Multi-Supplier Framework Agreement for Geotechnical Certification Services

Internet address(es):

Main address: http://www.transport.gov.scot

Address of the buyer profile: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00099

Multi-Supplier Framework Agreement for Geotechnical Certification Services.

Transport Scotland has identified a continuing need to appoint a Consultant for the provision of geotechnical certification services to assist in the development of Scottish transport infrastructure projects (‘Schemes’).

The principal services shall comprise the provision of an independent geotechnical consultancy service for the certification of ground investigations, geotechnical design and other geotechnical activities related to the Scottish Trunk Road network. This shall include both the performance of the service and the provision of advice in relation to the service. In addition the services shall comprise providing advice in relation to technical specifications or publications. Other geotechnical-related services may be required to be undertaken from time to time, including similar services related to railway and other transport infrastructure.

Scottish mainland (including Skye), reporting to Transport Scotland in Glasgow.

Transport Scotland has identified a continuing need to appoint Consultants for the provision of geotechnical certification services to assist in the development of Scottish transport infrastructure projects. This need is best met through the use of a multi-supplier framework agreement which can provide the required flexibility to cover situations where potential conflicts of interest or capacity issues arise.

It is intended that services shall be called off from the framework agreement on the basis of supplier ranking (generally to first-ranked, failing whom second, then third), which will be determined as part of the tender evaluation and award process. However, for services of a particular complexity or value Transport Scotland will have the option to run mini-competitions.

The Framework Participants will be procured through a competitive tender procedure, in accordance with the restricted procedure as stated in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. This is a specialist requirement and as such it is not feasible to divide this requirement into lots.

To be considered for this contract, economic operators are required to complete the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) in accordance with this Contract Notice. Economic operators shall be evaluated in accordance with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, on the basis of information they have provided within the ESPD.

The services shall comprise the provision of an independent geotechnical consultancy service for the certification of ground investigations, geotechnical design and other geotechnical activities related to the Scottish Trunk Road network. This shall include both the performance of the service and the provision of advice in relation to the service. In addition the services shall comprise providing advice in relation to technical specifications or publications. Other geotechnical-related services may be required to be undertaken from time to time, including similar services related to railway and other transport infrastructure.

The principal service of geotechnical certification is defined in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) Technical Memorandum SH 4/89 (DMRB 4.1.7) or any successor thereof. The duties it requires of the appointed Consultants include: liaison with the design organisation; examination of reports and other relevant documentation; familiarisation with the site, site operations and laboratory facilities as appropriate; and when satisfied signing off the specified geotechnical certificates.

The following standards apply to geotechnical activities undertaken for Transport Scotland:

UK Standards for Highways, specifically:

— Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB),

— Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works (MCHW),

— Transport Scotland Interim Amendments (TSIA).

Eurocodes, specifically:

— Eurocode 7 (including UK National Annex),

— Eurocode 8 to the extent applicable in the UK,

— Other Eurocodes to the extent necessary for the understanding and implementation of Eurocodes 7 and 8.

BS EN and BS EN ISO standards relating to geotechnical investigation and execution of geotechnical works including earthworks.

BS Codes of Practice relating to geotechnical investigation and the design and execution of geotechnical works including earthworks.

Other Non-Conflicting Complementary Information (NCCI) relating to geotechnical investigation and the design and execution of geotechnical works including earthworks.

It is intended as part of the framework agreement to seek the provision of advice on DMRB Technical Memorandum SH 4/89 itself, potentially leading to the development and issue of a revised procedure during the duration of the framework agreement.

It is intended that, if awarded a call-off contract, the Consultant shall be required to perform the duties of a designer under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

It is intended that 5 economic operators be taken forward to tender stage. These economic operators shall be those who have:

i) submitted a compliant submission, comprising the completed ESPD;

ii) satisfied the relevant selection criteria under the exclusion grounds;

iii) Technical and Professional Ability;

(a) Minimum Levels of Ability — provided evidence of working on specified types of projects over a specified value;

(b) Sufficient Levels of Experience — provided evidence demonstrating an acceptable level of technical or professional experience

(c) Human Resources — possess the necessary human resources, qualified appropriately to perform the requirement.

iv) has in place quality, environmental and health and safety management systems;

v) satisfied minimum standards of economic and financial standing;

vi) achieved the first, second, third, fourth or fifth highest combined weighted scores in respect of technical or professional ability calculated in accordance with the responses to Statements (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i) (refer to Section III.1.3 of this Contract Notice).

