Consulting Service Manual
A guide for the administration of professional services contracts
This Guide has been prepared to orient County staff, consultants and cooperating agencies to the basic procedures and fundamental concepts that are necessary to coordinate a transportation capital improvement project with specific concerns applicable to the Riverside County Transportation Department and to provide a handy desk reference as a source of information and electronic form templates to allow a more effective implementation of consulting services.
The Manual

- Main Body (pdf only, no forms, templates or appendices) pdf
- Full Manual (pdf only, no forms or templates) pdf
- Full Manual w/Templates (zipped package, includes main body and all appendices, forms and templates) zipped
The forms and templates contained in this manual are provided in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Acrobat PDF formats. The Excel files are formatted for use with Microsoft Excel 2016 for Windows. These files are compatible with other versions and platforms; however, Excel does a very poor job of maintaining consistent formatting between versions and platforms. As a result, separate sets of Excel files are provided for use on Macintosh systems. Please also note that many of the excel files have copy protection turned on. The files do not contain passwords, however, and can be unprotected without entering a password.
Excel files for Mac (zipped package, includes excel forms and templates formatted for Mac) zipped
The Appendices
This manual includes an appendix containing several reference documents, sample forms and templates intended to facilitate the development of projects.
Appendix A: Legislative Documents pdf
Appendix A is a compilation of various Legislative and Policy documents that are relevant to the use and management of consultants. The federal and state documents are referenced only by links to the relevant federal and state websites. The local agency documents including County, TLMA and Transportation Policies and Procedures are compiled in this Appendix and provided in pdf format.
Appendix B: RFQ & RFP Documents pdf
Consists of a compilation of documents collected to facilitate the consultant evaluation process. These documents consist of various form templates and sample documents.
Appendix C: Contract Boilerplates pdf
RCTD currently has two versions of the Engineering Services Agreements boilerplate. One is for Project-specific & Multi-phase contracts and one is for On-call contracts.
Note: These documents are currently undergoing revisions and are therefore not available for download.
- Zipped Project-specific & Multi-phase Contract Boilerplate - Design
- Zipped Project-specific & Multi-phase Contract Boilerplate - Construction
- Zipped On-Call Contract Boilerplate
Appendix D: Work Breakdown Structure pdf
This appendix includes a simplified version of a chart of accounts used by TLMA for accounting purposes, a listing and related codes for a standard set of tasks/activities that are used by RCTD to track schedules and a Link to Caltrans website showing Caltrans detailed Work Breakdown Structure.
Appendix E: Scope of Services Samples pdf
This appendix contains an archive of Scopes of Services electronic files obtained from prior consultant agreements used to perform services for RCTD. These scopes are provided as samples and/or starting points to facilitate the preparation of contract scopes of services.
Scopes by Project Types
- Word Bridge Replacement
- Word Grade Separation (PA/ED only)
- Word Grade Separation (PS&E only)
- Word Grade Separation (PS&E only) with Caltrans Encroachment
- Word Interchange Replacement (PSR only)
- Word Interchange Replacement
- Word Road Extension (PA/ED only)
- Word Road Realignment
- Word Road Widening (PA&ED only)
- Word Road (Simple) (PS&E only)
- Word Storm Drain
Appendix F: Scheduling Guides pdf
RCTD currently has two versions of the Engineering Services Agreements boilerplate. One is for Project-specific & Multi-phase contracts and one is for On-call contracts.
- Excel Schedule Preparation Template
- Excel Schedule Tracking Summary
- pdf RCTD Standardized Program Level Schedule Activities
Appendix G: Estimating Guides pdf
Estimates represent our best expectation of cost based on the data available. Consequently, estimates become inherently more accurate as a project develops and greater details are available. Typically, cost estimates are prepared at four stages of a project.
- The Conceptual Stage
- The Planning Estimate Stage
- The Preliminary Estimate Stage
- The Engineers Estimate Stage
RCTD has prepared a guide for use in the preparation of estimate on County road projects as well as templates that can be used to prepare preliminary and engineering estimates.
- pdf Engineering Estimate Guide
- Excel Preliminary Engineering Estimate Template
- Excel Engineers Estimate Template
- Excel Engineers Estimate Template (segmented by work type)
Appendix H: Administration Forms pdf
Consultants entering agreements with RCTD are required to submit monthly invoices and provide monthly progress status. Many of the templates included in this appendix are provided to facilitate consultant compliance with these RCTD requirements.
Appendix I: Filing System pdf
RCTD has created a Filing System for managing RCTD capital improvement projects. RCTD’s Filing System is generally based on a Uniform Filling System (UFS) created by Caltrans and included in Caltrans’ Project Development Procedures Manual.
- pdf RCTD Project Filing Structure
- pdf RCTD Small Project Filing Structure
- pdf File Folder Labels Printing Template
- pdf File Folder Labels Printing Template (subfolders)
- pdf File Folder Labels Printing Template (small project)
- zipped Computer Folder/Directory Structures
Appendix J: Misc Forms
- Excel Attachment A