CONTRACT NOTICE FOR CONTRACTS IN THE FIELD OF DEFENCE AND SECURITY

Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)

I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions National or federal agency/Office Regional or local Authority Regional or local Agency/Office Body governed by public law European Institution/Agency or International Organisation

General public services Defence Public order and safety Environment Economic and financial affairs Health Housing and community amenities Social protection Recreation, culture and religion Education

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Description

II.1.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

II.1.2)

Type of service contract

Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance

II.1.3)

Information on framework agreement

The notice involves the establishment of a framework agreement

II.1.4)

Information on framework agreement (if applicable)

	Framework agreement with a single operators
	Framework agreement with several operators

Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged

Duration of the framework agreement

Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds seven years

Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement

Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded

II.1.5)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

1. Introduction

1.1 The DE&S Specialist EODS, [Explosive Ordnance Disposal & Search], Exploitation and Countermeasures (SEEC) team intends to competitively assess, select and award a contract to deliver In-Service Support for the HESE Capability.

1.2 The HESE Capability provides contains a prime set of equipment that enables:

1.2.1 Working in a confined space

1.2.2 Working at height

1.2.3 Working in an unstable structure

1.3 It contains lifting equipment, breathing apparatus, medical equipment, decontamination equipment, lighting, gas detection, communication and PPE.

1.4 The provision of In-Service Support shall comply with MOD standards and policies for quality, safety, security and cyber, amongst others. Full details shall be provided at the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) stage of the competition.

1.5 This procurement will be managed in accordance with the Competitive Negotiated procedure under Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011.

1.6 You may express your interest in this requirement by completing the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) found at https://contracts.mod.uk/go/97869582018C6E5C4794. The full requirement will be issued in the ITT and suppliers will be given appropriate time to respond with their tenders. The Authority shall take forward a maximum of six suppliers that have provided a compliant response to the PQQ. The six highest scoring compliant suppliers will be invited to tender.

1.7 This procurement will be subject to iterative tendering and a further down-selection of Tenders will take place during the tender assessment stage. Following evaluation of the initial tender returns the three highest scoring compliant tenders will be invited to negotiate and provide Final Tenders before the final evaluation takes place.

2. Scope of Requirement

2.1 In-service support shall be provided for a period of five years from Contract Award. The requirements of in-service support include, but are not limited to: routine equipment servicing and maintenance (including LOLER certification), the provision of spares, repairs and turnaround times, quality management, safety management, obsolescence management, training and the provision of replacement equipment if required. Performance against these requirements will be monitored as part of standard MOD Contract Management processes.

2.2 A list of equipment that form the HESE Capability can be found in Annex A to the DPQQ Support Document. Please note this is subject to change and the final requirement will be confirmed with the Invitation to Negotiate.

3. Contract Options

3.1 The requirement includes the provision of the following contract option:

3.1.1 Extension of In-Service Support for an additional period of two years.

3.2 The Authority reserve the right, at its absolute discretion, to not take up any or all the option. Further information on the option will be provided in the Invitation to Tender.

4. Security Information

4.1 The Cyber Risk level for this procurement is VERY LOW. The Risk Assessment Reference (RAR) is RAR-287051598.

4.2 A full description of the Cyber Risk levels is available at DEFSTAN 05-138. Potential Providers should make themselves familiar with the requirements against the profile assessment for this risk level.

4.3 The maximum classification of the In-Service Support of HESE contract and its data is expected to be OFFICIAL.

5. Estimated Timescales

5.1 The table below details the anticipated timeframes of this procurement. These dates are provided for information only.

Final date for DPQQ Clarification Questions - 05 February 2024

DPQQs returned to MOD - 19 February 2024

Invitation to Tender Issued - 22 April 2024

Tenders Returned to MOD - 24 June 2024

Authority Evaluation of ITT Completed - 19 August 2024

Negotiations and best and final offer submission - 30 September 2024

Anticipated Date of Contract Award - 15 November 2024

Contract Expiry - 2029 (excluding options) 5 years post contract award

6. Estimated Value

6.1 The estimated overall value of the contract, including any option extension periods and additional purchases, is £3,228,788.80 (EX VAT).

