CONTRACT NOTICE – OFFICIAL JOURNAL

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(a))

Type of works contract

II.1.2(b))

Type of supplies contract

II.1.2(c))

Type of service contract

II.1.2)

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

Merseyside and Knowsley.

II.1.3)

This notice involves

A public contract
The setting up of a Dynamic Purchasing System
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 four 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)

*** This tender can only be accessed online at www.cirrustenders.co.uk *** Please do not contact First Ark to request tender documentation, log on to www.cirrustenders.co.uk to access the tender directly.

The First Ark Group consists of four companies that work together with the over-riding purpose of making a real positive difference to our communities and to people's lives.

We are, as a Group, committed to ‘Creating Success' with each part of the Group contributing in a different way:

— First Ark Ltd is the parent organisation that sets and oversees Corporate Strategy

— KHT is our successful housing association that provides homes to over 25 000 people through its 14 000 homes in Knowsley on Merseyside

— Vivark Ltd is the new name for an experienced property maintenance team who will provide a range of services including repairs and maintenance, gas servicing, handyperson services, refurbishment and facilities management.

— KHT Services is our development company which will help us deliver our new build programme.

This procurement exercise is being led by the First Ark Group for itself and on behalf of the other members of the First Ark Group and references in this document to First Ark/First Ark Group/the Group should be construed accordingly.

First Ark is looking for a single contractor to provide Legionella testing services across a number of sites within the Merseyside and Knowsley area. Services required under this contract are expected to include provision of risk assessments and drawings, monthly, quarterly, six and twelve month checks on relevant properties/sites. Additional detail relating to the test locations and the form of contract to be used will be included within the ITT stage of the tender process.

The contract is expected to start 1.4.2014.

The outcome of the tender process will be a single contract with a single contractor. The contract will be an initial 2 year contract with 3 annual options to extend by a further 12 months on each occasion up to a maximum 5 years total contract term, subject to First Ark requirements and the performance of the successful contractor.

Potential value inclusive of VAT is approximately GBP 50 000 per annum in total. No guarantees are given, nor are implied as to the value of works that will be placed with the successful contractor over the potential maximum 5 year period as future projections are estimates only at this stage. First Ark and other members of the group accept no liability for any inaccuracies in the estimates provided.

5 bidders are expected to be shortlisted and invited to tender following this PQQ shortlisting stage. The final contract award is envisaged to be to one bidder.

The contract will be available for use by all members of the First Ark Group.

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.7)

Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

II.1.8)

Division into lots

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

II.2)

Quantity or Scope of the Contract

II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope

II.2.2)

Options

Provisional timetable for recourse to these options

Number of possible renewals

In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated time frame for subsequent contracts

II.3)

Duration of the contract or limit for completion

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions Relating to the Contract

III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required

N/A

III.1.2)

Main Terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions

N/A

III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is to be awarded

Single lead contractor.

III.1.4)

Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Any contractor may be disqualified who has been convicted of:

(a) conspiracy within the meaning of section 1 or 1A of the Criminal Law Act 1977(a) or article 9 or 9A of the Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983(b) where that conspiracy relates to participation in a criminal organisation as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA(c);

(b) corruption within the meaning of section 1(2) of the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889(d) or section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906(e), where the offence relates to active corruption;

(c) the offence of bribery, where the offence relates to active corruption;

(ca) bribery within the meaning of section 1 or 6 of the Bribery Act 2010(f);

(d) fraud, where the offence relates to fraud affecting the European Communities' financial interests as defined by Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the financial interests of the European Communities(g), within the meaning of—

(i) the offence of cheating the Revenue;

(ii) the offence of conspiracy to defraud;

(iii) fraud or theft within the meaning of the Theft Act 1968(h), the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969(i), the Theft Act 1978(j) or the Theft (Northern Ireland) Order 1978(k);

(iv) fraudulent trading within the meaning of section 458 of the Companies Act 1985(a), article 451 of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(b) or section 993 of the Companies Act 2006(c);

(v) fraudulent evasion within the meaning of section 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979(d) or section 72 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994(e);

(vi) an offence in connection with taxation in the European Union within the meaning of section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993(f);

(vii) destroying, defacing or concealing of documents or procuring the execution of a valuable security within the meaning of section 20 of the Theft Act 1968(g) or section 19 of the Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969(h);

(viii) fraud within the meaning of section 2, 3 or 4 of the Fraud Act 2006(i); or (ix) making, adapting, supplying or offering to supply articles for use in frauds within the meaning of section 7 of the Fraud Act 2006;

(e) money laundering within the meaning of section 340(11) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002(j);

(ea) an offence in connection with the proceeds of criminal conduct within the meaning of section 93A, 93B or 93C of the Criminal Justice Act 1988(k) or article 45, 46 or 47 of the Proceeds of Crime (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(l);

(eb) an offence in connection with the proceeds of drug trafficking within the meaning of section 49, 50 or 51 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994(m); or

(f) any other offence within the meaning of Article 45(1) of the Public Sector Directive as defined by the national law of any relevant State.

III.2.2)

Economic and financial capacity

III.2.3)

Technical 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

III.3)

Conditions Specific to Service Contracts

III.3.1)

Is provision of the service reserved to a specific profession?

III.3.2)

Will legal entities be required to state the names and professional qualifications of the personnel responsible for the execution of the service?

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure

Open		Restricted
Accelerated restricted		Negotiated
Accelerated negotiated		Competitive dialogue

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.1)

Have candidates already been selected?

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

See Pre Qualification Questionnaire.

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

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 receipt of tenders or 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

IV.3.7)

Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender 

IV.3.8)

Conditions for opening tenders

Section VI: Other 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

*** This tender can only be accessed online at www.cirrustenders.co.uk ***

Please do not contact FIRST ARK to request tender documentation, log on to www.cirrustenders.co.uk to access the tender directly

Under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 First Ark must consider:

a) how what is being procured might improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area where it exercises its functions, and

b) how, in conducting the process of procurement, it might act with a view to securing that improvement.

Accordingly, the subject matter of this procurement has been scoped to take into account the priorities of First Ark relating to social well-being.

These priorities have been considered and detail will be provided in the ITT regarding the implications for specification and/or the evaluation criteria.

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:

This tender process will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. Appeals can be directly raised with First Ark via the contact points detailed in section I.1 of this contract notice.

If an appeal regarding the award of the framework has not successfully been resolved between the tenderer and First Ark, then the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (SI 2006 No 5) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by a breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).

VI.4.3)

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

VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice