Defence Online

Type of document: Invitation to tender
Country: United Kingdom
OJEU Ref: (2018/S 152-350052/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Restricted procedure
Regulation of procurement: EU

Contract notice
Services
Directive 2009/81/EC
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name addresses and contact point(s):
Ministry of Defence, Air Support, Flight Simulation and Synthetic Trainers Project Team (FSAST PT)
MOD AbbeyWood
Bristol
Postal code: BS34 6JY
United Kingdom
Contact points(s): Nicholas Coleman
Phone: +44 3067934469
Email: Nicholas.Coleman106@mod.gov.uk
Internet Address(es):
General address of the contracting authority:
Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)
I.2) Type of the contracting authority:
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.3) Main activity:
Defence
I.4) Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities/entities:
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: No
Section II: Object of the contract:
II.1) Description:
II.1.1) Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority/entity: Avionics System Trainer (AST) & Aircraft Propulsion Systems Trainer (APST) Maintenance and Support Contract
II.1.2) Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance:
Services
Service category No 13: Advertising Services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: Telford and Wrekin
Nuts code:
II.1.3) Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)
II.1.4) Information on framework agreement
II.1.5) Short description of the specific contract:Aviation ground support software package. Computer support services. Technical computer support services. The requirement is for a 5 year maintenance and support Contract and is expected to commence on 01 April 2019, which will provide support to both systems at RAF Sultan and RAF Cosford. The support element is to apply to all hardware and software. Details of the requirements can be found below.The Avionic system trainer (AST) is a computer based training (CBT) system which is used by DSAE to provide Ph 3 avionics training to Trade Gp (TG) 1 Aircrew. In addition, the system is used to enable Petty Officer Air Engineer Technician (POAET) training on behalf of Fleet and International Defence Training (IDT). The AST is used to deliver some 42 % of Avionics technician training through an aircraft diagnostic simulation which allows instructors to compartmentalise avionics components for phased learning and simulate multiple aircraft avionics faults and enables students to fault diagnose with progressive complexity and autonomy. Physically, the system is hosted on desktop User access devices (UADs) linked to a master terminal which controls the software.The Aircraft propulsion systems trainer (APST) consists of a Generic aircraft model (GAM) and a CBT suite and is used to deliver procedural training on aircraft engine systems to Ph3 Aircraft mechanical technicians and their IDT counterparts. The APST CBT system comprises 4 gps of student UADs, each controlled by an instructor UAD, which together simulates an engine ground running team. Here the students learn basic aircraft propulsion techniques in a closely controlled environment and are exposed to role interaction and dependencies with simulated consequences. Following the initial CBT package students move onto the GAM, a Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft mock-up containing the operating system of a Rolls-Royce RB199 engine and functioning switches and gauges that simulate aircraft start-up, running and shut-down.The exact specifications of the computer system will be confirmed at ITT stage, the Authority is currently exploring upgrades for the systems under the current Contractual arrangements.
II.1.6) Common procurement vocabulary (CPV): 48131000, 72610000, 72611000,
II.1.7) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
II.1.8) Lots:
The contract is divided into lots: No
II.1.9) Information about variants:
Variants will be accepted: NO
II.2) Quantity or scope of the contract:
II.2.1) Total quantity or scope:
Estimated value excluding VAT:
Range: between 1 000 000 and 1 500 000 GBP
II.2.2) Information about options:
Options: no
II.2.3) Information about renewals:
II.3) Duration of the contract or time limit for completion

