In-Service Support for Ultrasonic NDT Equipment-UK 7

DE&S Deca, on behalf of the Air Commodities Delivery Team and part of the UK Ministry of Defence (The Authority) Intends to Direct award a contract to Evident Europe GMBH to provide In service Support (ISS) the Epoch 600 Ultrasonic Flaw Detector equipment, which supports the UK Ministry of Defence’s Air Defence capabilities. The contract is for 1 year plus 2 option years estimated to start October 2026. The contract is for calibration and ad-hoc repair of the current in-service Epoch 600 Ultrasonic Flaw Detector equipment. The Contract has a proposed Value of £0.134M (Inclusive of VAT)

The authority considers that the direct award of this non-competitive contract falls within the circumstances set out in the Procurement Act 2023 Sch. 5, Para. 7:

7. The public contract concerns the supply of goods, services or works by the existing supplier which are intended as an extension to, or partial replacement of, existing goods, services or works in circumstances where—

a) a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works; and

b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.

This is because Evident Europe GMBH is the OEM of and design authority and have supported and the equipment for approximately 11 years and have the specialist skills, experience, knowledge and test equipment to continue with the support. No other contractor has access to the technical knowledge, documents, spares, skills and test equipment necessary to fulfil this requirement, and so by changing supplier there would be different/incompatible services with the existing goods and services resulting in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and/or maintenance for the equipment in question. Therefore, only Evident Europe GMBH can provide the services required.

Epoch 600 Ultrasonic Flaw Detector (UFD) equipment is used to carry out NDT inspections on various aircraft structures and components. There is an enduring requirement to provide support for UFD equipment. The In-Service Support for Epoch 600 UFD equipment, covering repair and calibration is currently provided through contract 702421455 with supplier Evident Europe GMBH. This contract expires on 30 Sep 2026.