£729,000.00 · UK public procurement notice

CPV: Installation services of laboratory equipment

Procedure method

Negotiated without publication of a contract notice

Legal basis

CELEX · 32009L0081 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Directive 2009/81/EC)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Competitive procedure

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

19 Dec 2023, 14:49 GMT

Last source update

19 Dec 2023, 14:49 GMT

Authority reference

PA0000001465

FTS notice number

2023/S 000-037321

Classification (CPV)

Installation services of laboratory equipment

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-0426f2 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

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

Published justification

It is considered that the award of this contract without Prior Publication of a Contract Notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons.

The required microbiological safety cabinets are for use in high containment laboratories for working with Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) Group 3 organisms. The cabinets are the primary containment method for the protection of laboratory staff, and wider environment, when working with dangerous pathogens. The cabinet control mechanisms are also used to control the routine fumigation of the cabinets and the safe venting after this process.

Currently all Class III microbiology safety cabinets in the Authority’s high containment laboratories come from the same manufacturer, CAS Ltd. This is to reduce factors that are likely to cause human error, which includes a ‘standardisation’ of equipment to reduce operational risk, aligned with HSE stipulations. All laboratory staff are specifically trained in the safe use of CAS Ltd cabinets: standardisation is critical both within laboratories and across the building to minimise the potential for Authority staff to make safety critical mistakes through multiple manufacturer instructions and instrumentation to work with during operation.

Use of alternative cabinet suppliers, where these may appear similar to CAS Ltd, would impose changes in controls and training requirements that would increase the likelihood of error resulting in accident or exposure to biological or chemical hazards to levels that would be unacceptable to the MoD.

Given the required safety cabinets must be manufactured by CAS Ltd for the reasons set out above then they must also be installed by them as only this supplier has the necessary technical data, skills and experience to install their own equipment to the required safety and operational standards.

• Contained Air Solutions LimitedAwarded supplier Manchester, UK, M241UBContact emailShow contact details

No document links were published on the notice.