CONTRACT NOTICE – OFFICIAL JOURNAL
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Section I: Contracting Authority
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I.1)
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Name, Address and Contact Point(s)
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Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment |
Netherleigh |
Belfast |
BT4 2JP |
UK |
Angeline Mullin |
+44 2890816819 |
angeline.mullin@dfpni.gov.uk |
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www.dfpni.gov.uk
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I.2)
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Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities
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No |
Section II: Object of the Contract
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II.1)
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Description
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II.1.1)
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Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authorityDETI - Article 16 Audit of Operations. |
II.1.2(a))
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Type of works contract
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II.1.2(b))
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Type of supplies contract
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II.1.2(c))
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Type of service contract9 |
II.1.2)
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Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance
Northern Ireland.
UKN |
II.1.3)
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This notice involves
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II.1.4)
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Information on framework agreement (if applicable)
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Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged3 |
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Duration of the framework agreement4 |
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Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds four years
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Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement537 500GBP |
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Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded |
II.1.5)
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Short description of the contract or purchase(s)
The Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) and Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI) Audit Authority is seeking to appoint Service Providers to a framework agreement, through the Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) Open Competition process, to assist in the completion of Article 16 audits of operations on projects part funded by: the European Social Fund (ESF) under the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2007-2013 (NIESF) and the new 2014-2020; and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the EU Sustainable Competitiveness Programme 2007-2013 (EUSCP) and the new 2014-2020 Programme.
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II.1.6)
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Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
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79000000 |
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II.1.7)
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Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) |
II.1.8)
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Division into lots No |
II.1.9)
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Will variants be accepted
No |
II.2)
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Quantity or Scope of the Contract
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II.2.1)
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Total quantity or scopeSee section II.1.5. |
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537 500 GBP |
II.2.2)
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OptionsAward by September 2014, for an initial period until 31.3.2016 with the option to extend for two further annual periods of one year each until 31.3.2018. |
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Provisional timetable for recourse to these options
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Number of possible renewals
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In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated time frame for subsequent contracts
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II.3)
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Duration of the contract or limit for completion48 |
Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information
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III.2)
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Conditions for Participation
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III.2.1)
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Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
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III.2.2)
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Economic and financial capacity
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III.2.3)
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Technical capacity
Professional Ability.
[SC1] Stage 1 - Selection.
This tender requires tenderers to nominate individuals for all of the following grades:
— Partner;
— Principal/Senior Consultant;
— Consultant;
— Junior Consultant.
In order to pass the Selection stage, tenderers must demonstrate that the nominated personnel meet the following minimum standards of professional ability.
Professional Ability Requirements.
Qualifications.
[SC01] Tenderers must provide evidence (Certificate &/or membership number) to demonstrate that each of the nominated Partner(s); Principal/Senior Consultant(s) holds a full professional qualification as recognised by the Department of Finance and Personnel. Qualifications deemed acceptable for Partner and Principal/Senior Consultant positions by DFP are CMIIA and CCAB qualifications. Examples include:
— The Institute of Internal Auditors;
— The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy;
— The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland;
— The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland;
— The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales;
— The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants;
— The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants; or
— The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland.
Experience.
[SC02] Each of the nominated individual(s) (Partner(s); Principal/Senior Consultant(s)) responsible for managing/quality assuring the Article 16 checks must be a qualified Auditor or Accountant and must have experience of National, ERDF requirements and EU Structural Funds requirement and experience of undertaking checks of EU Funding. To demonstrate this each nominated individual must provide details of a minimum of 3 examples which they have completed within the last 3 years.
Examples provided must include project title, completion date, details of the project undertaken and the individual's role within the project. In all instances the relevant EU Programme must be clearly specified.
All other nominated individuals at Consultant level must demonstrate that they have experience of auditing EU funded projects. To demonstrate this each nominated individual must provide details of a minimum of 2 examples completed within the last 3 years. This level of experience is not required at junior consultant level.
Examples provided must include project title, completion date, details of the project undertaken and the individual's role within the project. In all instances the relevant EU Programme must be clearly specified.
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III.2.4)
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Reserved contracts
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Section IV: Procedure
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IV.1)
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Type of Procedure
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Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure
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IV.1.1)
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Have candidates already been selected? No |
IV.1.2)
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Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate |
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Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates
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IV.1.3)
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Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue
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IV.2)
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Award Criteria
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No
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Yes
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No
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IV.2.2)
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An electronic auction will be used No
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IV.3 Administrative Information
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IV.3.1)
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Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority
Project 17129
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IV.3.2)
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Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
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Other previous publications
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IV.3.3)
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Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents 08-08-2014
15:00
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IV.3.4)
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Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate 18-08-2014
15:00 |
IV.3.5)
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Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
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IV.3.6)
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Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up
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IV.3.7)
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Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
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IV.3.8)
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Conditions for opening tenders
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18-8-2014
15:00
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Section VI: Other Information
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VI.1)
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Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published
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VI.2)
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Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds? No
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VI.3)
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Additional Information
Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender: 1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once): https://e-sourcingni.bravosolution.co.uk and click the link to register - Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘continue' - Enter your correct business and user details - Note the username you chose and click ‘Save' when complete - You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure) 2. Express an Interest in the tender - Login to the portal with the username/password - Click the ‘PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers' link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier) - Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content. - Click the ‘Express Interest' button at the top of the page. - This will move the PQQ /ITT into your ‘My PQQs/ My ITTs' page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only) -You can now access any attachments by clicking ‘Buyer Attachments' in the ‘PQQ/ ITT Details' box 3. Responding to the tender - Click ‘My Response' under ‘PQQ/ ITT Details', you can choose to ‘Create Response' or to ‘Decline to Respond' (please give a reason if declining) - You can now use the ‘Messages' function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification - Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT - There may be a mixture of online and offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the ‘Submit Response' button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.
The successful contractor's performance on the contract will be regularly monitored. Contractors not delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a contractor fails to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still fail to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in CPD for further action. If this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance will result in the contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions being undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy for a period of twelve months from the date of issue of the certificate.
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VI.4)
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Procedures for appeal
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VI.4.1)
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Body responsible for appeal procedures
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Body responsible for mediation procedures
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VI.4.2)
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Lodging of appeals
CPD will incorporate a standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full 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.
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VI.4.3)
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Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained
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VI.5)
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Dispatch date of this Notice 08-07-2014 |