NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSE BOARD
TENDER FOR THE PROVISION OF ISO RECERTIFICATION
REF: QHSE/CERT/1132
SPECIFICATION & PRICING
This Tender has been created in MS Word 2007 and is designed to be completed electronically.
If you have downloaded this Tender from our Buyer Profile can you please register your interest with Keith Muirhead, Procurement Officer, by emailing this will ensure that you are provided with any subsequent clarification information.
You may wish to read NLB’s Procurement Guide and a copy can be found on our buyer profile under the Buyer Profile/Other Information headings.
Contents
Introduction / 3Background Information – NLB / 4
The Requirement
Pricing Schedule/Contract Period / 7
8
Tender Submission Requirements / 9
Contract Award Criteria
Contract Pricing and Invoicing
Contractors Responsibilities
Freedom of Information / 10
10
11
13
Tenderer Information Schedule / 15
Appendix I; Statement Relating to Good Standing / 22
Appendix II; Discretionary Grounds for Rejection / 24
Appendix III; Grounds for Disqualification / 25
Appendix IV; Instruction to Tenderers / 26
Appendix V; Declaration of Non-Collusion / 29
Appendix VI; Form of Tender / 31
Appendix VII; Tender Evaluation Matrix / 33
Appendix VIII; Terms and Conditions of Contract / 35
Appendix IX; Tender Return Label / 44
Introduction
Please ensure you understand all aspects of this ITT. All information contained within this ITT will be used by the Commissioner of Northern Lighthouses operating as the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) for the purposes of this project only. This ITT is non-transferable, if you decide you do not wish to tender please inform Keith Muirhead, Procurement Officer , Email: soon as possible and where possible explain why you have decided not to tender.
No information contained in this ITT, or in any communication made between NLB and any Tenderer in connection with this ITT, shall be relied upon as constituting a contract, agreement or representation that any contract shall be offered in accordance with this ITT. NLB reserves the right, subject to the appropriate procurement regulations, to change without notice the basis of, or the procedures for, the competitive tendering process or to terminate the process at any time. Under no circumstances shall NLB incur any liability in respect of this ITT or any supporting documentation.
Direct or indirect canvassing of any NLB Commissioners, NLB staff, public sector employee or agent by any potential bidder concerning this requirement, or any attempt to procure information from any NLB Commissioner, NLB Staff, public sector employee or agent concerning this ITT may result in the disqualification of the Tenderer from consideration for this requirement.
NLB will not reimburse any costs incurred by Tenderers in connection with preparation and submission of their responses to this ITT.
All information contained within this ITT will be used to inform NLB’s project board/team relating to this project alone.
Tenderers are advised to answer all questions. While a lack of response may not preclude you from consideration, NLB will request no further information before the evaluation of responses and the issuing of the invitations to tender. Therefore it is in your interest to ensure that your submission is complete at the time of sending. You may provide additional information, if relevant, with your tender submission.
Tenders must be explicit and comprehensive in their responses to invitation to tender and are advised neither to make any assumptions about their past or current supplier relationships with the GLAs nor to assume that such prior business relationships will be taken into account in the evaluation procedure. Submitted tenders will be evaluated solely on the evaluation criteria detailed in Appendix VII .
In accordance with EU and UK legislation and public sector transparency guidelines, please be aware that NLB contracts will be advertised and also published following contract award. Information in relation to the contracts will be within the public domain, your attention is drawn to Page 13 – Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Background Information
The Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses – operating as the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) and the Corporation of Trinity House (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Gibraltar) together with the Commissioners of Irish Lights (the whole of Ireland - are the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) with responsibility, subject to certain provisions, for the superintendence and management of “all lighthouses, buoys and beacons” throughout their respective geographical areas including “the adjacent seas and islands....” within and beyond territorial waters. In all, the GLAs provide some 1,200 traditional aids complemented by a mix of radio navigation aids for the safety of all mariners engaged in general navigation irrespective of who pays for the service, the size or type of the vessel, her equipment fit, the competence of her crew, or her flag.
Through an agreement with the Government of the Irish Republic the three GLAs provide an integrated network of Aids to Navigation around the British Isles. This discharges both the United Kingdom and Irish Governments’ obligation under the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea Convention.