However, if an economic operator has not submitted a compliant submission as described in (i) above, failed in respect of either (ii), (iii), (iv) or (v) above, then that economic operator shall be excluded from the ranking of scores described in (vi) as above.

Economic operators shall be required to self-certify their adherence to the above selection criteria via the ESPD (Question 5.1). Suppliers shall be required to submit appropriate means of proof at a later stage as stated in Regulation 60 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Economic operators may be excluded from this competition if they are in any of the situations referred to in regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Economic operators must be enrolled in the relevant professional or trade registers kept in the Member state of its establishment (as described in Schedule 5 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015) (e.g. registered under Companies House). Economic operators should provide details under European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) Question Ref. 4A.1.

Economic Operators shall be required to satisfy minimum standards of economic and financial standing. To determine these standards, economic operators shall:

(a) in response to ESPD Question Ref. 4B.1, provide the specified annual turnover for the last two years of trading, or for the period which is available if trading for less than 2 years;

(b) in response to ESPD Question Ref. 4B.4, provide the name, value and/or range of NINE financial criteria for the last two years of trading, or for the period which is available if trading for less than 2 years; and

(c) in response to ESPD Question Ref. 4B.5 confirm they already have or can commit to obtain, prior to commencement of the contract the required levels of insurance.

In addition to the information requested under (a) and (b), economic operators are required to provide a link / copies of the associated annual accounts as filed at Companies House (or equivalent if not a UK registered company) for the last two years of trading, or for the period which is available if less than 2 years.

This information has been requested to enable Transport Scotland to perform their own assessment and confirm the financial ratios submitted. Ultimately, ensuring the correct score is allocated, and to ensure no misinterpretation. Where there exist differences in ratios, between those provided and those calculated by Transport Scotland, clarification will be sought.

Economic operators shall be required to satisfy minimum standards of economic and financial standing. These are described below:

Evaluation Criteria Ratios (ESPD Question Ref. 4B.4).

The financial information received under Question Ref. 4B.4 of the ESPD shall be evaluated and scored out of 50 by allocating a score against nine individual economic and financial standing evaluation criteria, namely:

1. Acid Test Ratio;

2. Cash Interest Cover Ratio;

3. Return on Capital Employed;

4. Operating Profit Ratio;

5. Net Worth;

6. Gearing;

7. Annual Contract Value to Turnover;

8. Filed Accounts;

9. Audit Report.

The individual scores shall be weighted, with the most recent (‘Year 1’) financial statements weighted at 67 % and the previous (‘Year 2’) statements being weighted at 33 %, to form an aggregated score for each of the nine criteria over the two years.

The maximum cumulative score resulting from the summation of the nine economic and financial standing aggregated scores shall be 50 marks. A submission shall be marked as a FAIL and will not be considered further if the score achieved by a Single Economic Operator or a Group of Economic Operators is less than 50 percent of the available marks. The scoring mechanism is attached to this contract notice as an additional document.

Where the submission has been submitted by a Group of Economic Operators, the information submitted by each Group Member will be evaluated in the proportion of the percentage shareholdings or percentage equity/interest of each Group Member and a score determined for such Group of Economic Operators on that basis.

Insurance (ESPD Question Ref. 4B.5).

It is a requirement of this contract that economic operators hold, or can commit to obtain prior to the commence of any subsequently awarded contract, the types and levels of insurance indicated below:

Employer's Liability Insurance = GBP 5 000 000 GBP.

Public Liability Insurance = GBP 10 000 000 GBP.

Professional Indemnity Insurance = GBP 5 000 000 GBP.

In responding to ESPD Question Ref. 4B.5.1 and 4B.5.2, where the economic operator ticks the box ‘No, and I cannot commit to obtain it’ they shall be marked as FAIL.

Under ESPD Question Ref. 4C.1.2 economic operators shall be required to insert suitable responses to Statements (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i), which are set out below, demonstrating that they (or those of the entities whom which they are relying upon) have the required minimum standards of eligibility and technical and professional ability. Answers to these statements shall be answered by Single Economic Operators or by Groups of Economic Operators (Group Members should not respond individually).

Responses to Statements (a), (b), (c) and (d) shall be assessed on the basis of PASS or FAIL. Economic Operators who fail to satisfy these minimum standards (either they answer ‘No’ or fail to provide an acceptable response) shall be excluded from the procurement competition.