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.7)

Information about subcontracting

	The tenderer has to indicate in the tender any share of the contract it may intend to subcontract to third parties and any proposed subcontractor, as well as the subject-matter of the subcontracts for which they are proposed.
	The tenderer has to indicate any change occurring at the level of subcontractors during the execution of the contract.
	The contracting authority/entity may oblige the successful tenderer to award all or certain subcontracts through the procedure set out in Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC.
	The successful tenderer is obliged to specify which part or parts of the contract it intends to subcontract beyond the required percentage and to indicate the subcontractors already identified.
	The successful tenderer is obliged to subcontract the following share of the contract through the procedure set out in Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC: minimum percentage: (%), maximum percentage: (%) of the value of the contract. (The maximum percentage may not exceed 30% of the value of the contract)

II.1.8)

Division into lots

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

II.3)

Duration of the contract or limit for completion

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation

Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:

1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once)

- Browse to the eSourcing Portal

- Click the “Click here to register” link

- Accept the terms and conditions and click “continue”

- Enter your correct business and user details

- Note the username you chose and click “Save” when complete

- You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure)

2. Express an Interest in the tender

- Login to the portal with the username/password

- Click the "PQQs Open to All Suppliers" link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires open to any registered supplier)

- Click on the relevant PQQ to access the content.

- Click the “Express Interest” button in the “Actions” box on the left-hand side of the page.

- This will move the PQQ into your “My PQQs” page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only)

- Click on the PQQ code, you can now access any attachments by clicking the “Settings and Buyer Attachments” in the “Actions” box

3. Responding to the tender

- You can now choose to “Reply” or “Reject” (please give a reason if rejecting)

- You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification

- Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ

- There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available)

If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.

Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:

1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once)

- Browse to the eSourcing Portal

- Click the “Click here to register” link

- Accept the terms and conditions and click “continue”

- Enter your correct business and user details

- Note the username you chose and click “Save” when complete

- You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure)

2. Express an Interest in the tender

- Login to the portal with the username/password

- Click the "PQQs Open to All Suppliers" link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires open to any registered supplier)

- Click on the relevant PQQ to access the content.

- Click the “Express Interest” button in the “Actions” box on the left-hand side of the page.

- This will move the PQQ into your “My PQQs” page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only)

- Click on the PQQ code, you can now access any attachments by clicking the “Settings and Buyer Attachments” in the “Actions” box

3. Responding to the tender

- You can now choose to “Reply” or “Reject” (please give a reason if rejecting)

- You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification

- Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ

- There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available)

If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.

III.2.2)

Economic and financial standing

III.2.3)

Technical and/or professional capacity

III.2.4)

Reserved contracts

	The contract is restricted to sheltered workshops
	The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure

IV.1.1)

Type of Procedure

	Restricted
	Accelerated restricted
	Negotiated
	Accelerated negotiated
	Competitive dialogue

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.2)

Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates

IV.1.3)

Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated

IV.2)

Award Criteria

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction will be used

IV.3 Administrative Information

IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

709073450

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

	Prior Information Notice
	Notice on a Buyer Profile

Other previous publications

IV.3.3)

Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

IV.3.4)

Time-limit for requests to participate

IV.3.5)

Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

Section VI: Complimentary Information

VI.1)

Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published

VI.2)

Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds?

VI.3)

Additional Information

The Contracting Authority intends to use an e-Tendering system in this procurement exercise, please visit www.contracts.mod.uk for full details and to register your interest in this procurement.

VI.4)

Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures

Body responsible for mediation procedures

VI.4.2)

Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals:

VI.4.3)

Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice