Public procurement notice: Qualification System Without Call For Competition
Published: 2018-05-15
Buyer: Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 30213300 | 34943000 | 48000000 | 48100000 | 50300000

Technical requirements: This Qualification System Notice is to inform the market that Network Rail has launched a Technology Supplier Qualification System (SQS). The scope of the SQS will include all IT goods and services (and where part of a monitoring system, the associated operational technology) required by any function within Network Rail.
The categories which will be covered initially within this SQS are listed below, but this may be subject to change as additional categories may be added in the future.
The SQS has been established in order to provide a single platform for suppliers to register against multiple technology specific categories. Qualification will negate the need for a supplier to complete Network Rail’s mandatory and discretionary questions every time they are invited to participate in a competitive process.
Registered and qualified suppliers on the SQS can be considered by Network Rail for contract opportunities without further notification of requirements published via the Official Journal of the European Union. For future contract opportunities, suppliers will be selected based on the categories they are qualified for and their level of capability within that category. There may be further qualification stages required dependent on the requirements of specific contract opportunities.
Within the scope defined above, the SQS will be the primary method for qualification of all technology categories over the next 10 years. It is therefore imperative that all suppliers who wish to participate in future procurement opportunities within the technology category register their details and complete the qualification questionnaire.
It is anticipated that the total value of spend under the SQS, including associated Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), Frameworks, Contracts and Innovation Partnerships will be c. 2bn GBP over 10 years, although this value is subject to change in the event of a change in demand or additional categories.
For any queries regarding the Supplier Qualification System, please contact either Daniel.Tough@networkrail.co.uk or Alex.Jerome@networkrail.co.uk.
The opportunity listing for this SQS is available to view via the BravoNR homepage (prior to logging in/registration) at https://networkrail.bravosolution.co.uk where a user guide is available to assist with the registration process. In order to register for the SQS all suppliers will need to create an account on BravoNR via the following link: https://networkrail.bravosolution.co.uk. Please note all relevant documents will be available to download via the opportunity listing and also the supplier attachments section of the PQQ.
Should a supplier already have a BravoNR account, the SQS PQQ will already be visible in the PQQs Open to All Suppliers area. Once the PQQ has been accessed, please follow the instructions on the PQQ and submit a response for evaluation. Please note that if a supplier is currently registered on BravoNR, they must still complete the profile questions for this SQS.
There will be a period of at least 30 days from the issue of this Qualification System Notice during which suppliers can register for qualification and no evaluation of responses will take place. Following this period, evaluation will commence and suppliers will receive a notification within BravoNR once evaluation has been completed to inform them of their qualification status. Please note that in order to facilitate the on-going registration of suppliers at any point during the SQS; a second continuous PQQ will be published follow the initial PQQ.
In order to qualify onto the SQS for the categories listed in this notice, suppliers will be required to complete Network Rail’s mandatory and discretionary questions as well as some technical questions specific to some, but not all, categories. These responses will be evaluated by Network Rail and further information on the evaluation criteria can be found via the opportunity listing within the document entitled Supplier Qualification System Guidance Note.
It is Network Rail’s intention to launch a DPS via the SQS on 22.6.2018 following a period of 30 days from the issue of this Qualification System Notice. During this period, suppliers will be permitted to respond to the questions pertaining to the DPS contained within the SQS PQQ. No tenders will be issued via the DPS until the end of this period at the earliest. Suppliers registered and qualified against the relevant categories will be notified of their qualification status within BravoNR. In order to qualify for the DPS, suppliers must pass both the mandatory and discretionary questions and achieve 100 % against the category specific technical questions. An unlimited number of suppliers are permitted to join throughout the life of the DPS. Further information on the DPS can be found via the opportunity listing within the document entitled Dynamic Purchasing System Guidance Note.
The period of validity for this DPS will be 5 years, with an anticipated spend of 25m GBP, but should this change at any point; Network Rail will issue a notice via both the SQS and to OJEU to communicate the change with any supplier who meets the selection criteria admitted onto the DPS.
Network Rail’s intention is to also issue the following frameworks via the SQS on 29.6.2018, but could be subject to change. Further information pertaining to these frameworks will be issued via the SQS to suppliers registered and qualified against the relevant categories.
— IT Professional Services (IT Architecture, IT Benchmarking, IT Consultancy and Information Security).