for the provision of specialist services to assist in the...

CPU 1410 Townscape Heritage Application Specialist Services

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Issue Date: ####

Return Date: TBC

Return Time: 17:00hrs GMT

Invitation to Tender for the provision of

Specialist Services to Assist in the

Preparation of a Townscape Heritage

Second-Round Funding Application

Ref: CPU 1410


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CONTENTS

Section 1: Introduction ..........................................................................................1

1 Outline Scope of Requirements .................................................................1

2 Project Background....................................................................................1

3 Submission of Quotes ................................................................................3

4 Contract Terms & Conditions .....................................................................3

5 Freedom of Information..............................................................................3

Section 2: Specification.........................................................................................4

2 Methodology And Expected Outputs..........................................................5

3 The Councils’ Role .....................................................................................5

4 The Consultant’s Role ................................................................................5

5 Anticipated Study Time Table ....................................................................6

6 Submission Of Quotation ...........................................................................6

7 Deliverables ...............................................................................................6

Section 3: Form of Response ...............................................................................7

1 Responses to Invitation to Quote ...............................................................7

2 Submission of Responses..........................................................................7

3 Supplier Information ...................................................................................7

4 Quality Evaluation ......................................................................................7

5 Bid Pricing..................................................................................................8

6 Bid Scoring & Weightings...........................................................................8

7 Clarification of Responses..........................................................................9

Section 4: Evaluation Questions .........................................................................10

1 Evaluation Question 1 ..............................................................................10






Section 5: Pricing Schedule ................................................................................11

1 Costs........................................................................................................11

2 Schedule ..................................................................................................11

Section 6: Payment Details.................................................................................12

Section 7: Form of Tender ..................................................................................13

Section 8: Supplier Information...........................................................................14

1 Company Information & Contact Details ..................................................14

2 Potential Conflicts of Interest....................................................................15

3 Insurance Levels ......................................................................................15

4 References...............................................................................................17


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Section 1: Introduction

1 Outline Scope of Requirements

1.1 Tenders are invited for the supply of a suitably qualified and experienced consultant who can assist the City Council with preparing its Townscape Heritage (TH) second-round Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) application.

2 Project Background

2.1 On 20th February 2014 The HLF awarded Nottingham City Council a first round pass for a Townscape Heritage Scheme on Carrington Street. Carrington Street is the key pedestrian route between the commercial heart of Nottingham City Centre and its Grade II* listed Midland Railway Station which has recently undergone a £60 million renovation. The street has been in slow decline since the early 1970s when the construction of the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre effectively cut it off from the commercial heart of the City Centre to the north. This issue of severance is being addressed by the Arkwright Street Masterplan which aims to improve links between Trent Bridge and the Meadows to the south and the historic core of the City to the north.

2.2 Heritage Lottery funding will help to reinforce Carrington Street's sense of place as a gateway to the City Centre and key attractions such as Nottingham Castle. The project will help to attract new interest and investment in the street, encourage the conversion of upper floors to new uses (including potential for residential apartments) and draw in high end uses for existing commercial units. It will improve visitors' first impressions of Nottingham and enable visitors and residents to engage better with the commercial history and elegant architecture of the street. It will also provide training opportunities in traditional skills and the development of digital resources.

2.3 The scheme area straddles the boundary between the Station Conservation Area and the Canal Conservation Area, both of which are currently included in the English Heritage Register of Heritage at Risk. The Carrington Street corridor in particular has suffered extensively from inappropriate alterations to facades, loss of original shopfronts, lack of routine maintenance and general neglect, vandalism, proliferation of street clutter and the impact of traffic dominated junctions.

2.4 The Canal Conservation Area was designated in February 1983 and extended in February 2014 while the Station Conservation Area was designated in October 1990 and the boundary altered in April 2008. Both have an appraisal and management plan and are available at: http://www.nottinghaminsight.org.uk/f/96135/Library/Council-Government-and-Democracy/Planning/Nottingham-City-Planning-Guidance/Nottingham-City---Conservation-Area-Character-Appraisals-Management-Plans-&-Policy-Documents/.

