Decision details

The current contract for the statutory servicing & maintenance for Fire Alarms, Emergency Lighting, Gas Suppression Systems & Sprinklers is ending and a replacement contract is required.

Procurement of a Statutory Compliance Contract to inspect, service and maintain Fire Alarms, Emergency Lighting, Gas Suppression Systems & Sprinklers across the Corporate buildings estate and Sheffield schools who take up the provision.

The council do not have the required level of expertise and accreditation to undertake the required maintenance of these systems. The existing contract cannot be extended and the Council has a statutory duty to maintain these systems under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

That the Executive Member for Finance and Resources:

1. Approves the Council procuring services for the statutory compliance inspection, servicing, testing and repairs of Fire Alarm Systems, Emergency Lighting Systems, Sprinkler Systems and Gas Suppression Systems following a compliant tender exercise as outlined in this report.  This will ensure that the ongoing and mandatory compliance services provision for the Council and opted-in schools continues; and

2. Delegates authority to the Executive Director of Place, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Commercial Services and the Director of Legal and Governance to:

a. decide the award of the new contracts to the most economically advantageous tenderers chosen by the Council following the procurement as outlined in this report;

b. take all other decisions necessary in order to meet the aims, objectives and outcomes of this report which are not already covered by existing delegations in the Leaders Scheme of Delegation.

The procurement will enable the Council to:

• Have a compliant and flexible mechanism in place to fully meet the legal obligations and service requirements

• Harness any immediate savings and economies of scale that can be realised by re-engaging the market, any savings realised that can be cashable in nature will contribute to the services’ savings target.

·       Realise the Council’s Social Value ambitions by driving further value added impact through this supply chain.

Alternative Option 1 – Do not Procure.

If the Council did not carry out this procurement then they would be in breach of our statutory duty in respect of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, 2005. This is therefore not an option.

We are also bound by the PCR and Council Governance to conduct a procurement where the level of financial spend indicates this, alternatives around the route to market will be options appraised, considered and benchmarked and fully documented in the Procurement Strategy.

Alternative Option 2 – Extend the contract with the current supplier.

The current contract expired on the 31^st March 2021 and there are no further compliant extensions possible under the framework agreement. A waiver is in place for continuity of service and statutory compliance requirements.

Alternative Option 3 – procure via a fully compliant Framework. 

Whilst these are tried and tested suppliers and much of the due diligence around their appointment has been previously managed we feel there is a local market to tap into – there are a number of suppliers in the Sheffield area who could offer these services and by using an existing third-party framework these potential suppliers would be excluded. We require a reactive and responsive service across all compliance requirements and feel this could be best met in part locally. In addition, we have extensive Health & Safety requirements and adherence to these needs to be evidenced via the tender, subsequent contract documentation and ongoing contract management.

YPO/ESPO do have a Framework covering some of our requirements. However, due to the different structures of the Council’s and YPO’s arrangements, plus the vast majority of YPO’s offer being mainly supply and fit new installations and subject to further competition hence rates unknown, it isn’t possible to carry out a meaningful comparison between many of our current rates and those offered via the framework. Therefore, the best course of action would be to run our own fully compliant tendering exercise.  This course of action would, in the absence of any tangible benefits of utilising the YPO Framework (other than pre-approved suppliers), give us complete control over the whole process and provide an opportunity for local providers to bid.

CPC have recently let a Framework covering Fire Alarms, Detection and Suppressions systems which we have considered. There are eight suppliers appointed to the Framework for the Yorkshire and Humber area and our incumbent supplier is not on the Framework. Using this Framework would prevent the incumbent from bidding which, after years of service. On this basis this Framework has been ruled out.

Additionally, the use of a Sheffield City Council contract will offer the greatest flexibility for service delivery where peaks and troughs can be managed and third-party support can be tailored to supplement the in house capability and flex with this as services move to more self-delivery over time.