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1) Conditions relating to the contract
III.1.1) Deposits and guarantees required:
The Authority reserves the right to to request an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond if, following its financial assessment, the Authority has concerns with a tenderer’s economic and financial standing.
III.1.2) Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
III.1.3) Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
If a group of economic operators submits a bid, the group must nominate a lead organisation to deal with the Authority. The Authority shall require the group to form a legal entity before entering into the contract.
III.1.4) Other particular conditions
The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: yes
Description of particular conditions: The Authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by a Security aspects letter, the Authority reserves the right to amend the terms of the Security aspects letter to reflect any changes in national law or government policy whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies or otherwise.
III.2) Conditions for participation
III.2.1) Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
The Authority will apply all the offences listed in Article 39(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC (implemented as Regulation 23(1) of the Defence and security public contract regulations (DSPCR) 2011 in the UK) and all of the professional misconducts listed at Article 39(2) of Directive 2009/81/EC (see also Regulation 23(2) in the DSPCR 2011) to the decision of whether a Candidate is eligible to be invited to tender.A full list of the Regulation 23(1) and 23(2) criteria are at will be required to sign a declaration confirming whether they do or do not have any of the listed criteria as part of the pre-qualification process.Candidates who have been convicted of any of the offences under Article 39(1) are ineligible and will not be selected to bid, unless there are overriding requirements in the general interest (including defence and security factors) for doing so.Candidates who are guilty of any of the offences, circumstances or misconduct under Article 39(2) may be excluded from being selected to bid at the discretion of the Authority.
III.2.2) Economic and financial ability
(b) The presentation of balance-sheets or extracts from the balance-sheets, where publication of the balance-sheet is required under the law of the country in which the economic operator is established.Information necessary for the Authority to conduct an assessment of financial standing must be provided alongside DPQQ response and will be evaluated in accordance with the DPQQ evaluation guide.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: (b) The presentation of balance-sheets or extracts from the balance-sheets, where publication of the balance-sheet is required under the law of the country in which the economic operator is established.Information necessary for the Authority to conduct an assessment of financial standing must be provided alongside DPQQ response and will be evaluated in accordance with the DPQQ evaluation guide.The estimated contract value is 1 500 000 GBP. If the estimated annual contract value is greater than 40 % of the supplier’s turnover, the Authority reserves the right to exclude the supplier from being selected to tender except where the supplier provides, to the satisfaction of the Authority, evidence showing it has sufficient economic and financial capability, eg evidence may include:(1) Any additional information proving it has sufficient economical and financial resource to deliver the requirement; and(2) State whether the supplier is willing to provide the Authority with an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond.A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier’s financial status. An overall pass / fail judgement will be made after considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the Parent company where applicable. An independent financial assessment obtained from a reputable credit rating organisation may be utilised as part of this process.
III.2.3) Technical capacity
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: (d) a statement of the technicians or technical services available to the economic operator to:(i) carry out the work under the contract, or(ii) be involved in the production of goods or the provision of services under the contract, particularly those responsible for quality control, whether or not they are independent of the economic operator;(e) a statement of the economic operator’s:(i) technical facilities;(ii) measures for ensuring quality;(iii) study and research facilities; and(iv) internal rules regarding intellectual property;(g) in the case of works contracts, services contracts or supply contracts also covering siting and installation operations or services, the economic operator’s educational and professional qualifications where the economic operator is an individual and:(i) if any, those of the economic operator’s managerial staff; and(ii) those of one or more persons who would be responsible for providing the services or carrying out the work or works under the contract;(h) the environmental management measures, that the economic operator is able to apply when performing the contract, but only where it is necessary for the performance of that contract(i) a statement of the services provider’s or contractor’s average annual number of staff and managerial staff over the previous 3 years;(j) a description of the tools, material, technical equipment, staff numbers, know-how and sources of supply (with an indication of their geographical location when it is outside the territory of the EU) available to the economic operator to perform the contract, cope with any additional needs required by the Contracting Authority as a result of a crisis or carry out the maintenance, modernisation or adaptation of the goods covered by the contract;(m) in the case of contracts involving, entailing or containing classified information, evidence of the ability to process, store and transmit such information at the level of protection required by the Contracting Authority;(n) a certificate:(i) attesting conformity to quality management systems standards based on the relevant European standard; and(ii) from an independent accredited body established in any member State conforming to the European standards concerning accreditation and certification;(o) any other evidence of conformity to quality management systems standards which are equivalent to the standards referred to in sub-paragraph (n)(i)Information / evidence necessary for the Authority to conduct an assessment of the criteria regarding the technical and/or professional ability of economic operators (that may lead to their exclusion) must be provided alongside DPQQ response and will be evaluated in accordance with the DPQQ evaluation guide. The Authority reserves the right to exclude a supplier from being selected to tender where that supplier fails to demonstrate achievement of the minimum level(s) required.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
III.2.4) Information about reserved contracts
III.3) Conditions specific to services contracts
III.3.1) Information about a particular profession
Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession:
III.3.2) Staff responsible for the execution of the service
Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: NO
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Type of procedure
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Restricted
IV.1.2) Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate
Envisaged minimum number: 1 and maximum number 6
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates:
Suppliers must read through this set of instructions and follow the process to respond to this opportunity.The information and / or documents for this opportunity are available on www.contracts.mod.uk You must register on this site to respond, if you are already registered you will not need to register again, simply use your existing username and password. Please note there is a password reminder link on the homepage.Suppliers must log in, go to the Response manager and add the following Access Code: E9Z7P933FQ. Please ensure you follow any instruction provided to you.The deadline for submitting your response(s) is 7.9.2017 12:00. Please ensure that you allow yourself plenty of time when responding to this invite prior to the closing date and time, especially if you have been asked to upload documents.If you experience any difficulties please refer to the online Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) or the User Guides or contact the MOD DCO Helpdesk by emailing support@contracts.mod.uk”Interested suppliers are required to complete the DPQQ and to provide information that allows the Authority to evaluate the supplier’s capacities and capabilities against the selection criteria set out at Sections III.2.1), III.2.2) and III.2.3) of this Contract Notice.The Authority will use the DPQQ response to create a shortlist of tenderers who:(1) are eligible to participate under Section III.2.1) of this Contract Notice;(2) fulfil any minimum standards under Sections III.2.2) and III.2.3) of this Contract Notice; and(3) best meet in terms of capacity and capability the selection criteria set out Sections III.2.2) and III.2.3) of this Contract Notice.Following completion of the DPQQ evaluation, the 6 highest scoring candidates shall be short listed and invited to tender stage. In the event that candidates receiving the same score take the total number above 6, the Authority reserves the right to invite further candidates to tender.Full details of the method for choosing the tenderers will be set out in the Help Text Box for the DPQQ and in the DPQQ Evaluation Guide.
IV.1.3) Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue
IV.2) Award criteria
The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document
IV.2.2) Information about electronic auction

