Property and Asset Management Software System

1. Description of the Requirement:

The TechForge Property Asset Management System (IT System) is essential for managing the Council's property and asset portfolio. This IT System ensures compliance with statutory regulations, financial transparency, and efficient management of property-related costs and maintenance schedules.

2. Reason for Direct Award:

The IT System contract cannot be awarded on the basis of a competitive tendering procedure due to extreme and unavoidable urgency. The urgency is not attributable to any act or omission of the contracting authority and could not have been foreseen by the

contracting authority.

3. Background:

The IT System has been delivered via our regeneration partner, Equans and Equans contracted with Civica, as a subcontractor, to deliver services on behalf of the Council under the regeneration contract. However, the contract with Equans is coming to an end on 30 June 2025. We are contractually obliged to novate the IT System contract between Equans and Civica for the TechForge system, upon the expiry of the regeneration contract. However,

during discussions regarding the novation of the IT contract to the Council, Civica expressed a preference to contract on current terms, as the IT System contract to be novated was outdated. The updated contract to be entered into with Civica provides the same commercial position as the original IT System contract but is now up to date with legislative requirements. The contract was agreed by the parties on the 16 June 2025 and no delay was present in the process.

4. Justification for Urgency:

If a direct award is not made for the updated contract, the Council would still be obliged to contract with Civica under the original IT System contract. In addition, failure to enter into the updated contract would mean the Authority would lose access to the atabase holding details of its property portfolio and would be unable to comply with its statutory requirements. Therefore, there is no option but to contract with Civica for the delivery of the TechForge system. The urgency of this situation is unavoidable and not due to any fault of the contracting authority. The immediate procurement of this system is crucial to ensure the continued management of the Council's property and asset portfolio without disruption.

5. Conclusion:

Given the extreme and unavoidable urgency, and the necessity of the TechForge system for the Council's operations, a direct award to Civica is justified under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023.