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Council approves expansions to on-call professional services lists; sourcing staff cite MWDBE participation
Summary
Members approved two resolutions to add roughly 26–27 vendors each to city on-call professional services rosters. Office of Management and Budget staff said 9 of the 27 new firms are MWDBE primes and work orders will be reviewed for sub-contracting goals.
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh's standing committees on March 26 approved amendments to two resolutions that expand the city's on-call professional-services vendor pools, and committee members probed staff about minority-business participation and how emergency demolitions are handled.
The two measures (bills 16-39 and 16-40) amend resolutions that previously authorized multiple open-end professional services agreements. Joshua Lamoni, senior sourcing specialist in the Office of Management and Budget, told committee members the measures add approximately 27 new firms to one list and a similar number to the other, and that the city has structured annual caps for individual agreements.
Lamoni said 9 of the 27 new firms are MWDBE prime contractors — roughly one-third of the new additions — and that non-MWDBE prime contractors are required to go through the city's EORC review to document proposed subcontractor commitments. "We have 27 new firms. 9 of those are MWDBE, so that's about a 33% hit," Lamoni said.
Why it matters: On-call agreements are used across multiple departments for architecture, engineering, construction management, surveying and similar professional services. Expanding the vendor pool is intended to broaden access, but council members sought assurances that minority contractors will receive meaningful opportunities and that certain emergency services are covered.
Summary of committee discussion
- Vendor categories: Staff said the added vendors cover architecture, interior design, construction management, commissioning, engineering, geotechnical work, historic consulting, landscape architecture, project management and surveying.
- Annual caps: Lamoni said agreements are structured with annual caps — either $750,000 or $1,500,000 depending on the category/size. He said few vendors typically hit those caps.
- MWDBE participation: Staff emphasized multiple compliance points: MWDBE firms may compete as primes; where non-MWDBE primes are used, work orders are routed through the EORC (Equal Opportunity Review Committee) to ensure subcontracting goals are met and recorded.
- Distribution of work and fairness: Committee members asked how the city ensures work is spread among vendors and expressed interest in an annual report. Lamoni said the process is largely experience- and qualifications-driven, and that his office will report utilization and MWDBE participation metrics in quarterly updates.
- Emergency demolition work: Members asked whether on-call firms could perform emergency demolition; staff said emergency demolitions are handled through a separate emergency waiver and are generally not part of these on-call agreements.
Direct quote
"We have 27 new firms. 9 of those are MWDBE, so that's about a 33% hit," Joshua Lamoni said when asked about minority participation among the newly authorized firms.
Ending
Both bills received affirmative committee recommendations and will proceed to full council. Staff committed to quarterly reporting on vendor utilization, caps and MWDBE participation and said a second phase of amendments covering additional service categories will be brought forward shortly.
