Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2023/S 000-024177/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Services

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Postal address: DSTL Porton Down
Town: SALISBURY
Country: United Kingdom
Email: ivhill@dstl.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address:

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: Hire of Wind Tunnel for dermal aerosol protection assessments

Reference number: 0000029019-VTN
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 73110000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
Hire of wind tunnel and adjacent laboratory with support staff to operate wind tunnel and perform chemical analysis
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:160000.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Hire of wind tunnel and adjacent laboratory with support staff to operate wind tunnel and perform chemical analysis

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.2.11) Information about options
Options: no
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice(in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2023-08-17
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Silsoe Spray Applications Unit (SSAU)
Postal address: Building 42, West Park
Town: Bedford,
Postal code: MK45 4HP
Country: United Kingdom
Nuts code:
The contractor is an SME: yes

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
for framework agreements – total maximum value for this lot
for contracts based on framework agreements, if required – value of contract(s) for this lot not included in
previous contract award notices
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Value or proportion likely to be subcontracted to third parties

Section VI: Complementary informationVI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down
Postal address: Porton Down
Town: SALISBURY
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2023-08-17

Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for
competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
1.Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without publication of a call for competition in accordance with
Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to:
restricted procedure

The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment,study or development under the conditions
stated in the directive(for services and supplies only)
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
absence of competition for technical reasons

3.Explanation
Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
is lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive:
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory on behalf of The Secretary of state for Defence intends to procure the services of Silsoe Spray Applications Unit (SSAU), to hire a wind tunnel and adjacent laboratory to perform chemical analysis on the dissemination of aerosols.
It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (as required by the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 32(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons as outlined below:
The tests Dstl conduct involve the dissemination of aerosols within a wind tunnel. The wind tunnel must be large enough to house the test mannequins (at the very least 2.5m wide and 2m high, ideally at least 3 m x 2.5 m) with a long enough working area to allow dissemination far enough from the mannequin to allow mixing (>10 m floor length). However, it must not be so large that we cannot generate the aerosols at high enough concentrations within an acceptable time frame (<300 m3). The concentration requirements also dictate that it must be a recirculating wind tunnel. It must have large enough level access to allow the mannequins to be placed in the wind tunnel (2 m high) and be capable of the air speeds of interest (wind tunnels designed for aerodynamic studies will typically operate at higher wind speeds than we conduct testing at).
Overseas facilities are not suitable as their use would involve substantial additional difficulty and expense due to the overseas transport of up to two mechanical mannequins plus approximately 30 crates of other required equipment (on top of additional staff costs and environmental impact). In addition to this many of the test items are classified Official-Sensitive (and on occasion also have ITAR restrictions) that would make export/import difficult if not impossible.