IV.3) Administrative information
IV.3.1) File reference number attributed by the contracting authority/entity
FsASTC/00149
IV.3.2) Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
No
IV.3.3) Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document
Payable documents: No
IV.3.4) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
07.09.2018 – 12:00
IV.3.5) Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
IV.3.6) Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up
EN
IV.3.7) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
In days:
IV.3.8) Conditions for opening of tenders

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
VI.2) Information about European Union funds
The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
VI.3) Additional information
The Contracting Authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement.The Authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a Security aspects letter), the Authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the Government security classification.

Advertising Regime OJEU:- This contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU),the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk
Suppliers must read through this set of instructions and follow the process to respond to this opportunity.
The information and/or documents for this opportunity are available on
You must register on this site to respond, if you are already registered you will not need to register again, simply use your existing username and password. Please note there is a password reminder link on the homepage.
Suppliers must log in, go to your Response Manager and add the following Access Code: E9Z7P933FQ.
Please ensure you follow any instruction provided to you here.
The deadline for submitting your response(s) is detailed within this contract notice, you will also have visibility of the deadline date, once you have added the Access Code via DCO as the opening and closing date is visible within the opportunity.
Please ensure that you allow yourself plenty of time when responding to this opportunity prior to the closing date and time, especially if you have been asked to upload documents.
If you experience any difficulties please refer to the online Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) or the User Guides or contact the MOD DCO Helpdesk by emailing support@contracts.mod.uk or Telephone 0800 282 324.
GO Reference: GO-201886-DCB-12956842
VI.4) Procedures for appeal
VI.4.1) Body responsible for appeal procedures:
Nicholas Coleman
Bristol
United Kingdom
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
06.08.2018

Post written by: Andrew Perry