The costs of the GLA’s services are met from the General Lighthouse Fund (GLF). The income to the GLF comes mostly from light dues which are charged on commercial shipping at United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland ports. There is no provision for Exchequer funding except in the Republic of Ireland and in relation to guarantees under the GLAs’ borrowing powers. The Secretary of State for Transport has a duty to ensure the effective management of the GLF and enable the adequate provision of aids to navigation at the minimum cost.
The Northern Lighthouse Board carries out the functions of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses who are constituted in terms of, and are given certain powers and duties by, Part VIII of and Schedules 8 and 9 to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The subject matter of that Act is a reserved matter under Section 30 of and Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 and in terms of Section 29 of the Scotland Act 1998. The Board's affairs will continue to be subject to legislation passed by the United Kingdom Parliament. Ministerial responsibility will remain with the Department for Transport.
Under Section 193 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 NLB is the GLA for Scotland and adjacent seas and islands and the Isle of Man, and under Section 195 is vested with the responsibility for the superintendence and management of all lighthouses, buoys and beacons. Our Head Office is at 84 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3DA. We have a waterfront operating base in Oban on Scotland’s West Coast and it supports our ships and buoy maintenance work; and provides facilities for helicopters. We have smaller business premises in the Northern Isles.
The efficiency of our Aids to Navigation are measured against international standards set by the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). IALA is a non profit, non governmental international technical association. IALA’s aim is to harmonize aids to navigation worldwide and to ensure that the movements of vessels are safe, expeditious, cost effective and harmless to the environment.
Within its area of jurisdiction as a General Lighthouse Authority, NLB has various powers and responsibilities in connection with the provision, maintenance, alteration, inspection and control of lighthouses, buoys and beacons, under Section 197 of the 1995 Act as amended. NLB also has Wreck Removal powers under Section 253 of the Act.
For further information please see our website:
Point of Contact
All enquiries must be addressed, to Keith Muirhead as the single point of contact for this exercise, at the address shown below and must be submitted in writing or by email; these shall all be recorded and email is preferable. Tenderers should be aware that it will be the intention of NLB to circulate in writing, to all interested parties all queries and enquiries received together with our response. The source of the question will not be disclosed. To ensure that all Tenderers have the same information, we will respond to all queries and points of clarification raised by 16:00 hours on Tuesday 26thMay 2015.
The closing date for receipt of tender is Tuesday 2nd June 2015 at 12:00 hours. You should note that NLB may seek amplifying information from Tenderers, or from third parties in amplification of any part of the submission.
Keith Muirhead
Procurement Officer
Northern Lighthouse Board
84 George Street
Edinburgh
EH2 3DA
United Kingdom
Email:
Tel: 0044 131 473 3103
Fax: 0044 131 473 2436
Completed Tenders should be forwarded using the label provided at Appendix IX to:
Director of Finance
Northern Lighthouse Board
84 George Street
Edinburgh
EH2 3DA
United Kingdom
NLB have a strict procedure for the control of information and the management of its tender processes. All tender submissions received prior to the tender return deadline with be placed by our Reception Staff within a double locked tender box. The Director of Finance and Commercial Manager each have one key to this box and they or their representatives must both be present to enable opening. This box is only opened after the tender return deadline and the tenders for each project are removed for opening and the box locked. Therefore it is essential that the outer envelope of your tender bears the tender label provided.
Tenders are opened by the Director of Finance and the Commercial Manager (or their appointed representatives) and formally recorded; each page is endorsed and checked for alterations etc. Tenders are then given to the Commercial Section for evaluation.
You must address all aspects of pricing within your tender submission including the method for charging the service, additional services required, recoverable expenses etc. Please ensure that you detail all costs involved with the service provision and any associated costs. NLB will not be liable for any unidentified costs.
Please do not hasten the progress of your tender. All Tenderers will be advised at appropriate stages of the evaluation process and there is no advantage to be made by hastening progress.
Submitting a Tender*
All Tenders are submitted entirely at the cost of the Tenderer. NLB will not be responsible for any costs associated with any tender submission or subsequent activities. Tenders received after the closing date and those not providing the correct number of copies of all information may not be considered.
Whilst Tenders must be returned in hardcopy using the label provided at Appendix IX, you can also email your Tender submission to if you wish to ensure delivery before the deadline. Please put “Tender Ref:QHSE/CERT/1132” as the subject of the email. We have no limit on the size of email received however to ensure that there are no receipt problems please limit email size to no more than 10 Mb and there is no limit on the number of emails sent. Other types of file especially Zip files or encrypted files may cause problems and could hamper the delivery of your Tender. This email box is only opened following the deadline and the above procedure still applies. Tenders received after the closing date will not be considered.
