The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS): Smart Energy Code Administrator and Secretariat Services

UK-London: Administrative services for business operations.

Section I: Contracting Authority
   I.1)Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
      Department of Energy and Climate Change
      3 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2AW, United Kingdom
      Tel. +44 3000686788, Email: dcc.services.procurement@decc.gsi.gov.uk, URL: https://www.gov.uk/decc
      Contact: Tom Cattermole, Attn: Tom Cattermole

      Further information can be obtained at: As Above       
      Specifications and additional documents: As Above       
      Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: As Above       
   
   I.2)Type of the contracting authority:
      Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions

   I.3) Main activity:
      Environment

   I.4) Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities:
      The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: No

Section II: Object Of The Contract: SERVICES
   II.1)Description
      II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority: Smart Energy Code Administrator and Secretariat Services
      II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance: SERVICES         
         Service Category: 27

         Region Codes: UK - UNITED KINGDOM         
      II.1.3) Information about a public contract, a framework or a dynamic purchasing system:The notice involves a public contract                                                       
      
      II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase:
      Administrative services for business operations. Legal services. Miscellaneous business-related services. Document and configuration control, stakeholder management, mediation & negotiation, performance monitoring & reporting and secretarial & administrative services.

The Government's vision is for every home in Great Britain to have smart energy meters - the next generation of gas and electricity meters. To enable this, a licensed Data and Communications Company (DCC) will be established to provide communication services between smart meters and the business systems of energy suppliers, network operators and other authorised service users.

The rights and obligations between the DCC and the users of its services (along with other provisions to govern the end-to-end management of smart metering) are set out in a new multiparty agreement, the Smart Energy Code (SEC). Governance of this will be carried out on a day to day basis by the SEC Panel, subject to the oversight of the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem).

The purpose of this procurement is to secure Code Administrator and Secretariat services to support the SEC Panel in overseeing the Smart Energy Code. The Smart Energy Code Administrator and Secretariat (SECAS) will advise the SEC Panel about matters relating to the discharge of its functions and responsibilities in accordance with the Code as well as providing Parties with information relating to implementation of the Code.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is undertaking this procurement on behalf of the future Smart Energy Code Panel which will ultimately contract with the successful supplier through the Smart Energy Code Company. As such, DECC is of the view that this procurement is subject to neither the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 nor the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2006 (or any amendment of either). As such, and for the purposes of inviting expressions of interest in the provision of the SECAS services, DECC has elected voluntarily to advertise this opportunity through the Official Journal of the European Union and to follow a competitive process broadly similar to the restricted procedure as set out in the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2006.

The Code Administration services will encompass support in relation to the conduct of the SEC Panel’s governance procedures and expert procedural advice encompassing (without limitation) any or all of the following:
o   Configuration control of the Code and supporting documentation
o   Modification of the SEC at the request of Parties, government or Ofgem
o   Accession of Parties to the SEC
o   The provision of advice and support to prospective SEC Parties
o   Suspension, expulsion and withdrawal procedures for Parties
o   Dispute resolution between Parties
o   Entry of service users to the DCC
o   Reporting.

The Secretariat services will encompass support to the conduct of SEC Panel meetings relating to the administration of the Code including (without limitation) any or all of the following:

o   Acting as clerk to the SEC Panel
o   Scheduling SEC Panel meetings and sub-committee, working group and other meetings
o   Arranging meeting facilities
o   Recording Panel decisions
o   Administering the election of Panel members.

The exact scope of the SECAS is still under review but more detail will be provided at the PQQ and ITT stages of the procurement. Background information on the Smart Metering Implementation Programme (SMIP) and the SEC can be found by following the links below:

Government’s consultation on the proposed rights and obligations to be contained in the Smart Energy Code - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/43063/4896-smart-energy-code-con-doc.pdf

Government’s conclusions following responses to the SEC consultation above - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/43075/6908-stage-1-smart-energy-code-cons.pdf

The DECC Smart Metering site - https://www.gov.uk/smart-meters-how-they-work

Information to bidders:

Bidders should register their interest to participate in relation to this contract notice by 08/03/2013 (12:00 Noon) (as specified in section IV.3.4 of this notice). Interest should be expressed by way of the submission of a completed Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ). Instructions for the submission of PQQ responses will be provided within the PQQ. To obtain a PQQ prospective bidders should send a properly formatted email request to dcc.services.procurement@decc.gsi.gov.uk providing the following information:

o   Subject: Request to receive SECAS PQQ
o   Organisation name: [name]
o   Single point of contact (SPOC): [name]
o   SPOC job title: [title]
o   SPOC email address: [email]
o   SPOC telephone number: [number]

Copies of the PQQ will be issued via the DECC eTendering Portal (registration instructions will be provided upon receipt of the email request), and will be available from 04/02/2013. Further instructions will be made available at the time. Responses to the PQQ will be used to select and limit (as detailed in Section IV.1.2 of this notice) the number of candidates who will be invited to submit tenders.
         
