the cities of Danville and Martinsville; and the Town of Rocky Mount.

A consultant or multiple consultants may be contracted to provide professional services through the WPPDC on- call consultant program. Participating consultants will be selected through a publicly advertised and competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process. A selection team including WPPDC staff and local government staff representatives will review proposals, interview consultants, and make a recommendation to the WPPDC Board for an award of a contract(s).

Program Description

The program is a discretionary service available for use by all member local governments and other public organizations in the West Piedmont region. The WPPDC On-Call Consultant Program is available for engineering, architectural or other professional services consulting projects up to a total fee of $2,500,000 for an individual project. A total aggregate amount of $10,000,000 for all executed on-call consulting contracts will not be exceeded in any one-year contract term.

Upon request of a WPPDC member locality, large-scale, grant-funded consulting projects will be considered for approval under the On-Call Consultant Program if the requesting locality establishes in writing a formal finding that the funding agency will accept the WPPDC on-call procurement, and the locality accepts all responsibility for any issues that may result from using the On-Call Consultant Program rather than following a separate, project-specific procurement.

WPPDC reserves the right to deny any request to use the On-Call Consultant Program.

Program Procedures and Requirements 

All users of the WPPDC on-call contract are required to fund 100% of consulting services procured; however, no administrative fees will be assessed for local government member projects. The WPPDC will charge a minimal program fee of $100 upon execution of an on-call contract and an additional fee of $50 will be assessed for each invoice processed in administering an on-call contract for eligible entities other than dues paying WPPDC member jurisdictions.

A duly authorized representative of a locality or other eligible organization desiring to procure consulting services initiates the on-call contract request process by providing the WPPDC Executive Director a letter of request accompanied by a not to exceed project cost proposal from the applicable on-call consultant. The project proposal shall include a complete description of the services to be provided. The letter of request to utilize a WPPDC on-call contract shall at minimum acknowledge an understanding that 100% of the proposed project cost is required to be funded by the locality or other requesting organization, and it shall further state the procurement of requested consulting services under the WPPDC On-Call Consultant Program is compliant with all local, state, and federal procurement guidelines applicable to the project and any related grant funding. If applicable, any member locality or public organization eligible to participate in the WPPDC on-call program shall additionally provide a letter of approval from the granting agency for any project supported by state or federal grant funds. Without exception, all requests for utilization of the WPPDC on-call program shall be submitted to the WPPDC Executive Director directly by an authorized representative of a member local government or other eligible public organization. No contract requests directly submitted by a program consultant will be considered.

Upon the completion of a review and approval of a request for an on-call contract, the WPPDC Executive Director will issue a requisition agreement between WPPDC and the locality or other eligible public entity. Upon receipt of an executed project requisition agreement, the WPPDC Executive Director will issue a formal notice to proceed to the consultant to initiate a project. A copy of the notice to proceed and other contract documents will be provided to the project manager for the locality or other eligible organization.

Following the initiation of a project, the consultant will periodically provide progress invoices to the attention of the WPPDC Executive Director. Upon review of a request for payment, the WPPDC will invoice the locality for the amount of each bill received. Upon receipt of this payment, the WPPDC will subsequently remit payment to the consultant. The WPPDC will not render any payments to an on-call consultant until payment is received from the locality or other eligible organization.

Transportation projects funded through VDOT or Federal Transportation Programs may require a Pre­Award Audit to be completed by the project consultant, which is performed by VDOT’s External & Construction Audit Division (30 to 60 days). All the consultants (sub-consultants) who will be involved in the transportation components of WPPDC’s On-Call Consultant Program are required to complete a successful VDOT Pre-Award Audit.

Any questions regarding eligibility and use of the WPPDC On-Call Consultant Program shall be addressed to the attention of the WPPDC Executive Director.

Beginning with the 2022 procurement, the City of Danville and WPPDC used a joint procurement agreement that allows the City to contract with WPPDC’s on-call firms directly. The City will submit an On-Call Consultant Program project initiation form to the WPPDC’s Executive Director every time a new project contract is initiated.

The policy described herein was duly considered and approved by the West Piedmont Planning District Board of Commissioners at a meeting held October 27, 2022.

WPPDC On-Call Consultant Program Brochure