Prior information notice
This notice is for prior information only
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Forestry and Land Scotland
Great Glen House, Leachkin Road
Inverness
IV3 8NW
UK
Telephone: +44 3000676000
E-mail: procurement@forestryandland.gov.scot
NUTS: UKM
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://forestryandland.gov.scot
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA30371
I.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Environment
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Bridge & Reservoir Inspections
Reference number: FLS-1730
II.1.2) Main CPV code
77300000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
FLS owns and maintains structures across the estate it manages. FLS intends to award Contracts for provision of Bridge Inspection Services and Reservoir Inspection Services over the next 4-5 months. FLS currently has a single contract in place for Bridge Inspections covering all Scottish regions within FLS, which is due to expire at the end of March 2026. FLS is looking to outsource the Reservoir Inspections due to an impending retirement of a staff member in December 2025.
This PIN notice is for prior information and market engagement only. Potential bidders who are interested in contributing their views are encouraged to complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire. Please complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire, the link is contained within the PIN document attachment or accessible via the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=R3T3DoMQ7E24nyfHZQdoQDcUqmwi_gJJo-vxU7irx_xUNjZKT0xJRE1ITEk2R0E2VVA1NlNMVlQ5TS4u
Responses must be submitted no later than Monday 4th August 2025 at 1700 hours.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
Yes
II.2) Description
Lot No: 1
II.2.1) Title
Bridge Inspection - North Scotland (Moray & Aberdeenshire, North Highland, Inverness, Ross & Skye, Lochaber, West Argyll)
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
77300000
71631450
71000000
71631400
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM5
UKM61
UKM62
UKM63
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) owns and maintains structures across the estate it manages. FLS intends to award Contracts for the provision of Bridge Inspection Services over the next 4-5 months. FLS requires inspections to be carried out for road-bridges, cycle-bridges, footbridges and a small number of rural recreational structures such as viewing platforms, towers and board walks (raised timber structure). The road-bridges are nearly all single lane, and used mainly by forest and construction traffic, as well as the public.
FLS operates an inspection regime for these structures to ensure that they remain safe to use. The PIN document (attached as additional information) provides further information on the requirements.
As part of our procurement process, we are engaging with the market on a number of key matters to inform our strategy and specification. We are therefore encouraging potential bidders who are interested in contributing their views to complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire. Please complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire, the link is contained within the PIN document attachment or accessible via the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=R3T3DoMQ7E24nyfHZQdoQDcUqmwi_gJJo-vxU7irx_xUNjZKT0xJRE1ITEk2R0E2VVA1NlNMVlQ5TS4u
Responses must be submitted no later than Monday 4th August 2025 at 1700 hours.
This PIN Notice and associated questionnaire is for information gathering and market engagement only, this is not a call for competition and response to the questionnaire will not constitute any form of contract, or commitment to contract from FLS.
Lot No: 2
II.2.1) Title
Bridge Inspection - South Scotland (Tay, Scottish Lowlands, Cowal & Trossachs, Dumfries & Borders, Galloway)
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
77300000
71631450
71000000
71631400
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM9
UKM8
UKM7
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) owns and maintains structures across the estate it manages. FLS intends to award Contracts for the provision of Bridge Inspection Services over the next 4-5 months. FLS requires inspections to be carried out for road-bridges, cycle-bridges, footbridges and a small number of rural recreational structures such as viewing platforms, towers and board walks (raised timber structure). The road-bridges are nearly all single lane, and used mainly by forest and construction traffic, as well as the public.
FLS operates an inspection regime for these structures to ensure that they remain safe to use. The PIN document (attached as additional information) provides further information on the requirements.
As part of our procurement process, we are engaging with the market on a number of key matters to inform our strategy and specification. We are therefore encouraging potential bidders who are interested in contributing their views to complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire. Please complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire, the link is contained within the PIN document attachment or accessible via the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=R3T3DoMQ7E24nyfHZQdoQDcUqmwi_gJJo-vxU7irx_xUNjZKT0xJRE1ITEk2R0E2VVA1NlNMVlQ5TS4u
Responses must be submitted no later than Monday 4th August 2025 at 1700 hours.