The responses to Statements (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i) shall be assessed on the basis of a score with a minimum threshold, using the following scoring mechanism:

— Nil or inadequate response. Fails to demonstrate previous experience/capacity/capability relevant to the criterion (0 — 2 Unacceptable);

— Response is partially relevant but generally poor. The response shows some elements of relevance to the criterion but contains insufficient/limited detail or explanation to demonstrate previous relevant experience/ capacity/capability (3 — 4 Weak);

— Response is relevant and acceptable. The response demonstrates broad previous experience, knowledge and skills/capacity/capability but may lack in some aspects of similarity e.g. previous experience, knowledge or skills may not be of a similar nature (5 — 6 Acceptable);

— Response is relevant and good. The response is sufficiently detailed to demonstrate a good amount of experience, knowledge or skills/capacity/capability relevant to providing similar services to similar clients (7 — 8 Good);

— Response is completely relevant and excellent overall. The response is comprehensive, unambiguous and demonstrates thorough experience, knowledge or skills/capacity/capability relevant to providing similar services to similar clients (9 -10 Excellent).

An ESPD submission shall be marked as a FAIL and will not be considered further if the score achieved for any question is less than or equal to 2. Where all responses are greater than 2 they shall be weighted in order to calculate a score out of 100 for these 5 questions.

Under ESPD Question Ref. 4C.7 economic operators shall be required to insert suitable responses to Statements (j), (k) and (l) demonstrating that they have in place an appropriate quality, environmental and health and safety management systems. Economic operators should specify their recognised accredited system or own non-accredited system, which will ultimately be adopted if awarded the contract. Subsequently, under ESPD Question Ref. 4D economic operators will be required to confirm their compliance and be able to provide the appropriate certification.

The responses to Statements (j), (k) and (l) shall be assessed on the basis of PASS or FAIL. Single Economic Operators or Group of Economic Operators who have no management system in use will not be considered for this framework agreement.

Under ESPD Question Ref. 4C.6 economic operators shall be required to insert suitable responses to Statement (m) demonstrating that their employees (or those of the entities whom which they are relying upon) possess the necessary human resources and are qualified appropriately to perform the requirement.

The response to Statement (m) shall be assessed on the basis of PASS or FAIL. Economic operators (or the entities whom which they are relying upon) whose employees do not possess the necessary human resources shall be excluded from the procurement competition.

ESPD Question Ref. 4C.10 shall not be marked, but it is required in order that we may ascertain the sufficiency of any separate ESPD responses required from subcontractors identified under Question Ref. 2C.1.

Statement (a) to (d): Within the last 5 years, have you provided:

(a) principal independent geotechnical checking and/or certification services for a road or other linear infrastructure project having a construction value of at least GBP 20 million or a ground investigation value of 500 000 GBP (exc. of VAT)? If answered ‘Yes’, please provide details.

(b) principal design and management services for a ground investigation with a value of at least 500 000 GBP (exc. of VAT) for a road or other linear infrastructure project? If answered ‘Yes’, please provide details.

(c) principal geotechnical design services for a road or other linear infrastructure project having a construction value of at least 20 000 000 GBP (exc. of VAT)? If answered ‘Yes’, please provide details.

(d) drafting, review and preparation for publication (including editing or project management of these activities) of a technical standard, technical specification or technical report on a geotechnical topic for external circulation. If answered ‘Yes’, please provide details.

Statement (e) to (i) (max. 750 words/statement): Based on activities predominantly carried out in the last 5 years provide details of experience and approach to:

(e) geotechnical checking and/or certification, making specific reference to: the DMRB; a range of geotechnical activities (including desk studies, site operations, reporting, design); dealing with conflicts of interest; avoidance and resolution of disagreements and disputes (Weighting 30 %);

(f) design and management of ground investigations, making specific reference to: Eurocode 7 and its associated standards and NCCI; a range of ground conditions (including rock, glacial deposits, peat, slope stability, mineworkings); a range of investigatory techniques (including exploratory holes, field and lab testing, logging, geophysics) (Weighting 20 %);

(g) geotechnical design, making specific reference to: Eurocode 7 and its associated standards and NCCI; a range of geotechnical structures (including embankments, cuttings, foundations, retaining structures, ground improvement); a range of ground conditions (including rock (cuttings), soft ground, unstable slopes, mineworkings) (Weighting 15 %);

(h) preparation of technical standards, making specific reference to: undertaking research; consultation and collaboration with clients, users, experts and stakeholders; review and approval of technical output (Weighting 15 %); and

(i) service provision, making specific reference to: managing programme and budget to meet client expectations; resource allocation and mobilisation (including subconsultants if applicable); professional/technical staff training and development; innovation and added value (Weighting 20 %).

