Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2021-06-02
Buyer: Education Authority NI
Country: UK
Contract type: Works
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 45210000: Building construction work
Estimated value: 4265000 GBP

Technical requirements: The award of a contract by Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union, in respect of the continued provision of a Term Service Contract for Electrical Maintenance and Minor Works (Belfast Region) Lot 1 as further described in OJEU Contract Notice.
Provision of planned and responsive electrical maintenance and minor works to be carried out in schools and associated facilities located in the Education Authority (Belfast Region) Area Lot 1.
An extension to 30 November 2021, with the further option for EANI, in its absolute discretion, to extend for up to two further periods of 4 months until 31 March 2022 and 2 months until 31 May 2022 at the latest.
GBP 4 265 000 (being GBP 1 900 000 until 30 November 2021; GBP 1 575 000 until 31 March 2022; and GBP 790 000 until 31 May 2022).
The contract was for 1-year with an option to extend up to a further 3 years. Due to delays in re-procuring, Covid-19 and litigation, the contract was extended on a number of occasions culminating in VEAT (2020/S 106-258311) until 30 June 2021. EANI have underspent under each VEAT.
Due to being unable to resolve the 9 sets of proceedings relating to the re-procurement, it has become necessary to seek a further unavoidable extension. EANI anticipates awarding the new contract by 30 November 2021. Optional extensions are to allow for unforeseen circumstances. Successive modifications were not to circumvent Part 2 of PCR2015, rather they have become necessary due to the relevant circumstances.
The 11-month modification value is circa GBP 4 265 000, which does not exceed 50 % of the upper range of the original contract value. 50 % of the value accounts for contingency due to the unknown volume of emergency work that may be required. Such contingency also includes sums to permit work in other lots as required. To secure continuity of service, as the contractor can no longer hold its price due to Covid-19 and/or Brexit, Task Orders issued on/after 1 July 2021 will be adjusted for inflation, calculated with the BCIS Measured Term Contract Updating Percentages. Inflation from mid-point of original contract to 31 March 2021 is: PSA SOR ELEC11 Rate A, Rate B/D/E, Rate C 4.7 pct, 8.4 pct and 6.0 pct respectively, applies to Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Price List; Rate B/D/E applies to Sections 3, 5 and 6; PSA SOR BCE15 5.5 pct applies to Section 7 Item OT020. Inflation after 1 April 2021 will be change in BCIS MTC Updating Percentages from 31 March 2021 indices, based on TO issue date/latest published index.
The proposed extended term and inflationary price uplift are permitted by Regulation 72(1)(c) as the need for additional services from the original contractor is due to the ongoing litigation which could not have been foreseen and/or avoided by a diligent contracting authority and the modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract.In the alternative, they are permitted by Regulation 72(1)(b) as a change of provider:
(i) cannot be made for economic and technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability of services procured under the original procurement given the need to ensure continued access to EANI schools and facilities. Given new contract commencement will be 1 December 2021 or asap thereafter, commencement of a new contractor twice in a short time period, especially in the current climate, would create risk to stability and integrity of services, be unsettling for users and could result in partial/total closure of schools and associated facilities; and
(ii) would cause significant inconvenience and duplication of costs for EANI. Any new contractor would have start-up costs in recreating the current service for an unknown period, which would represent poor VFM, compared to extending the contract. The inflationary increases are necessary to secure the agreement of the original contractor to continue provision of the services given that the contract prices have been fixed for a considerable period. In respect of carrying out work in other Lots, this is permitted under the terms of the Contract and so permissible under Regulation 72(1)(a).


Winner: Irwin ME Ltd
Award value: 4265000