To join MRSC Rosters as an agency member, you must understand your agency’s roles and responsibilities in managing a roster program. This includes agreeing to the proper establishment, maintenance, and use of your selected roster types.
A roster is a list of pre-approved, eligible businesses. By its nature, using a roster restricts open public advertisement and competitive bidding processes. Because of this, MRSC strongly encourages all public agencies to carefully review the applicable statutes and laws governing procurement, bidding, and similar topics specific to their agency type. We always recommend consulting with your legal counsel to ensure full compliance.
It is crucial to understand MRSC Rosters operates as a central administrative platform for housing lists of eligible businesses. MRSC Rosters does not participate in actual procurement processes, nor do we exercise any legal or audit authority over public agencies or participating businesses. Therefore, the entirety of your roster’s use and management, from policy to practice, rests solely with each member agency. For more information, see our page Transitioning to MRSC Rosters.
MRSC maintains three distinct rosters; the requirements vary depending on the roster type.
- Small Works Roster (construction)
- Consultant Roster (professional and technical services)
- Vendor Roster (goods and services, including maintenance)
Small Works Roster
State law (RCW 39.04.151-.154) explicitly defines and prescribes Small Works Rosters and provides two distinct procurement processes:
- Competitive Bidding: All businesses on a project-specific roster are given the opportunity to bid
- Direct Contracting: Agencies can directly contract with a business from the roster under specific conditions
For more detailed guidance, refer to MRSC’s Small Works Manual.
Consultant Roster
State statutes do not specifically mention consultant rosters or consultant lists. Agencies looking to use a consultant roster are encouraged to adopt formal resolutions, ordinances, or rules, along with supporting policies and procedures, to govern their use.
Many public agencies have established local policies for “on-call” consulting services. This typically involves creating a list of pre-approved and pre-qualified consultants who can be engaged for specific, discreet tasks via authorized task orders. These “on-call” contracts are commonly established for periods of 3 to 5 years. It’s important to note MRSC does not host “on-call” consulting rosters.
Vendor Roster
While RCW 39.04.190 requires authorized public agencies to provide notice of the existence of their “vendor lists” and solicit new vendors twice annually, it doesn’t explicitly authorize the use of a formal “vendor roster” in the same way it does for small works.
Instead, this RCW states that authorized agencies using vendor lists must establish a process for securing bids via resolution and procedure. Public agencies should consult their agency-specific statutes for references to RCW 39.04.190 to understand if they are authorized to use vendor lists or rosters.
MRSC Rosters Agency Requirements
Below are the requirements necessary for an agency to use a roster and therefore become an MRSC Rosters member:
| Agency Requirement | Small Works Roster | Consultant Roster | Vendor Roster/ Vendor List |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adopt a resolution | Required RCW 39.04.151(4) |
Recommended | Required RCW 39.04.190(2) |
| Establish policies, processes, and procedures | Required RCW 39.04.152(1) |
Recommended | Required RCW 39.04.190(2) |
| Report use | Required RCW 39.04.152(6)-(7), RCW 39.04.200 |
Recommended | Required RCW 39.04.190(2), RCW 39.04.200 |
| Post annual notice of existence and use | Required* RCW 39.04.151(1)(c) |
Advance notice for architecture & engineering RCW 39.80.030 |
Twice per year* RCW 39.04.190(2) |
| Exclusive use of MRSC Rosters** | Required RCW 39.04.151(1) |
Recommended | Recommended |
*MRSC Rosters provides notice; see our page on Membership Benefits
** When an agency agrees to use MRSC Rosters for a particular roster type, you commit to using the selected roster type exclusively through MRSC. For instance, if you opt to use the MRSC Small Works Roster, you will not maintain your own Small Works Roster separately.