2.5 A map at Appendix 1 shows the extent to of the TH Scheme area.


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2.6 In August 2013 the City Council made a bid to the HLF to fund a Townscape Heritage Scheme which had the following stated aims:

2.6.1 Carrington Street's historic buildings will be repaired, restored and managed in a manner which better reveals their heritage significance. Repairs to the roofs, rainwater goods, masonry and windows of target buildings will leave their exterior envelopes in good condition making them more attractive to potential investors and tenants. Higher long term occupancy of the existing buildings will generate a reliable income stream for future maintenance.

2.6.2 Where necessary the appropriate reinstatement of architectural features coupled with planned improvements to the public realm will create a more pleasant and vibrant environment at street level and encourage high end users to move to the area and longer dwell times.

2.6.3 Regular site based training events during active conservation work for owners and occupiers will equip them to achieve high standards in on-going maintenance. At the same time specific training and curriculum based packages directed at inner city school and college students will widen awareness of the area’s heritage, the regeneration programme and technical skills. The general public living and working in the area will benefit from special events organised with the help of trained conservation professionals on the on-going maintenance of the historic environment.

2.6.4 Temporary exhibitions and window displays within the TH participant building will showcase examples of conservation work, promote the TH project and raise heritage awareness. This will include the use of smartphone Apps and webpage entries.

2.6.5 Owners residents and visitors to the area will be encouraged to input into and take ownership of the Conservation Area Management Plans so that they are fully aware of their maintenance responsibilities and can uphold the required standards. The Council will back up these standards by taking prompt enforcement action on breaches in planning control.

2.6.6 On a yearly basis for the five years of the project a cherry picker will be hired to assess the condition of exterior envelopes, clear gutters and carry out minor repair works in hard to reach places.

2.6.7 Heritage based activities for passers-by such as interactive applications and tours of the project area will showcase key buildings and their stories and reveal the historic significance of the Street as a main route into Nottingham City Centre from the south. Such activities will inform, educate and create a sense of local pride in the townscape that encourages vigilance and genuine interest in its future upkeep.

2.7 In order to help prepare the second-round application for the scheme, we wish to appoint a consultancy to provide technical support and advice to the City Council’s Townscape Heritage Project Officer. This Round 2 information has to be submitted to the HLF by 11th February 2015 at the latest.


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3 Submission of Quotes

3.1 Quotes should be received no later than the time and date stated on the front of this document. The council reserves the right to accept or reject any submission received after this deadline.

3.2 The Council does not bind itself to accept the lowest, or any, tender.

3.3 All quotes, and any queries, must be submitted via Nottingham City Council’s e-tendering portal, located at www.eastmidstenders.org.

4 Contract Terms & Conditions

4.1 The successful bidder will be required to enter into a contract under the Council's Standard Terms & Conditions of Contract for Consultancy Services.

4.2 A copy of the standard terms & conditions of contract to be used are available via the portal. The successful bidder will be required to provide two signed copies of the contract following award.

5 Freedom of Information

5.1 Information in relation to this tender may be made available on demand in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

5.2 Bidders should state if any information supplied by them is confidential or commercially sensitive or should not be disclosed in response to a request for information under the Act, and should state why they consider the information to be confidential or commercially sensitive.

5.3 This will not guarantee that the information will not be disclosed but will be examined in the list of the exemptions provided in the Act.


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Section 2: Specification

1.1 The overall purpose of the post(s) is to work with the City Council to make the second-round TH application to the HLF.

1.2 The appointment will be until 11th February 2015 and would involve preparing the necessary material for the Round 2 application to the HLF.

