Servicing, Maintenance and Compliance (Gas, M&E and Buildings) of Council Managed Assets - Term Service Contract

The Council commenced a procurement process on 6th May 2021 via issue of a Contract Notice via Find a Tender Service (ref: 2021/S 000-009814) for the re-procurement of a term service partner contract for the provision of servicing, maintenance, installation and compliance checks of gas, water, heating and other associated building installations across the Council's housing stock and wider property portfolio.

The contract also included for secondary options through which the Council could expand delivery into neighbouring geographical areas, let related task order project works and, on a contingency basis only, include for general term service responsive repairs and maintenance activities.

The value of the contract was estimated at approx. £7M per annum for delivery of the primary service requirements and forecast task order project works. In the highly unlikely event that all of the further options allowed for in the contract were taken up simultaneously to the full scope allowable the value of the contract could theoretically have risen to approx. £30M per annum.

The contract was due to commence on 1st April 2022 and then run for an initial base term of 5 years with an option to extend by a further 10 years to a maximum total term of 15 years.

The Council was unable to conclude the procurement process and informed candidates and tenderers who had taken part that the procurement was to be abandoned via correspondence issued to them on 3rd February 2022.

The Council has an ongoing critical requirement for the services and works which fell under the scope of the contract and will therefore be undertaking a new procurement process following the Restricted Procedure as defined within the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) in line with the summary programme set out below:

• Issue FTS Prior Information Notice - 6th April 2022
• Issue FTS Contract Notice - 23rd May 2022
• Supplier Selection Questionnaire return deadline - 22nd June 2022
• Issue Invitation to Tender to shortlisted tenderers - 11th July 2022
• Tender return deadline - 9th September 2022
• Notification of award - 17th October 2022
• Completion of standstill and S20 Leaseholder Notification - 16th November 2022
• Contract execution - 28th November 2022
• Service commencement - 1st April 2023

The activities covered by the contract are of a critical nature and continuity of service is required to ensure that the Council is able to fulfil various non-discretionary statutory obligations, which include for:

• As a landlord the Council has an obligation under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended Approved Code of Practice and guidance to ensure an annual safety check is carried out on each gas appliance/flue.
• As a landlord the Council has health and safety at work act obligations under L8 Approved Code of Practice (3rd edition) (ACOP) and a requirement for landlords of both domestic and business premises to assess the risks from exposure to Legionella to their tenants.
• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires that the Council manages fire safety risks, this includes servicing fire alarms, automatic opening vents, emergency lighting, lightning conductors etc., all of which are part of the contract.

Whilst the new procurement process is undertaken the Council has secured continuity of service via a 1 year extension of the contract with its current supplier Liberty Gas Services Limited. All in term extension options have been utilised and this contract was due to expire on 31st March 2022, but will now continue to 31st March 2023. Other than the extension to the duration of the contract all technical, commercial and legal terms are consistent with those agreed when the contract was originally let.