ACCOMM2B/0059-18 Month Extension · UK public procurement notice

CPV: Repair and maintenance services

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

Unspecified in notice

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

15 Oct 2021, 22:44 BST

Last source update

15 Oct 2021, 22:44 BST

FTS notice number

2021/S 000-025906

Classification (CPV)

Repair and maintenance services

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-02ec9f Find a Tender

Why no open competition

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice; 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

The Air Commodities Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (“the Authority”) intends to extend the existing contract ACCOMM2/0059 with Test Fuchs GmbH for the In-Service Support of Test Fuchs Hydraulic Equipment from 31 Dec 21 to 31 Jun 23, in order to maintain an interim solution whilst negotiating a Single Source future contract. The VTN for the future contract will be published under separate cover via the Defence Sourcing Portal prior to 31 Jun 23.

It is considered that the contract can be extended using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons, the contract may be awarded only to this particular economic operator. The reasons for this are as follows:

Test Fuchs GmbH is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for a range of hydraulically operated ground support and test equipment that is currently in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The company’s range of equipment is used to operate and maintain aircraft hydraulic systems, pre and post-flight, and to test the suitability of hydraulically driven aircraft components and assemblies before they are returned to service following maintenance. The contract for the in-service support of this range of equipment covers annual maintenance, calibration, physical repairs and the updating of proprietary firmware and software, however, it does not cover the release of any proprietary information to third parties and hence the Authority does not have access to the data-packs associated with the equipment this OEM has in service with the RAF. Test Fuchs have confirmed they are not prepared to grant any such licences, therefore the Authority does not have access to the necessary proprietary information to carry out or compete this requirement.

Test Fuchs GmBH also maintains the complementary safety cases. There is a significant risk that if a third party took over the contract for in-service support that the functionality of the equipment would decline in-line due to the loss of proprietary information in the form of firmware and software upgrades that can only be provided by Test Fuchs GmBH. This means that the safety cases would, over time. Deteriorate. Maintaining the risk to human life at As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) and ‘tolerable’ would become increasingly unpredictable and hence accelerate the equipment’s removal from service. Placing a contract with Test Fuchs GmBH is the only means of maintaining the integrity of the equipment through to its natural Out of Service Date (OSD).

• Test Fuchs GMBHAwarded supplier Unit 30 King Street Industrial Estate, King Street, Langtoft, Peterborough, UK

No document links were published on the notice.