• Must be citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States
• Must be an independent entity
• Must be an existing, for profit business
• Must be a "small" business as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA), 13 CFR Part 121 in Sector 54

The North Carolina Department of Transportation uses Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards to determine whether a business entity is small and, thus, eligible for participation in the SPSF program. Size standards have been established for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The size standards are expressed either in number of employees or annual receipts in millions of dollars, and indicates the maximum allowed for a business and its affiliates to be considered small.

The applicant must complete a Small Professional Services Firm (SPSF) Contractor's Self-Certification form in its entirety, and submit it to the Contractual Services Unit - SPSF. The form will be accepted via fax (if notarized with an ink seal) or regular mail.

Fax number: (919) 733-3584

Mailing address:
NC Department of Transportation
ATTN: Contractual Services Unit – SPSF
1509 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1509

The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Minority Business Enterprise, and/or Women's Business Enterprise (DBE/MBE/WBE) and the Small Professional Services Firm (SPSF) programs are independent of each other. Firms desiring certification under these programs must complete and submit the forms required for certification under each program.

Prequalification as a Private Consulting Firm is an independent process that evaluates a consulting firm's key staff and experience required to perform successfully on a project. For more information on Prequalification, contact Mickey Biedell at (919) 733-5616 ext. 313

SPSF Certification evaluates the firm's ability to meet eligibility standards. For more information on certification, contact Dianna Turner at (919) 733-5616 ext. 352.

Firms that wish to participate in the SPSF program must be both prequalified as a Private Consulting Firm and certified as a SPSF at the time Letters of Interest are submitted. It should be noted that firms that are SPSF certified but are not prequalified will not show up as a SPSF on the Directory of Transportation Firms.

For more information about SPSF certification, contact Dianna Turner, Certification Officer, at (919) 733-5616 ext.352.

For more information about Prequalification, contact Mickey Biedell, Private Consultant Qualifications Engineer, at (919) 733-5616 ext. 313.

For information about Subconsultant opportunities, check the Interactive Purchasing System (IPS) at http://www.ips.state.nc.us/ips/srchopen.asp or http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/highway/roadway/eng_coord/pd/current.html

Print out the Small Professional Services Firm program information Change Request form. Complete the form and submit it to the NCDOT Contractual Services Unit – SPSF, 1509 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699 or fax it to: (919) 733-3584.