Guidelines for Preparing Letters of Interest
Guidelines for Preparing Letters of Interest for Engineering and Related Services Assignments
Presented below are general guidelines for you/your firm to prepare a letter of interest (LOI) for engineering and related services assignments with the NYS Thruway Authority. These guidelines will assist you with the content of your letter. Format and/or organization of your letter is up to you. Further, we ask that you carefully review the New York State Contract Reporter advertisement prior to submitting the LOI.
General Instructions
- Please limit your letter of interest(s) to the number of pages, font size, line spacing and margins as stated in the Contract Reporter notice. Please insure that you are submitting the requested number of copies.
- Please include all pertinent information in your letter of interest even if the information is already stated in your Standard Form (SF) 330. While your SF 330 is shared with the evaluators, it is most important that the LOI includes all of the required/pertinent information. Please insure that your SF 330 is not more than one-year old.
- All firms listed in the LOI must be registered (and the registration must be current) with the NYS Department of State (www.dos.ny.gov
) and must be able to conduct business in New York State under the names stated in the LOI. If any of the firms listed in the LOI are not registered in New York State, the LOI will not be reviewed and the firm will not be considered for selection. - Where professional services (including engineering, architectural and survey) are required, all firms listed in the LOI must be registered (and the registration must be current) to practice in New York State with the New York State Department of Education, Office of the Professions (www.op.nysed.gov), and must be able to legally provide professional services in NYS under the name as stated in the LOI. If any of the required firms listed in the LOI are not registered in New York State, the LOI will not be reviewed and the firm will not be considered for selection.
- If your team is going to submit a LOI as a joint venture, please insure that the joint venture itself is registered to practice and do business in New York State. If the joint venture is not registered in advance of the LOI submission, the LOI will not be reviewed and the team will not be considered for selection.
- When submitting your letter of interest, please do not use binders, covers, etc. A staple in the upper left corner is sufficient.
- Please refer to the contract number (DXXXXXX) in your letter of interest.
- Please submit your letter of interest to the individual indicated in the "Submit to" section of the Contract Reporter notice. Do not submit them to the person listed under the "Contact" section of the notice.
Instructions on Specific Elements
Please note that these instructions provide general guidance. If you/your firm feel as though additional information is needed based upon the Contract Reporter notice (Notice), you will not be penalized as long as the letter is no longer than what is stated in the notice. Further, the order of the sections presented below does not infer how you should organize your letter of interest. As stated earlier, format and organization of your letter is up to you.
1. Firm's Understanding of Assignment
Each firm's letter will be evaluated to determine if they have any understanding of the assignment, including the special/unique features of the assignment. Please ensure that your firm addresses any special features stated in the Notice and state why your firm is uniquely qualified to provide services for this project.
2. Firm's Experience
Please provide information on recent and relevant Thruway and non-Thruway assignments completed within the last seven years. For each assignment, provide the following:
- Brief description (if it was a Thruway construction inspection assignment, please include the TA # of the construction contract).
- Firm's role (prime, sub) and what specific services were provided.
- Completion date.
- Dollar value of construction project (if any).
- Client's name.
- If sub-consultants are proposed, clearly indicate assignments the sub-consultant completed.
In addition, please address the following:
- If a sub-consultant(s) is proposed, please clearly state their role and what they will be doing. Also state the percentage of the work they will complete.
- Address any special features of the assignment as stated in the Notice.
- Please address any necessary certifications, software requirements, and other technical requirements.
- State from which office the assignment will be managed. Also, indicate which office will complete a majority of the assignment.
- If there are M/W/DBE or SDVOB goals, please name the firms and indicate what they will be doing for the assignment. Also indicate the percentage of work they will complete. Please note that if the firm submitting the letter of interest is a M/W/DBE, they are still required to meet the M/W/DBE goals stated in the Notice.
3. Proposed Key Personnel
Provide the following information for each key staff member:
- Proposed role for this assignment (i.e., project manager, project engineer, lead structural engineer).
- Brief description of their recent (within the last seven years) and relevant experience.
- Individual's role on each of the previous assignments.
- Completion date of the previous assignments.
- Value of construction project (if any) of the previous assignments.
- Client's name of the assignments.
- Certifications and licenses (ASCE, NICET, etc.) of the key staff members.
- State the individuals current employer.
Because some of the projects listed under individual's experience could also be listed under the firm's experience, we understand some of the detail on each project may not be restated. It is recommended that a cross reference be provided.
4. Staff Availability
For each of the proposed key staff members, please list the individuals' current assignments that require twenty (20) percent or more of their time. If a staff member is working on fewer than two assignments that meet the 20 percent threshold, the firm shall list at least two of that person's largest assignments. For each of the assignments, please provide the assignment's description, the person's role, percentage of the person's time, and completion date of the person's work on that assignment.
If you have any questions concerning the Contract Reporter Notice, please refer to NYS Contract Reporter Notice for a contact person.