attached documents.

Bid Title:	City-Wide Architectural & Engineering Master Planning Services
Category:	Public Works, Parks & Streets
Status:	Open

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