Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-07-06
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Ships, Commercially Supported Shipping (CSS) Team
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated procedure
CPV classification: 50241000
Estimated value: 3000000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2017-07-31
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Commercially Supported Shipping (CSS) Future In-Service Support (FISS) — Classification, Survey and Design Appraisal Services Requirement for thirteen (13) Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and one (1) Royal Navy (RN) Vessels.
Repair and maintenance services of ships. *Provision of classification, survey and design appraisal planning, services*
The Commercially Supported Shipping (CSS) Team manages the In-Service Support of a diverse range of platforms including the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) flotilla and the Royal Navy (RN) Hydrographic and Patrol (H&P) including Survey Ships. The majority of contracts which support these platforms will expire in 2018.
This requirement is for the provision of classification, survey and design appraisal planning, services to support x13 RFA and x1 RN platforms.
The successful bidder must support all requirements over the 5 (five) year framework agreement duration.
The scope of this requirement covers the provision and procurement of classification, survey and design appraisal services for the following ships: RFA Wave Knight, RFA Wave Ruler (Wave class); RFA Fort Austin, RFA Fort Rosalie, RFA Fort Victoria (Fort Class); RFA Lyme Bay, RFA Mounts Bay, RFA Cardigan Bay (Bay Class); RFA Argus; HMS Scott (OSV); RFA Tidespring, RFA Tiderace, RFA Tidesurge, RFA Tideforce (Tide Class). The successful contractors may need to offer national and international classification and survey support and assist with the planning, management and implementation of maintenance periods. Maintenance periods may include, but not be limited to: Refit Periods; Docking Periods; Contractor Support Periods; Annual Certification Periods; and Assisted Maintenance Periods.
The successful organisation will be required to work collaboratively with allocated maintenance contractors and CSS staff.
CSS is currently running a competition to identify the maintenance contractors suitable for managing the support requirements. This is split into three separate capabilities as follows: Lot 1(Wave and Fort Class), Lot 2 (Bay Class, RFA Argus and HMS Scott) and Lot 3 (Tide Class). It is envisaged that there will be one (1) joint support team per maintenance contractor. Each of these Lots will last for ten (10) years.
The contract will be for five (5) years. The following five (5) years may be re-competed within a wider maritime classification requirement.
No work whatsoever is guaranteed under any resulting framework agreement or contract and there is no guarantee that any framework agreement or contract will be put in place in relation to this notice. No compensation etc. will be paid if a tender or resulting framework agreement is withdrawn for any reason. Bidders should take part in this process only on the basis that they fully understand and accept this position.
Transfer of Class Costs: It is to be noted that all vessels within the scope of this requirement are currently subject to classification and survey rules and regulations in accordance with Lloyd's Register of Shipping (LRS). Some vessels are compliant (subject to certain exemptions) with commercial shipping rules and others are a tailored between both LRS commercial and Naval rules. e.g Tide Class.
Potential Providers are to note that should they be successful with this dPQQ phase, the subsequent Invitation To Negotiate will require bidders to provide firm price costs for the Transfer of Class (ToC) activity to transition from the current classification rules provided by LRS, to that of their own organisation's proprietary rule set. The prices associated with implementing full ToC activity, for all platforms within the scope of the requirement, will be evaluated along with all other tendered prices and operational costs (e.g. specific dockings required to undertake the re-clasification). A final evaluation will therefore be made on the whole life costs for the provision of classification services to include tendered survey rates, forecast labour consumption and ToC costs. It is currently anticipated by the Authority that these could cost up to 18 000 000 GBP for the vessels being competed.
Further, the successful bidder shall also be responsible for the sub-contracting of Lloyds Register, through the transistion phase and up to the point where full Transfer of Class activity is completed for all ships within the Contract's scope.
A list of the current classification and survey requirements is detailed at Appendix A to Annex C of the dPQQ guidance.
The Authority shall reserve the right to request a proportional Parent company guarantee or Bank Bond.

Eligibility requirements: (a) Appropriate statements from the economic operator's bankers or where appropriate, evidence of relevant professional risk indemnity insurance Two (2) years audited accounts (if available) or equivalent information, which will be sought through Pre-Qualification Questionnaire.
The estimated average annual contract value is 600 000-800 000 GBP. If the estimated average annual contract value a potential supplier is planning to bid for is greater than 40 % of the its turnover, the Authority reserves the right to exclude them from being selected to tender. The Authority reserves the right to exclude the supplier from being selected to tender except where the supplier provides, to the satisfaction of the Authority, evidence showing it has sufficient economic and financial capability, e.g. such evidence may include: (1) Any additional information proving it has sufficient economic and financial resources to deliver the requirement; and (2) State whether the supplier is willing to provide the Authority with an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond. A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier's financial status. An overall pass / fail judgement will be made after considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the Parent company where applicable. An independent financial assessment obtained from a reputable credit rating organisation will be utilised as part of this process.
See Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and Guidance document.