1.3 The work will involve producing the Activity Plan, Project Business Plan and Management and Maintenance Plan for the Scheme in partnership with the Townscape Heritage Project Officer. The consultant will be required to work with owners and occupiers and specialist staff (including valuers, structural engineers, etc) to draw up and cost schemes.

1.4 In line with HLF requirements (see details at: http://www.hlf.org.uk/HowToApply/programmes/Pages/Townscape_Heritage.aspx) the main work elements would be to:

1.4.1 Produce promotional materials, including suitable visualisations and press releases when needed.

1.4.2 Liaise with building owners and occupiers.

1.4.3 Undertake a public and stakeholder consultation within the TH area and summarise the results

1.4.4 Obtain (with the agreement of the City Council) and liaise with the services of suitably qualified and experienced Quantity Surveyors / Valuers and others as necessary to produce sample building condition and structural surveys and valuations with associated costs of works and level of grant needed.

1.4.5 Liaise with Townscape Heritage Project Manager and conservation staff and provide additional technical advice, when required.

1.4.6 Draft the Detailed Scheme Plan, Activity Plan and Management and Maintenance Plan for the scheme

1.4.7 Liaise, face to face, with City Council and other relevant officers and BID Boards when required.

1.4.8 Liaise with the Heritage Lottery representatives when required.

1.4.9 Produce information about the calculation of grant rates.

1.4.10 Produce third party grant application forms.

1.4.11 Produce a flow chart summarizing the decision making process for third party grants.

1.4.12 Produce the scheme timetable.

1.4.13 Produce income and spending forecasts for five years after the scheme ends.

1.5 In order to undertake all of these tasks we require the services of a suitably and relevantly experienced person(s). Who has./ have, in summary;


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1.5.1 A degree level qualification in architecture, planning or conservation, plus membership of a relevant professional body (IHBC, RIBA, RICS etc)

1.5.2 Post qualification experience in historic building conservation and conservation area work in a local government or comparable setting and in project management

1.5.3 Good working knowledge of built heritage conservation principles and practice

1.5.4 To have experience of the setting up and workings of a conservation grant regime, through involvement in the application of a council generated scheme, or the securing of external grant funding

1.5.5 Excellent project management skills including financial management

1.5.6 Up to date IT skills, including familiarity with Microsoft office applications

1.5.7 Excellent communication skills, written and verbal, including negotiation skills

1.5.8 Excellent report writing skills

1.5.9 The ability to form constructive relationships within the team and with a broad range of stakeholders, especially in the community, other officers and members of the Council

2 Methodology And Expected Outputs

2.1 The submission should include details of qualifications, knowledge and experience of the individual put forward for this post, against the above bullet point summary.

3 The Councils’ Role

3.1 The client for the post is Nottingham City Council. The lead officer and main point of contact for the successful consultant is:

Tom Street Conservation Officer 0115 8764149 [email protected]

3.2 The lead officer will act as the link to the TH project board and will manage the involvement of the successful consultants.

3.3 The successful consultant will ideally be based at the Council’s offices when working on the project and will be expected to work closely alongside the TH Project Manager.

4 The Consultant’s Role

4.1 The consultant will be responsible for undertaking the work outlined in the brief and as agreed on appointment.


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5 Anticipated Study Time Table

5.1 Quotations should note the following anticipated dates for the key milestones:

Stage Date Deadline for Submission of quotations TBC Interviews for consultant if required TBC Appointment of Consultant TBC Inception Meeting TBC Submission of draft of material to be submitted to NCC for amendment prior to submission

1st January 2015

6 Submission Of Quotation

6.1 Consultants are invited to submit a tender outlining the following (failure to submit this information may result in your submission being rejected):

6.1.1 The submission should include details of qualifications, knowledge and experience of the individual put forward for this post, against the specification.

6.1.2 Brief details of past experience of successful delivery of similar schemes

6.1.3 Relevant references for previous work undertaken

6.1.4 Declaration of any actual or potential conflicts of interest and an indication as to how any conflict of interest may be removed or avoided.

