NEPO411 - Furniture · UK public procurement notice

NEPO is a Centralised Procurement Authority as defined in the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23), providing central purchasing activity on behalf of Contracting Authorities.

The agreement will be available to NEPO Member Authorities and all current and future Associate Members. Current Associate Members are listed in the Associate Member section of the NEPO website at: www.nepo.org/associate-members ↗

NEPO intends to make the agreement available for use by all Contracting Authorities throughout all administrative regions of the UK (as defined by the Procurement Act 2023).

A list of permissible users available at: www.nepo.org/associate-membership… ↗

Organisations wishing to access the NEPO agreement will be required to register as a NEPO Associate Member in the first instance. Further information can be found at: www.nepo.org ↗

Further and full information regarding Contracting Authorities that may use the agreement can be found in the Procurement Documents.

Framework Operation

NEPO does not give any guarantee and/or warrant the actual value of the number of projects (if any) which will be placed with the awarded Supplier(s) by any Contracting Authority accessing the Solution according to this process and accepts no liability thereof.

The initial value of any Call-Off Contract will be based upon Contracting Authority's estimated budget at the point the project is brought forward to assignment under the Solution for either Direct Award or Further Competition.

A Contracting Authority may choose to direct award where they believe there are benefits and rationale at their discretion. The rationale may include, but is not limited to, the necessity for urgency relating to timescales, the complexity of the project or continuity of works.

Awarded suppliers have provided pricing on a core list of products as well a mark up % for non-core products which will be fixed for the first 7 months of this Framework, until 31st March 2027. Thereafter an annual price increase will be considered where the supplier can demonstrate in a transparent manner that such increases are justified. Price increases will be managed in accordance with the Terms & Conditions. Any agreed price changes will remain fixed for a minimum of 12 months following approval.

• Award without Competition (Direct Award)

Under s45(4) of the Procurement Act 2023, Contracting Authorities may award directly to a Supplier without further competition under this Solution. The objective mechanism for supplier selection without competition under this Solution shall function as follows:

A Contracting Authority may make a direct award to a specific Supplier where it has sufficient business or commercial reason for doing so. Reasons may include, but are not limited to:

• Where the Contracting Authority is procuring additional or repeat services and the Supplier is an existing Supplier and to use an alternative Supplier would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance for the Contracting Authority;
• Delivery of requirements specific to a Contracting Authority that can be assessed using the information provided at the point of Framework establishment
• Where an expression of interest has identified that no other Suppliers on the Solution are willing / able to deliver the Call-Off; and/or
• Where there are objectively justifiable contextual reasons to make a direct award to a specific Supplier, such as geographical requirements and/or bespoke requirements.

Responsibility for complying with, and the reason for, this Call-Off procedure lies with the Contracting Authority who will need to satisfy its internal procedures that this process can be utilised.

When an award without competition is made, the price will be based on the Solution contracted tendered rates. The Supplier rates can be improved (i.e. reduced) but must not exceed the capped tendered rates.

• Further Competition / Mini Competition

Contracting Authorities may opt to run a further competition at their discretion throughout the life of the Solution.

All Suppliers awarded to the Solution may be invited to participate in a further competition. At the discretion of a Contracting Authority, Suppliers may be initially requested to provide an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the project. Any Supplier not expressing an interest by the assigned deadline may not be invited to participate in the further competition at the discretion of a Contracting Authority and in accordance with any guidance issued.

The criteria for evaluations at the further competition stage will be detailed by the Contracting Authority and included within the documentation issued at that stage. Contracting Authorities will utilise their own further competition documents.

A mid-tender briefing/clarification session with Supplier can be conducted during a further competition process.

Contracting Authorities can reformat or supplement the further competition process to meet the requirements of any procurement in accordance with the Act and government guidance.

Further competition documentation may include different weightings than those used for the appointment to the Framework. The Contracting Authority can specify the criteria to be applied to the call-off contract criteria, including one or more of the below award criteria headings:

• Quality - 0 - 100 %
• Price - 0 - 100%
• Social Value - 0 - 100%

The weightings applied to the above criteria may differ as will be specified by the Contracting Authority at the point of call-off.

The award criteria for further competitions may be categorised under the below sub-criteria headings which may be specific to the call off requirements:

• Quality
• Framework Management
• Delivery Plan including indicative timescales
• Contracting Authorities Financial Assessment
• Quality & Performance Management
• Social Value
• Project Delivery Requirements
• Health & Safety (Contracting Authorities may have differing assessment methodologies)
• Price
• Other

At further competition stage, Suppliers should be asked to provide a price based upon the actual requirements of the Contracting Authority. All rates provided within the Solution must not be exceeded but can be lowered to ensure a competitive bid.

Contracting Authorities should expect to be provided with detailed pricing at the Call-Off stage to ensure that the capped rates are not exceeded. The Contracting Authority can disqualify any Supplier who does so from the further competition process.

Call-Off

The Framework will be accessible to Contracting Authorities through a Call-Off Contract.

It is envisaged that Call-Off Contracts will be valid for the duration of the Framework and can extend beyond termination of the Framework.