Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2023-10-17
Buyer: Department for Infrastructure
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Restricted procedure
CPV classification: 71310000 | 71320000 | 71510000 | 71520000: Construction supervision services | 71540000: Construction management services
Estimated value: 83000000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2023-11-14
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: The Contracting Authority is seeking to form and develop a mutually beneficial Professional Services Contract with external Consultants to assist in the delivery of Transport and Road Asset Management (TRAM) programmes. The successful economic operator will be required to provide a wide spectrum of civil engineering consultancy services and associated specialist services. Services required may relate to the following: Minor Highway Improvements, Transportation, Highway Structures, Major/Large Minor Works, Active Travel and the provision of Professional and Technical staff to assist in-house deliver teams. In accordance with Regulation 46 of the PCR 2015, the Contracting Authority has defined two Contract Areas (Lots) for this procurement : Contract 1 – East and West Engineering Services Consultancy Partner, covering existing Eastern and Western Divisions in NI; and • Contract 2 – North and South Engineering Services Consultancy Partner, covering existing Northern and Southern Divisions
The Contracting Authority is seeking to form and develop a mutually beneficial Professional Services Contract with external Consultants to assist the Contracting Authority in the delivery of Transport and Road Asset Management
(TRAM) programmes. The successful economic operator will be required to provide a wide spectrum of civil engineering consultancy services and associated specialist services. Services required may relate to the following: Minor Highway Improvements, Transportation, Highway Structures, Major/Large Minor Works, Active Travel and the provision of Professional and Technical staff to assist DfI Tram inhouse deliver teams. In accordance with Regulation 46 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR), the Contracting Authority has defined two Contract Areas (Lots) for this procurement. The Contract Area will be defined by existing DfI TRAM geographical divisional boundaries as follows: • Contract 1 – East and West Engineering Services Consultancy Partner, covering existing Eastern and Western Divisions in Northern Ireland.
There are options to extend this contract up to a maximum of 60 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.
The Contracting Authority is seeking to form and develop a mutually beneficial Professional Services Contract with external Consultants to assist the Contracting Authority in the delivery of Transport and Road Asset Management
(TRAM) programmes. The successful economic operator will be required to provide a wide spectrum of civil engineering consultancy services and associated specialist services. Services required may relate to the following: Minor Highway Improvements, Transportation, Highway Structures, Major/Large Minor Works, Active Travel and the provision of Professional and Technical staff to assist DfI Tram inhouse deliver teams. In accordance with Regulation 46 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR), the Contracting Authority has defined two Contract Areas (Lots) for this procurement. The Contract Area will be defined by existing DfI TRAM geographical divisional boundaries as follows:  Contract 2 – North and South Engineering Services Consultancy Partner, covering existing Northern and Southern Divisions in Northern Ireland.
There are options to extend this contract up to a maximum of 60 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.
The Contracting Authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are Small or Medium Enterprises. (SMEs). The evaluation of submissions (PQQPs or TPs) will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement, and the contract will be awarded on the basis stated in II.2.5). All documents will only be available on line through the eTendersNI portal: (1) If your company is not already registered on eTendersNI you may do so through the eTendersNI portal https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps/.home.do — Select the “Register as a Supplier” link and follow the on screen instructions. 2) Expression of Interest and access to tender documentation- You may “Express an Interest” in a project and access the tender documentation via the projects CfT Menu. If you require assistance or help to navigate the site please consult the on-line help, or contact the eTendersNI help desk. The documents may be downloaded up to the closing date and time for the submission. Submissions must be completed and returned to the Contracting Authority using the online eTendersNI portal, to arrive not later than the time and date as stated in IV.2.2). The Contracting Authority is utilising an electronic tendering system to manage this procurement and to communicate with Economic Operators. Accordingly, it is intended that all communications with the Contracting Authority, including the accessing and submission of tender responses, will be conducted via eTendersNI. Poor Performance, as part of its contract management procedures: the Contracting Authority and their CoPE will use the Protocol for Managing Poor Supplier Performance contained in the Procurement documentation. The protocol sets out a series of five escalating stages to enable Contracting Authorities and their CoPEs to manage poor performance by suppliers. At Stage 4, as an alternative to terminating the contract, senior management in the Contracting Authority/CoPE can issue a Notice of Written Warning.  At Stage 5, as an alternative to terminating the contract, a notice of unsatisfactory performance can be issued to the Economic Operator. These notices remain current for the period of time stated in the protocol and an Economic Operator must declare, in subsequent procurement competitions, if it has received a current Notice of Written Warning or a current Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance within 3 years of the TP Submission Deadline. If an Economic Operator has received more than one current Notice of Written Warning the Contracting Authority/CoPE, at its discretion, can consider an Economic Operator’s exclusion from future procurement competitions, being undertaken on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy, for a minimum period of 12 months. If an Economic Operator is subject to a notice of unsatisfactory performance the Contracting Authority/CoPE, at its discretion, can consider the Economic Operator’s exclusion from future procurement competitions, being undertaken on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy, for a period of 3 years. List of public bodies to which NI public procurement policy applies Department of Finance (finance-ni.gov.uk).
DfI will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) and, where appropriate, will incorporate a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of
contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.


Award value: 83000000