7 Deliverables

7.1 A potential post holder(s) available to meet the timescales as set out in 5.1.


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Section 3: Form of Response

1 Responses to Invitation to Quote

1.1 The purpose of the response is to enable us to evaluate your understanding of our requirements, and the suitability of your organisation and of your proposed methods for meeting them.

1.2 Your response should consist of the following:

1.2.1 Written responses to the evaluation questions.

1.2.2 Breakdown of costs in accordance with the Pricing Schedule.

2 Submission of Responses

2.1 Quotes, and associated documents, and any queries, must be submitted via Nottingham City Council’s e-tendering portal, located at www.eastmidstenders.org.

2.2 Quotes should be received no later than the date and time shown on the front of this document.

2.3 No alteration or amendment of returns will be accepted after this deadline.

3 Supplier Information

3.1 Bidders are required to complete the supplier information questions presented in Section 8. These questions cover your organisation's basic details, and some questions used to gauge your organisation's suitability to become a supplier to the council.

3.2 The supplier information questions are not scored; however any organisation failing to satisfy the council of their suitability to undertake the contract will be removed from consideration. Some elements (such as potential conflicts of interest) may require you to provide additional information, and the council reserves the right to seek further clarification where appropriate.

3.3 All questions require either a written answer, or are presented as Yes or No responses; however should you feel that there are any that do not apply, please leave the 'Yes' or 'No' tick-boxes blank or state 'N/A' in the answer box, and provide a brief explanation of why you feel the question is not applicable.

4 Quality Evaluation

4.1 Your response should describe clearly and concisely how you would fulfil the requirements of the contract, paying close attention to the following points:

4.1.1 Please clearly label each response with the appropriate question number.

4.1.2 Where you feel the question is not relevant to your application, please state ‘Not Applicable’ and give an explanation of why you feel this is the case.


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4.1.3 Please ensure that your responses to the questions relate to the specification, and any additional detail presented in the background section.

4.1.4 For each written question, please ensure that no more material is provided than is required to answer the question. In particular, please avoid the following:

i) Additional information outside the scope of the question; ii) Details about your company that have not been requested and

don't add clarity to the response; iii) 'Sales pitch' type information.

4.1.5 Please keep to any limits on response lengths stated in the question (for written responses this includes pictures / photographs unless specified otherwise, and should use Arial font size 12). Responses longer than the specified length will only be scored on the material provided within the allowance.

4.2 Each quality evaluation question will be assigned a score according to the following criteria:

Assessed Standard Judgement Marks Meets the standards exactly as specified Excellent 5 Meets the standard well, but not exactly Good 4 Meets standard in most aspects, fails in some Satisfactory 3 Fails standard in most aspects, meets it in some Doubtful 2 Significantly fails to meet the standard Poor 1

Completely fails to meet the standard Not worth considering 0

5 Bid Pricing

5.1 The schedule of components to be covered by this contract is given in Section 5. The council require bidders to provide an anticipated time spent on each component, an estimated price against each component, and a total price for the overall contract.

5.2 Where a discrepancy exists between the sum of individual prices and the total proposed, bidders will be invited to clarify which, if either, is correct. Amendments to the submitted pricing schedule may only be accepted at the council's discretion.

5.3 Abnormally low or high bids distort evaluation of tenders, and where the council considers a bid to fall into one of these categories the tenderer will be required to clarify and explain their bid.

6 Bid Scoring & Weightings

6.1 The marks available, relative weightings, and total score available, for each quality evaluation question and pricing element are shown in the tables below.

6.2 The scores from the evaluation questions will be added together to give a combined total of up to 70%.


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6.3 The price element is worth up to a maximum of 30%; the total value from the pricing schedule will be awarded a score according to the following formula:

score = (lowest bid received / bid price) x 30

6.4 The quality and pricing totals will be added together to arrive at the overall score for the bid. The contract will be awarded to the organisation submitting the highest scoring bid which has satisfied the council's criteria in regard to the qualification questions.

