RFP and Service Agreement Guide

This is educational guidance on procurement structure. It is not legal advice, and nothing here should substitute for review of your own agreements by qualified counsel.

The central problem in exterior maintenance procurement is that proposals arriving against no specification are not comparable, and selecting the lowest among them selects for the narrowest interpretation of an undefined scope. Everything below follows from fixing that.

Preparing an RFP

An exterior maintenance RFP does not need to be long. It needs to be specific enough that every bidder is pricing the same work.

1. Property and scope description. Surfaces with measured quantities, per zone.
2. Condition disclosure. Honest description of current condition, including deferred areas. Disclosing produces better pricing, not worse.
3. Substrate inventory. EIFS, sealed or coated concrete, specialty finishes, anti-graffiti coatings, identified and located.
4. Method constraints per substrate, stated as constraints rather than as equipment or pressure specifications.
5. Test area requirement on each distinct substrate, approved before full application.
6. Schedule window per zone, distinguishing what needs overnight or pre-opening work from what does not.
7. Wash water handling and disposal path to be stated by the bidder.
8. Exclusions, explicitly.
9. Acceptance criteria and the punch item process.
10. Documentation deliverables required with each visit.
11. Insurance and compliance requirements.
12. Recovery versus recurring, priced separately where the property is entering a program after deferral.

Comparing Proposals

Sort on comparability before sorting on price. A proposal that failed to price the stated window, the stated method constraints, or wash water handling is not comparable to one that did, and should be requoted rather than discounted or dismissed.

Among proposals that pass all seven, differences of ten to twenty percent are normal and reflect genuine differences in overhead, crew cost, and margin. Differences beyond that on a fully specified scope usually mean something is still being interpreted differently, and it is worth finding out what before signing.

Service Agreement Terms Worth Understanding

These are the terms that most affect how an exterior maintenance relationship actually runs. What is appropriate for your property is a matter for your counsel; what follows is only an explanation of why each matters operationally.

• Scope incorporation. Whether the written scope is an incorporated exhibit or merely referenced determines what is enforceable.
• Change order process. Who can authorize, at what threshold, and how it is documented — the alternative is a midnight negotiation.
• Mobilization and access failure terms. What happens when a crew arrives to an uncleared or inaccessible site.
• Weather postponement. Who calls it, and what the rescheduling commitment is.
• Term and renewal. Including whether renewal is automatic and what notice applies.
• Price adjustment mechanism, which matters over multi-year terms as costs move.
• Frequency adjustment mechanism, so calibrating a zone does not require renegotiating the agreement.
• Subcontracting, whether permitted and on what standard.
• Insurance requirements and additional insured status.
• Documentation as a deliverable rather than on request.
• Termination provisions on both sides.

The frequency adjustment mechanism is worth particular attention. A program should be calibrated from observed condition over the first two or three cycles, and an agreement that requires renegotiation to change an interval discourages exactly the adjustment that makes the program work.

Managing the Contract Over Its Life

1. Track compliance expirations with advance reminders, since the common failure is holding correct documents that have expired.
2. Review scope against window annually. Scope creep against a fixed window is the quietest quality drift mechanism.
3. Calibrate frequencies quarterly using the mechanism the agreement provides.
4. Keep the documentation package current, and address gaps early rather than at renewal.
5. Review total spend annually, programmed plus reactive.
6. Rebid periodically on the standard specification — not to change vendors, but to confirm the incumbent remains competitive and give them a fair reference point.

See vendor evaluation, how to scope a project, and insurance and vendor compliance.