Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2017-12-22
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Ships, Maritime Combat Systems (MCS) Team
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 37412240
Estimated value: 7800000 GBP
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: In service support of Transportable Managed Compression Chamber (TMCC) including post design services, provision of spares and repair services, and refurbishment of chambers.
In service support of transportable manned compression chambers including post design services, the provision of spares and repair services, and refurbishment of chambers.
Development of obsolescence resolution to the air control breathing system and closed circuit breathing system.
It is considered that this contract can be awarded using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of the Directive 2009/81/EC (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the defence and security public contracts Regulations 2011) for technical reasons.
Reason for award: TMCC is a critical safety to life equipment used by the armed forces. The equipment was originally a commercial off the shelf design which was funded exclusively by MSI-DSL (the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)) through significant private venture investment. MoD has no rights to the technical information for the scope of work covered by the contract and which is required for the purposes of achieving the required safety certification.
Furthermore MSI-DSL does not share its proprietary drawings or documentation with any 3rd party contractors for the purposes of performing the scope of activities required by MoD. Over the life of the equipment, there have been a number of modifications, mostly on safety grounds, which have been designed and developed by the OEM, with the incorporation of the modifications being funded by the MoD. There is a major risk that due to the specialist and complex technical nature of this equipment and the exclusivity of key data to the OEM, support by any other economic entity would significantly increase the risk of failure which could lead to serious injury or death.
The safety standards required by the diving at work regulations 1997 can only be achieved by contracting with the OEM (namely MSI-DSL) due to their exclusive knowledge of the original design intent and only they can give the appropriate level of assurance to the project safety committee, such that MoD as the body having ultimate responsibility for safety (i.e. The Duty Holder) can endorse its use. This is of particular importance in respect of the proposed re-lifing of the equipment where access to original material and design information is essential to understanding the remaining life of the equipment and underwriting its safe future use.
Additional Information: This notice is not a request for expressions of interest so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that the Authority intends to negotiate a contract on a single source basis and this notice is published for reasons of transparency.


Winner: MSI Defence Systems Ltd
Award value: 7800000
Number of bids: 1