6.5 Quality Evaluation Scoring Table: Question: Description: Marks: Weight: Total:

1 Personnel & Resources 5 4 20

2 Relevant Experience of Advisor 5 4 20

3 Experience in Similar Schemes 5 3 15

4 Success of Recent Schemes 5 1 5

5 Experience in Monitoring Expenditure 5 1 5

6 Ensuring Costs Within Proposed Pricing 5 1 5

70

7 Clarification of Responses

7.1 Where it is considered by the evaluation team that any part of the response is unclear, the council will request clarification from the bidder following the deadline for responses.

7.2 Wherever possible, any clarifications required relating to your response will be dealt with in writing via the portal.

7.3 It may be considered that written clarification is not sufficient in some instances; the council thus reserves the right to invite bidders to attend a clarification interview in person.


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Section 4: Evaluation Questions

1 Evaluation Question 1

Please detail the personnel and resources to carry out the tasks and how these meet the requirements outlined in the specification.


In particular please explain the relevant experience of the historic building conservation advisor to meeting the requirements outlined in the specification.


Please detail your experience in similar schemes, especially any undertaken with HLF and how this experience will support this project.


Please explain how successful any of these recent schemes were in terms of bidding for resources external to the client.


Please explain your knowledge and experience in monitoring expenditure, making returns to public and grant making bodies, especially the HLF.


Please explain how will you ensure the costs will meet all aspects of the work phases and be kept within the proposed pricing.


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Section 5: Pricing Schedule

1 Costs

1.1 The costs should be provided for each component of the work, which will be inclusive of the costs for overheads and any other costs associated with the provision of the post holder(s) with a breakdown of all these non-salary costs. These should then be aggregated to show the costs of undertaking the work for the period up to the end of February 2015.

1.2 It has been assumed so far that the work would take on average, for no more than 25 hours per week averaged across the period. The total costs of the project will be no more than £23,500 and any tenders above this figure will be rejected. The costs specified for each component will be full inclusive and will be the maximum that will be paid for that element of the work. Where appropriate these component costs will form the basis of stage payments that will be agreed for the work.

1.3 All these requirements should be seen as a summary of the HLF requirements and should be read as details as per the HLF guidelines.

2 Schedule

Component Description

Anticipated Time spent

on this component

Total Costs (£)

1 Produce promotional materials, including suitable visualisations and press releases when needed.

2 Undertake a public and stakeholder consultation within the TH area and summarise the results.

3

Obtain (with the agreement of the City Council) and liaise with the services of suitably qualified and experienced Quantity Surveyors/ Valuers and others as necessary to produce sample building condition and structural surveys and valuations with associated costs of works and level of grant needed.

4 Draft the Detailed Scheme Plan, Activity Plan and Management and Maintenance Plan for the scheme

5

Produce information about the calculation of grant rates.

6 Produce third party grant application forms.

7 Produce a flow chart summarizing the decision making process for third party grants.

8 Produce the scheme timetable.

9 Produce income and spending forecasts for five years after the scheme ends.

Total for period up to 11 th February 2015


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Section 6: Payment Details

The Council’s standard payment terms are 30 days from receipt of invoice.

It is the policy of the Council to make payments to all suppliers direct into their bank account using the Bankers Automated Clearing Systems (BACS).

Please complete your bank and relevant company details below. If your sales are factored to an Agency, please enclose a copy of the authorisation to make payment directly to them. The bank details will then be those of the factor and not yours.

Sort Code: Account:

Account Name:

Bank Name:

Bank Address:

Postcode:

No invoice will be accepted from any Supplier without an official written order from us, and the order number in full being quoted on the invoice.

IMPORTANT

Invoices to Nottingham City Council should be provided as PDF images and sent by email to the following address:

[email protected]

Where suppliers are not able to provide electronic invoices, paper copies should be posted to the following address:

Nottingham City Council PO Box 484 Sale M33 0DJ

Failure to do so may lead to a delay in payment.