Statement (j) to (k): Provide details of your management systems:

(j) Quality. This may be European Foundation Quality Model (EFQM) or equivalent; BS EN ISO 9001:2000 (Quality Management Systems); Other accredited management system; or Own non-accredited management system.

(k) Environmental. This may be BS EN ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental Management Systems); Other accredited management system; or Own non-accredited management system.

(l) Health and Safety. This may BS EN ISO 18001:2007 (Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems) and associated standards; Other accredited management system; or Own non-accredited management system.

Statement (m): It is a requirement that the staff employed under the contract shall be qualified appropriately to enable them to perform the services (as described in II.2.4) in accordance with the appropriate standards. In order to be considered for this procurement competition, the following staff within the economic operators organisation, should as a minimum hold the following qualifications:

Continued in question VI.3 Additional information — please refer.

It is the Employer's policy to measure the performance of each Consultant on a regular basis.

In the event that the Consultant's performance falls below a satisfactory level, the Consultant will be invited to determine a means of rectifying the situation. Repeated or continual service failures may result in suspension or termination of the contract.

January 2021.

Transport Scotland will conduct the proposed procurement process for the Framework Agreement on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. In the event of the conclusion of the framework agreement, it is intended that the Framework Agreement will be entered into between the Scottish Ministers and the 3 most economically advantageous tenderers.

The Framework Agreement terms and conditions will be based on the Transport Scotland model consultancy agreement with bespoke amendments. Each selected Economic Operator shall be invited to submit a Tender on the same contract terms.

Each Economic Operator shall submit four paper copies (one marked ‘ORIGINAL’ and three marked COPY 1, 2, or 3 as relevant) together with one data CD/DVD of the completed ESPD, in a sealed package to arrive by the stated deadline to the following addressee and address:

Procurement Support Manager.

Transport Scotland.

Buchanan House.

58 Port Dundas Road.

Glasgow.

G4 0HF.

United Kingdom.

The Scottish Ministers shall not evaluate any submission received past the specified deadline, unless the delay is caused by a situation outwith the control of the economic operator, the determination of which shall be at the sole discretion of the Scottish Ministers. Compliance with achieving the specified deadline is the sole responsibility of the economic operator.

Economic operators which alter their composition after making a submission will be the subject of re-evaluation.

Any request by economic operators for clarification of any part of the documentation, which relate to the ESPD submission, shall be made through the Public Contracts Scotland portal. The deadline to submit clarifications is 12:00 noon GMT on Friday 3.3.2017.

Neither Transport Scotland nor the Scottish Ministers shall be responsible in any way to economic operators as a result of any delay or failure in answering any request for clarification or any decision not to answer a request for clarification (either in full or in part). Absence of a response from Transport Scotland or the Scottish Ministers shall not entitle economic operators to qualify their submission.

The Scottish Ministers reserve the right not to conclude any framework agreement as a result of the procurement process initiated by this notice and to make whatever changes the Scottish Minsters deem appropriate to the content, process, timing and structure of the procurement process.

Transport Scotland and the Scottish Ministers shall have no liability for any costs howsoever incurred by those participating in the competition.

Economic operators should be aware that all information submitted to the Scottish Ministers may need to be disclosed and / or published by the Scottish Ministers in compliance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

QUESTION III.1.3 MINIMUM LEVELS OF STANDARDS POSSIBLY REQUIRED — STATEMENT (m): CONTINUED

A minimum of 4 No. staff must be Degree qualified (or equivalent) in a geotechnically relevant subject from a relevant degree-awarding body; and in addition.

A minimum of 3 No. staff must be Chartered (or equivalent) from a geotechnically relevant professional organisation (e.g. CEng, CGeol, CSci).

The name, position and qualifications of such staff within the economic operators organisation should be provided.

Note: to register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=480844

(SC Ref:480844)

Download the ESPD document here: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=480844

Internet address:http://www.transport.gov.scot

An economic operator that suffers, or risks suffering, loss or damage attributable to a breach of duty under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 may bring proceedings in the Sheriff Court or the Court of Session.