Tree-maintenance services

Tender description

Portsmouth City Council ("the council") is seeking to appoint a term contractor to provide a comprehensive arboricultural service for the maintenance of the non-highways public tree stock within the city and in 3 council owned housing areas just north of Portsmouth. The council is aiming to have awarded the contract in May 2019 and expects the service to start in August 2019. The initial term will be 5 years with provision to extend by up to a further 5 years to a maximum term of 10 years. The council estimates that the value of the contract will be 275 000 GBP per year (and this reflects currently known demand), although the council wishes to retain the ability to expand the scope of the contract to accommodate potential future demand up to an estimated maximum of 1 260 000 GBP per year. See section II.2.4) for further information on possible change of scope. Application is via submission of a compliant tender, which must be received by the council by 22.3.2019 [14:00]. The council is looking for a term contractor to undertake the maintenance of the tree stock within the city and in the 3 council owned housing areas just north of the city (Leigh Park, Crookhorn and Wecock Farm). Tree works are issued in a mix of reactive enquiries (events) and proactive planned works following regular tree inspections. The vast majority of trees are on publically accessible land. This tender does not include the maintenance of the majority of trees on highways as these are currently covered under the council's highways PFI contract; however, some of our trees are growing close to roads and footpaths so there is a need for pedestrian control and occasional traffic management. The council's arboriculture office will carry out the ongoing surveying of tree stock and maintains data using Arbortrack. A 24 hour/365 day emergency work and response service will be part of the contract. The contractor will be required to respond to works defined as an emergency within 2 hours of the request from the council's arboriculture officer. Due to the social and political importance of tree maintenance in the city, the contractor will need to either have premises in the city or surrounding area or be able to give considerable confidence to the council of their ability to be based outside of the city and still fulfil the contracted services, for example, employees with equipment living in or close to the city that could mobilise quickly if required. Over the period of the contract the council would like to develop the possibility of a partial or fully managed arboriculture service, with the contractor taking on, in part or fully, the: — surveying, — maintaining and keeping the council tree database up to date, — raising of work orders for the city's tree stock (prior to council approval). In addition the council is seeking for further potential collaboration with a view to adopting the same software as the preferred contractor. The council currently uses Arbortrack. Contractors are asked to outline their software provision, confirming any associated costs for the council to implement and license the same software, whilst also detailing any hardware and data integration requirements. Wider sub-regional access: all public sector bodies situated within the following areas will be able to utilise this contract for the maintenance of their trees. In all cases, Portsmouth City Council will manage this arrangement through its contract with the supplier and not through separate contracts between the public sector body and the supplier. — Portsmouth, — Gosport, — Havant, — Fareham. The council is not able to provide any guarantees or accurate estimates on likely take up by further public sector bodies and cannot provide significant detail in respect of demand for particular work activities, specification approaches, works value etc. Council premises: the council is not able to provide depot premises at this time. There is currently a holding area for waste in the corner of Farlington sports field of approximately 1 000 m2 for the storage of arisings for temporary stockpiling and sorting prior to final disposal. The contractor will be responsible for managing this area. The Council will run the procurement process in line with the following programme: Invitation to tender pack made available on In tend: 13.2.2019. Deadline for requests for clarification: 15.3.2019 [23:59]. Tender return deadline: 22.3.2019 [14:00]. Deadline for return of company reference questionnaires: 22.3.2019. Interview(s) w/c: 22.4.2019. Standstill period start: 30.4.2019. Standstill period end: 9.5.2019 [23:59]. Contract award: 10.5.2019. Service commencement: August 2019. Joining instructions and the documentation which will require completion can be obtained via the council's In-tend e-sourcing solution using the following address: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home