A commercial facility maintenance RFP should give every bidder the same property information, included scope, service expectations, pricing fields, and reporting requirements. Ask each provider to identify assumptions and exclusions in a standard format so your team can compare the work being offered as well as the price.
This checklist is for property owners, procurement teams, and facility managers selecting a provider for recurring maintenance, building repairs, or multiple commercial locations. It focuses on the information needed to obtain comparable proposals. Once a provider is selected, our maintenance agreement checklist helps organize the scope and responsibilities to document before service begins.
1. Give bidders a usable property information package
List the locations, property uses, included areas, operating hours, and available service windows. Identify responsibility for shared building systems, tenant equipment, and existing specialist contracts. If your records are incomplete, label the missing information and ask bidders how they would confirm it.
- Site schedule with addresses, property contacts, and included buildings or suites.
- Available asset inventory, equipment lists, manuals, and warranty information.
- Relevant service history, inspection findings, known defects, and recurring complaints.
- Access, escort, parking, loading, tenant-notice, and shutdown coordination requirements.
- Existing maintenance scopes and the boundaries of any contracts that will remain.
- Expected start date, rollout sequence, submission instructions, and evaluation process.
If asset condition is uncertain, separate a proposed baseline facility inspection from the recurring maintenance price. That makes the cost of gathering missing information visible instead of burying it in assumptions.
2. Define what is included, optional, and excluded
A phrase such as “complete facility maintenance” is too broad to compare without an attached scope. Organize the request by building area or trade, then identify the task, covered quantity, frequency or trigger, and required completion record.
PNNL's operations and maintenance contract guidance emphasizes clear scope, objectives, and owner priorities. For a commercial RFP, make those priorities explicit: for example, consistent repair documentation, a defined preventive scope, or coordination across several occupied locations.
| Scope item | Required bidder response |
|---|---|
| Recurring preventive tasks | Covered assets, task description, proposed interval or trigger, visit assumptions, and completion evidence. |
| Corrective repairs | Included repair scope, separately quoted work, investigation charges, and additional-work approval process. |
| Emergency service | Contact route, coverage limitations, proposed service expectations, after-hours charges, and escalation process. |
| Inspections | Inspection scope, report format, access assumptions, exclusions, and handling of repair recommendations. |
| Specialist work | Tasks performed directly, work coordinated through other providers, and owner-retained service agreements. |
| New or removed locations | How scope, pricing, onboarding, and records change when the portfolio changes. |
Use our commercial preventive maintenance checklist to identify areas needing coverage. Have the responsible specialist confirm equipment-specific servicing and applicable inspection requirements when developing the task schedule.
3. Request pricing in the same fields from every bidder
A lower recurring fee may cover fewer tasks, different visit assumptions, or less reporting. Ask for a completed pricing schedule even when a bidder also supplies its own proposal. Mark a charge as included, separately priced, not applicable, or excluded; a blank cell should trigger a clarification.
| Pricing field | Clarify before comparing |
|---|---|
| Recurring service fee | Which locations, tasks, visits, reports, and consumables the fee includes. |
| Labor | Rates by applicable trade or role, billing increments, minimum charges, and normal versus after-hours periods. |
| Travel and mobilization | Trip charges, travel-time treatment, geographic differences, and return-visit assumptions. |
| Materials and outside services | Pricing basis, applicable markup or handling charges, subcontracted work, rentals, and supporting documentation. |
| Additional work | Estimate requirements, investigation authorization, not-to-exceed controls, and approval before exceeding scope. |
| Commercial assumptions | Taxes, price validity, proposed adjustments, invoicing format, payment terms, and listed exclusions. |
If you provide historical work volumes, state whether they are reference information or a committed scope. For an illustrative comparison, ask every bidder to price the same clearly labeled sample service scenario. Keep that exercise separate from promised annual spending.
Do not compare an inspection-only proposal with a proposal that includes preventive servicing as though the scopes were equivalent. Resolve the difference or show it explicitly in the evaluation.
4. Ask for evidence of how the service will operate
Request a redacted sample work-order report, an inspection form when relevant, and a demonstration of the proposed reporting workflow. Ask the provider to show how an issue moves from request through approval and completion, including a job that remains open for additional work.
- Accountability: named account role, local coordination, escalation contacts, and backup coverage arrangements.
- Documentation: property and asset identifiers, findings, work performed, supporting evidence, and outstanding recommendations.
- Visibility: available status information, location and asset history, reporting cadence, user access, and record handover.
- Coordination: occupied-space planning, tenant communication, access authorization, and specialist interfaces.
- Qualifications: relevant experience, references the bidder can substantiate, applicable credentials, and requested insurance documentation.
For contractor verification in California, use the CSLB license-check service and review the information for the actual contracting entity. Ask the bidder to explain how its qualifications relate to your proposed scope.
For a portfolio, use the same questions at every location. Our multi-site facility services page explains the service coverage to discuss, while the RFP should define the reporting and authorization standards you want applied.
5. Compare complete proposals using a recorded evaluation
Choose the decision criteria before reviewing prices. Evaluate scope completeness, operating coverage, reporting quality, relevant qualifications, rollout approach, and total comparable cost. Set any weights according to the needs of your properties rather than adopting a generic scoring formula.
Keep one clarification log for missing items and exceptions. Give bidders the same updated scope information when it affects their proposals. Record the accepted answer alongside the proposal so an exclusion does not disappear during selection.
Where response commitments matter, ask what starts and stops each measurement. Acknowledging a request, arriving at the property, and completing a permanent repair are different milestones. Confirm which are offered for each service category and location.
Final checklist before issuing the RFP
- Every location and included area is identified.
- Recurring tasks, repair work, inspections, and optional services are separated.
- Missing asset or condition information is disclosed.
- All bidders receive the same pricing fields and relevant site information.
- Authorization, access, reporting, and emergency-contact expectations are clear.
- The question deadline, submission format, evaluation criteria, and rollout expectations are stated.
Discuss your maintenance scope with Brady
Brady Construction Group supports commercial maintenance, repairs, preventive maintenance, and inspections throughout Southern California. Clients receive full work-order reports and inspection forms when inspections are involved. Our service platform supports visibility into locations, assets, maintenance, and associated activity, and emergency services are available 24/7.
For properties in Irvine, Ontario, and other communities in our service territory, send the property list, scope schedule, available asset information, and proposal deadline. We can review the requirements and identify items that need clarification.