This PIN Notice and associated questionnaire is for information gathering and market engagement only, this is not a call for competition and response to the questionnaire will not constitute any form of contract, or commitment to contract from FLS.
Lot No: 3
II.2.1) Title
Reservoir Supervising Engineer - Scotland
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
77300000
71000000
71631400
71631460
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM
Main site or place of performance:
Loch an Torr (West Argyll);
Lochan A Ghleannain (Cowal & Trossachs);
Glencoe Lochan (Lochaber);
Loch Sheilah (North Highlands);
Loch Horn (Tay);
Bruntis Loch (Galloway).
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) owns and manages 7 no. reservoirs that are registered with and regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) under the Reservoirs (Scotland) Act 2011. Annual statements are sent to SEPA for only the 6 reservoirs rated as high or medium risk, and 4 of these 6 also require a 10 yearly inspection by an All-Reservoirs Panel Engineer. For this contract we require a qualified Supervising Engineer or Engineers to be appointed for the 6 high and medium risk reservoirs to carry out the duties in accordance with section 50 of this Act. This includes carrying out annual inspections, giving notice to the reservoir manager (FLS) of things which might affect the safety of a reservoir, monitoring matters directed in any current Section 47 inspection or safety report and monitoring the compliance of the reservoir manager.
In case of emergencies. the Supervising Engineer, or a representative, must also be available to attend site to give advice etc. There may also be other occasions when the Supervising Engineer must provide advice or attend site outwith of the normal Section 50 process, and advice may also be needed for FLS’s management of our smaller reservoirs.
FLS intends to award a Contract for the provision of a Reservoir Supervising Engineer over the next 4-5 months. The PIN document (attached as additional information) provides further information on the requirements.
As part of our procurement process, we are engaging with the market on a number of key matters to inform our strategy and specification. We are therefore encouraging potential bidders who are interested in contributing their views to complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire. Please complete the online Supplier Engagement Questionnaire, the link is contained within the PIN document attachment or accessible via the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=R3T3DoMQ7E24nyfHZQdoQDcUqmwi_gJJo-vxU7irx_xUNjZKT0xJRE1ITEk2R0E2VVA1NlNMVlQ5TS4u
Responses must be submitted no later than Monday 4th August 2025 at 1700 hours.
This PIN Notice and associated questionnaire is for information gathering and market engagement only, this is not a call for competition and response to the questionnaire will not constitute any form of contract, or commitment to contract from FLS.
II.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice:
05/09/2025
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
Please complete the Supplier Engagement Questionnaire, the link is contained within the PIN document attachment or accessible via the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=R3T3DoMQ7E24nyfHZQdoQDcUqmwi_gJJo-vxU7irx_xUNjZKT0xJRE1ITEk2R0E2VVA1NlNMVlQ5TS4u
Responses must be submitted no later than Monday 4th August 2025 at 1700 hours.
This Prior Information Notice (PIN) and associated questionnaire is for information gathering and market engagement only, this is not a call for competition and response to this questionnaire will not constitute any form of contract, or commitment to contract from Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).
No information provided in response to this PIN will be used to form judgements regarding supplier performance, capacity or capability under any current or future procurement process. FLS are aware that your responses may contain commercially sensitive information pertaining to your business. All information submitted in response to this PIN may need to be disclosed and/or published by FLS. FLS may disclose information in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2022 (the Act). Accordingly, if you consider that any of the information provided in your response is commercially confidential, please identify it and explain what harm might result from its disclosure and/or publication. It should be noted that, even where you have indicated that information is commercially sensitive, FLS may disclose this information in accordance with the provision of the Act or any other legal duty.
NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=804585.
(SC Ref:804585)
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
16/07/2025