Part 1 summary.

Report ES18088

To support Council responsibilities for the safe use of its highway infrastructure and multi storey car park asset, Consulting Engineers deliver the professional services element of the duties including inspection/studies of structures (bridges, culverts, retaining walls), engineering emergencies involving the highway, ad hoc Transport and Flood Studies, larger highway development schemes, and inspection/studies of the Council’s stock of multi storey car parks. The professional services have been regularly tendered since 1993 and the current arrangement with AECOM, originally tendered via an access agreement to a Framework Contract, ends on 31^st March 2019.

Although the services were a provision within Highway Major Works, previously considered as Lot 6 to the Environmental Services Procurement Strategy, Highways Major Works and Street Lighting were subsequently taken as a separate procurement with a contract awarded to JB Riney from 1^st July 2018 for an eight year period (with the option to extend for up to a further year) at an estimated whole life value of £90m.

A Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) code for Professional Services was included in the OJEU Notice to the Major Highway Works and Street Lighting Contract, providing an option for the Council to issue a contract variation for Highway Engineering Professional Services. Lower unit cost rates from a further tender via a Framework were considered unlikely as the supply chain chosen by JB Riney includes the same service providers accessible through a Framework. Furthermore, a Framework (where a Consulting Engineer is directly employed) would also not realise efficiencies and improved quality through Early Contractor Involvement. There would also be costs for tendering and creating a new Framework Access Agreement. The current contract with JB Riney is for eight years (with the possibility of a one year extension) and with frameworks having a maximum four-year duration, the service would need to be tendered twice with two access agreements formed during the nine-year period.  

Early contractor involvement (ECI) in working with JB Riney and their supply chain would enable their expertise in building schemes to be drawn into the design/project management processes thereby helping in the choice of materials and scheme programming, and minimising disruption to highway users. Given previous experience of ‘design and build’ public realm projects, (e.g. Bromley North and Beckenham Town Centres), the benefits would result in a saving in scheme design costs of between 5% and 10%. ECI processes can also improve the quality of schemes, reduce overall costs, and offer better value solutions.  

Under the terms of the Highways Major Works and Street Lighting Contract 2018, JB Riney would charge a sliding scale of handling/overhead fee, (dependant on the service element) in managing the consultancy services through their supply chain and providing ECI throughout the project delivery.

The value of consultancy services that can be commissioned through a new contract arrangement was estimated at up to £330k per annum to be met (along with full charges of the commissions) from individual revenue maintenance or capital project scheme budgets.

With JB Riney’s unit rates competitive, working through the supply chain was expected to herald benefits through the ECI approach, representing a best value delivery of the service required in the original lotting of the Major Highway Works and Street Lighting Contract 2018. An appropriate change control notice was recommended for JB Riney to provide the consultancy services for the remaining term of the Major Highway Works and Street Lighting Contract taking account of:

·  estimated Variation Value – up to £3m

·  other Associated Costs – none

·  proposed Variation Period – 7.25 years with the potential to extend by 1 year, as per the current contract.

The use of design and build and ECI would also reduce the requirement for project management by the Council resulting in a saving of £10k per annum from staffing and a reduction of 0.2 FTE officer time.

Members had no comment on the report.

RESOLVED that the Executive be recommended to agree that the

The Highway Engineering Consultancy Services is included as part of the Highway Major Works and Street Lighting contract with JB Riney via a contract variation.