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Section 7: Form of Tender

Note: Refusal to give this declaration and undertaking means that your tender will not be considered.

To Nottingham City Council

Having examined carefully and understood the Conditions of Tender, Conditions of Contract, Specification, and all other documentation issued by the Council in connection with this tender,

We:

Of:

hereby offer to supply the Service subject to the terms and conditions set out in such Conditions of Tender, Conditions of Contract Specification and other documents (if any) at the prices and rates contained in the Pricing Schedule.

We understand you are not bound to accept the lowest or any tender you may receive and you will not pay any expenses incurred by us in connection with the preparation and submission of this tender.

Unless and until a formal Contract is prepared and executed this Tender together with your written acceptance thereof shall constitute a binding Contract between us.

Signature: Duly authorised agent of the Tenderer

Position held:

Name and Address of Tenderer:

Dated:

It must clearly be shown whether the Tenderer is a Limited Company, Statutory Corporation, Partnership, or Single Indiv idual, trading in their own or another name; and also if the person signing is not the actual Tenderer, the capacity in which they sign or are em ployed.


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Section 8: Supplier Information

1 Company Information & Contact Details

Name of legal entity or sole-trader

Unique name of legal entity or name of individual

Trading Name (where different to above)

Registered office address

Address line 1

Address line 2

Address line 3

Town

County

Post code

Contact Details for enquiries (include address from where projects would be administered if different from that of the registered office)

Title

Forename

Family name

Job title

E-mail

Telephone number

Address line 1

Address line 2

Address line 3

Town

County

Post Code


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Company registration numbers (Where applicable)

Registration number with Companies House

Registration number with equivalent body (e.g. FCA)

Charity registration number:

VAT registration number:

Company Structure

Type of organisation (e.g. PLC, Ltd, LLP, CIC, IPS; Other partnership; Sole trader)

Size of organisation: Please state total number of employees (including directors and part-time staff)

Name of immediate parent company (where applicable)

Name of ultimate parent company (where applicable)

2 Potential Conflicts of Interest

Please indicate if any of the following apply: YES NO

Relationships leading to potential conflicts of int erest with employees of the Council: Please state if any director, partner, or associate has any relative(s) or close contact(s) who is / are an employee of the Council, and provide details on the relationship.

Relationships leading to potential conflicts of int erest with elected members of the Council: Please state if any director, partner, or associate has any relative(s) or close contact(s) who is / are a Councillor or elected member of the Council, and provide details on the relationship.

3 Insurance Levels

Policy No. Limit of indemnity Excess Limit for a single event

Employers' liability insurance

Expiry date

Policy No. Limit of indemnity Excess Limit for a single event

Public liability insurance

Expiry date


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Policy No.

Limit of indemnity

Excess

Limit for a single event

Professional Indemnity insurance (Where Consultancy input involved) Expiry date

The levels of insurance ordinarily required for a project of this scope are indicated in the table below. Where your current level of cover is lower than that shown, please sign the box to confirm that you will commit to attaining the required level of cover prior to commencing the work should you be successful.

Type of insurance Minimum

level required

Confirmation of commitment to attaining the required level if

awarded contract:

Employers' liability £5m

Public liability £5m

Professional Indemnity £1m


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4 References

Referee 1:

Name of Organisation

Address

Contact Name

Contact Telephone

Contact Email

Do you require the initial contact to be made by yo urselves? Yes / No Referee 2:


Address

Contact Name

Contact Telephone

Contact Email

Do you require the initial contact to be made by yo urselves? Yes / No Referee 3:


Address

Contact Name

Contact Telephone

Contact Email

Do you require the initial contact to be made by yo urselves? Yes / No


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Appendix 1: Carrington Street Townscape Heritage Sc heme boundary plan


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