The RFEI or RFQ process is used to screen qualified candidates for a public private partnership. This process spares many private sector parties the expense of preparing a full proposal. These processes also allow qualified partners the opportunity to compete with fewer candidates, ensuring a greater possibility of earning a partnership with the local government. In many cases, the local government will have to evaluate more submissions at the RFEI or RFQ stage. To ensure quality and to reduce the time required in the evaluation process, submissions from interested parties need to be kept brief. Generally, they should include the following information:
• a clear understanding of the scope of the project and the local government's needs
• a profile of the potential partner making the application (If the partner is to be a consortium formed for the purpose of providing a proposal, each person or firm in the consortium should provide information on its principal business and the length of time that it has been in operation.)
• the identification of the contact person for the private partner
• a statement of financial stability (that can be evaluated on a pass/fail basis)
• a statement of financial capability including access to capital (debt and equity)
• a statement of performance capability that includes an overview of overall experience, experience in similar projects, senior management expertise, expertise of those staff members who will work on the project, ability to obtain necessary resources, references, and in the case of an RFEI, the methodology for the project
• a rule of thumb would be a maximum of 15-30 pages for an RFEI or RFQ depending on the scale and complexity of the project