Award

New Buildings for Northern Regional College, Ballymena Campus

  • Northern Regional College

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice identifier: 2024/S 000-016855

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-046c52

Published 30 May 2024, 11:00am



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

Northern Regional College

Ballymena

BT43 7DF

Contact

CPD Procurement Operations Branch

Email

Construct.info@finance-ni.gov.uk

Telephone

+44 289081655

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UK - United Kingdom

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps/home.do

Buyer's address

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

one.5) Main activity

Education


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

New Buildings for Northern Regional College, Ballymena Campus

Reference number

DOE-2530213

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 45210000 - Building construction work

two.1.3) Type of contract

Works

two.1.4) Short description

The project is the development and construction of a new campus for Northern Regional College constructed on the existing Ballymena Site at Farm Lodge. The project will include the following works: site clearance including phased removal of existing college buildings and associated services and drainage; existing drainage and services diversions; earthworks including cut/fill and removal of surplus excavated/unsuitable material; phased construction of new fully serviced campus building; site works and associated landscaping. The form of contract for pre-construction period will be NEC4 Option A and for the construction period will be NEC4 Option C. The project will be delivered to BIM Level 2. The project will consist of a phased approach of demolition and construction in order to deliver the new campus. The project will be delivered within a live fully operational environment. Refer to the procurement documents for further information

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)

Value excluding VAT: £31,642,000

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom
Main site or place of performance

Existing Ballymena Site at Farm Lodge BT43 7DF

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The project is the development and construction of a new campus for Northern Regional College constructed on the existing Ballymena Site at Farm Lodge. The project will include the following works: site clearance including phased removal of existing college buildings and associated services and drainage; existing drainage and services diversions; earthworks including cut/fill and removal of surplus excavated/unsuitable material; phased construction of new fully serviced campus building; site works and associated landscaping. The form of contract for pre-construction period will be NEC4 Option A and for the construction period will be NEC4 Option C. The project will be delivered to BIM Level 2. The project will consist of a phased approach of demolition and construction in order to deliver the new campus. The project will be delivered within a live fully operational environment. Refer to the procurement documents for further information.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 35

Cost criterion - Name: Cost / Weighting: 65

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No

two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds

The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below

  • The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations

Explanation:

Due to circumstances which could not have been foreseen at the time of publication of the Contract Award Notice, Northern Regional College are now required to further increase the value of this contract. This is required as additional expenditure has been incurred due to the continued effect of ongoing inflationary pressures which were not anticipated at the time of the original Contract Award Notice. These factors have precipitated a more rapid consumption of the value of the contract and reflect the application of the Procurement Advisory Note (PAN 01/21). The uplift to the contract value also being sought as a precautionary measure to ensure the completion of the new campus at Ballymena by the specified completion date.

A comprehensive value engineering exercise was carried out during and in an effort to mitigate against these unforeseen expenditures and inflation effects. As a result, there has been a reduction in the total building area by 800m2 with a material decrease in build cost, however, the facilities originally within the reduced building area have been reallocated elsewhere within the premises and the overall reduction in size constitutes less than 5% of the total building area. This reallocation ensures that no specialist part of the project has been omitted. Additionally, there have been changes to the specification of finishes throughout the building, including the floor finishes, and a change in the specification of the facing brick to adapt to these new circumstances accordingly.

Regulation 72(1)(c) permits this extension due to unforeseen circumstances which a diligent contracting authority could not have foreseen, the overall nature of the contract is not altered and Modification value is an additional circa 9% and a reduction through value engineering of circa 6.5% neither of which in combination exceed 14.99% of the original contract value.

Regulation 72(1) (b) further permits this extension as it would be economically and contractually unfeasible to switch contractor without causing significant delay and duplication of build costs. A change of provider:

(i) cannot be made for economic and technical reasons as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability of services procured under the original procurement; and

(ii) will cause significant inconvenience and duplication of costs.

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

four.2) Administrative information

four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure

Notice number: 2022/S 010-022559


Section five. Award of contract/concession

Title

New Buildings for Northern Regional College, Ballymena Campus

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

28 October 2019

five.2.2) Information about tenders

The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No

five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire

Heron Bros Ltd

2 St Patricks Street

Magherafelt

BT45 7AL

Email

noel.mullan@heronbros.com

Telephone

+44 2879628505

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code
  • UK - United Kingdom
Internet address

https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps

The contractor/concessionaire is an SME

No

five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £31,271,702.13

Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £31,642,000


Section six. Complementary information

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

Department of Finance, Central Procurement Directorate Procurement Operations Branch

303 Airport Road

Belfast

BT422DT

Email

construct.info@finance-ni.gov.uk

Telephone

+44 2890816555

Country

United Kingdom

six.4.3) Review procedure

Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures

This procurement is governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and provides for economic operators who have suffered, or who risk suffering, loss, or damage, as a consequence of an alleged breach of the duty owed in accordance with Regulation 91 to start proceedings in the High Court.. A standstill period will commence at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide information on the award decision. The standstill period, which will be for a minimum of 10 calendar days, provides time for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.. Any proceedings relating to any perceived non-compliance with the relevant law must be started within 30 days, beginning with the date when the economic operator first knew, or ought to have known that grounds for starting the proceedings had arisen. (A court may extend the time limit to 3 months, where the court considers that there is a good reason for doing so)..