      II.1.6)Common Procurement Vocabulary:
         75112000 - Administrative services for business operations.
         
         79100000 - Legal services.
         
         79990000 - Miscellaneous business-related services.
         

      II.1.7) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
         The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): No       
      II.1.8)Lots:
         This contract is divided into lots: No
      II.1.9)Information about variants:
         Variants will be accepted: No    
   
   II.2)Quantity Or Scope Of The Contract
      II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
      Expected start date:late July 2013
Expected contract duration: Initial period of 4 (four) years with two subsequent 1 (one) year extension options, each on the part of the SEC panel.
The total contract value is expected to be between £6 Million and £15 Million exclusive of VAT, subject to the refinement of SECAS requirements.      
      
      II.2.2)Options: Yes
         If yes, description of these options: Two 1 year extension options                   
         II.2.3)Information about renewals:
            This contract is subject to renewal: No          
   II.3)Duration Of The Contract Or Time-Limit For Completion      
         Duration in months: 48 (from the award of the contract)

   Information About Lots
               
Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial And Technical Information
   III.1)Conditions relating to the contract
      III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:
      Guarantees or other acceptable forms of security for contract performance may be required of the successful candidate. Further details will be provided in the tender documents issued at the relevant stage of the procurement process.
      
      III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
      Details to be provided in the tender documents issued at the relevant stage of the procurement process.
      
      III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
      Groupings of candidates may, if appointed, be required to (i) adopt a particular legal form, (ii) contract as a single supplier taking primary liability for contract performance, or (iii) assume joint and severable liability for contract performance irrespective of the form the grouping takes.
      
      III.1.4)Other particular conditions:
         The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions:Yes       
      If Yes, description of particular conditions:
      In order to avoid conflicts of interest the supplier fulfilling the role of the SECAS will not be permitted to undertake the role of the DCC Licensee or to be one of its principal suppliers. The SECAS supplier will also be required to be substantially independent from other SEC Parties. Further information will be provided in the PQQ.      
   III.2)Conditions For Participation
      III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers:

      As set out in the PQQ.      
      III.2.2)Economic and financial capacity
         Economic and financial capacity - means of proof required:         
         
         Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met:
         Yes means of proof required as set out in the PQQ.         
         Minimum Level(s) of standards possibly required:
         As set out in the PQQ.
      
      III.2.3)Technical capacity
         Technical capacity - means of proof required         
         
         Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met:
         Yes means of proof required as set out in the PQQ.         
         Minimum Level(s) of standards possibly required:
         As set out in the PQQ.      
      III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts: Not Provided   
   III.3)Conditions Specific To Service Contracts
      III.3.1)Information about a particular profession:
         Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: Not Provided      
      III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service:
         Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: Yes
Section IV: Procedure
   IV.1)Type Of Procedure
      IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Restricted
      
      IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate:
                        
         Objective Criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates:
         As set out in the PQQ. DECC reserves the right to limit the number of suppliers who will be invited to participate in dialogue to a maximum of 5 on the basis of their responses to the PQQ, provided that they satisfy the minimum standards required as set out in the PQQ.   
   IV.2)Award Criteria
      IV.2.1)Award criteria:      
         The most economically advantageous tender in terms of
            The criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

      IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction:
         An electronic auction will be used: No       

   IV.3)Administrative Information
      IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority: TRN 563/01/2013      
      IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract: Not Provided
      IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document:


         Not Provided      
      
      IV.3.4)Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
         Date: 08/03/2013
         Time: 12:00      
      IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates: 04/04/2013      
      IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up:         English
         


Section VI: Complementary Information

   VI.1)This Is A Recurrent Procurement: No
   VI.2)Information about European Union funds:
      The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: Not Provided      
   VI.3)Additional Information: To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/respondToList.html?noticeId=50030431
GO-2013124-PRO-4538353 TKR-2013124-PRO-4538352
   
   VI.4)Procedures For Appeal
      VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures:
      Not Provided

      VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals: As soon as possible after any decision in relation to the award of a contract has been made, DECC will, on behalf of the SEC Panel, inform tenderers and candidates of its decision and provide the information similar to that required by regulation 33 of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended). It will thereafter voluntarily observe a standstill period of a similar way to that required by regulation 33(3) of those Regulations.   
   
      VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:
            Smart Metering Implementation Programme
      Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), 3 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2AW, United Kingdom
      Tel. +44 3000686788, Email: dcc.services.procurement@decc.gsi.gov.uk, URL: https://www.gov.uk/decc

   VI.5) Date Of Dispatch Of This Notice: 24/01/2013

ANNEX A