Please be aware that tenders issued are non-transferrable. Should you choose to not to tender please advice Keith Muirhead as soon as possible and do not pass the documentation to any other party. It is in your interest to ensure that all the information requested is provided in your tender submission; that you return the correct number of copies using the label provided; and that your submission reaches us by the closing date.
Tenderers should include a single point of contact in their organisation for their response to the ITT. NLB will not be responsible for contacting the Tenderer through any route other than the nominated contact. The Tenderer must therefore undertake to notify any changes relating to the contact promptly. Please ensure you provide full contact details including an email address, landline and mobile telephone number.
NLB may request to visit your premises, visit a reference site or undertake any appropriate action required as part of the tender evaluation and you may also be asked to attend an interview and make a formal presentation to NLB’s Project Team. Interviews will be held in NLB Board Room at 84 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom and attendance is entirely at your own cost. The final detail of such requests will be identified at the tender evaluation stage, all requests will be made in writing and appropriate conditions for participation may be attached.
The Requirement
The NLB is certificated to ISO 9001, ISO 14001and BS OHSAS 18001. All of these certificates expire on 30 October 2015. We require that the re-certification to these standards is achieved via one combined audit and subsequently 6 monthly periodic audits to verify their maintenance up until the certificates’ expiry date. The periodic audits should also be combined audits and preferably undertaken by one suitably qualified auditor.
A single audit report is to be produced for each periodic audit. Reports are to be comprehensive, including positive as well as negative aspects of areas covered during the audit, but must also be concise and issued promptly after the audit. As well as compliance issues, audits and the subsequent reports should have a particular focus on areas where the NLB can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its operations.
Audits will be required to include visits to sites where activities are ongoing and these could be anywhere in Scotland or the Isle of Man, therefore auditors must be prepared to travel extensively and stay away from home for periods. Experience of travelling in small boats and by helicopter would be an advantage as would experience of auditing the type of activities in the locations liable to be encountered. References / examples are to be included in the tender return.
All tendering Certification bodies should have UKAS accreditation (or equivalent) for the ISO standards and BS OHSAS 18001 with appropriate Schedules of Accreditation to cover NLB’s activities, please provide a copy. The scope of our existing certification does not include our ships functions, however all of our shore based activities are covered. These include capital project engineering works with NLB acting as the designer and contracting out the work on the ground which can be a combination of civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. We also carry out maintenance works which can be a combination of sub-contracted works, (e.g. painting, refurbishment etc.) and routine mechanical and electrical maintenance work carried out by NLB technicians. These activities are performed all around the coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man and may be in remote and inaccessible places. In addition the NLB operate a base at Oban for the refurbishment of buoys involving strip down, re-painting and structure re-fitting as well as some electrical work and associated stores area. An engineering store and test facility is also operated from Oban.
The Information Systems (IS) group of the NLB are certificated to ISO 27001, expiry date of current certification is 18 April 2016. We would require re-certification to this standard prior to this date and 6 monthly periodic audits thereafter occurring at the same time as the audits for the other certificates above although not necessarily carried out by the same auditor. The IS group consists of 6 No. staff, there are 5 No. based in Edinburgh and 1 No. at the Oban facility. All tendering Certification bodies should have UKAS accreditation (or equivalent) for ISO 27001. Audit reports are to be comprehensive, including positive as well as negative aspects of areas covered during the audit, but must also be concise and issued promptly after the audit. As well as compliance issues, audits and the subsequent reports should have a particular focus on areas where the NLB can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its operations.
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NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSE BOARD
Pricing Schedule/Contract Period
Tenderers are requested to complete the following schedule giving full details of their proposals including costs, fees, the rates paid to sub-contractors and any alternative pricing methods for consideration etc. Please ensure the pricing provided details all costs that may be associated with this contract, NLB will not be liable for any costs that are not identified within your tender submission.
Please note that you may provide a price for one or both options, there is no requirement to provide pricing for both options.
There are two options and the contract will be in place for 3 years. The contract period will be October 2015 to October 2018; exact dates will be dependent on the completion of the tender exercise.
Requirements per annum.