A9 Dualling - Tomatin to Moy - Archaeological Investigation

Concepts

• archaeological services
• glasgow
• scotland
• archaeological investigation
• archaeological contractor
• excavation work at archaeological sites
• archaeological investigations
• invasive archaeological investigations
• non-invasive archaeological investigations
• archaeological investigation contract

Location

A9 Tomatin to Moy

Description

Transport Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, has identified the need to appoint a suitably experienced archaeological contractor (“Contractor”) to carry out non-invasive and invasive pre-construction archaeological investigations for the A9 Dualling – Tomatin to Moy Scheme. The main objective to be delivered by the Contractor will be to reduce the effect of the A9 Dualling Programme on the archaeological resource through the acquisition of a full archaeological record and an evidence based interpretation of that record. As a minimum this will include non-invasive and invasive archaeological investigations, earthwork and landscape surveys, metal detector survey, building survey, a programme of trial trenching, followed by a post-excavation assessment and reporting, with potential strip, map and excavations, and further post excavation assessment and reporting.

Total Quantity or Scope

Transport Scotland is an agency of the Scottish Government and contracts in the name of and on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. Transport Scotland has identified the requirement to appoint a suitably experienced Contractor to undertake non-invasive and invasive pre-construction archaeological investigations for the A9 Dualling – Tomatin to Moy scheme. It is intended that the contract will be in place for a period of approximately 25 months covering two main phases of work: (i) Phase 1 – Archaeological Trial Trenching, Surveys, Reporting and Archiving, estimated to approximately 5 months. (ii) Phase 2 (if required following Phase 1) – Archaeological Strip, Map and Excavation, Reporting, Post-Excavation Analysis, and Publication, estimated to approximately 20 months. Transport Scotland will manage the proposed procurement process for the non-invasive and invasive pre-construction archaeological investigation contract (the “Contract”) on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. In the event of the contract award, the Contract will be entered into between the Scottish Ministers and the successful tenderer. The contract terms and conditions will be based on Infrastructure Conditions of Contract Archaeological Investigation Version August 2011. Each selected economic operator shall be invited to submit a Tender on the same contract terms. The Contractor will be procured through a competitive tender procedure, in accordance with the restricted procedure as stated in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. This is a two-stage procedure, comprising a prequalification stage and a tender stage. Section II.2.9 of this Contract Notice describes the criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates. In order to be considered for the prequalification stage, economic operators are required to complete and submit an SPD, which can be downloaded via the Public Contracts Scotland portal (www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk). It is anticipated that a total of 5 economic operators will be invited to tender stage. Due to the specialist archaeological expertise required for this project, the non-invasive archaeological investigations, the archaeological trial trenching, post-excavation assessment and reporting, any potential archaeological strip, map and excavation, associated post-excavation assessment and reporting are to be performed under a single contract and as such shall not be divided into lots. Requirement: The requirement for archaeological investigation is evaluated in the Environmental Statement (ES) for Scottish Trunk Road schemes. It was identified in the cultural heritage chapter and the Schedule of Environmental Commitments in the A9 Dualling – Tomatin to Moy Environmental Statement (ES) that archaeological investigations would be required for the scheme. The investigation is required in order to reduce the effect of the scheme on the archaeological resource through the acquisition of a full archaeological record and an evidence based interpretation of that record. The services required are likely to include: non-invasive and invasive archaeological investigations, and post-excavation assessment, analysis, reporting and publication. The non-invasive archaeological investigations are likely to include: earthwork and landscape surveys, metal detector survey, and a building survey. The invasive archaeological investigations are likely to include: trial trenching, followed by potential strip, map and excavation, with subsequent post-fieldwork assessment, analysis, and reporting.

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 71351914 - Archaeological services
• 45112450 - Excavation work at archaeological sites

Indicators

• Bids should cover the whole contract.
• Renewals are not available.
• Financial restrictions apply.
• Performance considerations apply.
• Professional qualifications are sought.
• Staff qualifications are relevant.
• Award on basis of price and quality.

Other Information

For full additional information please refer to document - VI.3) Supplementary Additional Information saved in additional documents. The Scottish Ministers shall not evaluate any SPD submission received past the specified deadline, unless the delay is caused by a situation out with the control of the economic operator, the determination of which shall be at the sole discretion of the Scottish Ministers. Compliance in achieving the specified deadline is the sole responsibility of the economic operator. Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems. Economic operators which alter their composition after making a submission or whose position has materially changed will be the subject of re-evaluation. Transport Scotland reserves the right, at any point, to request current and up-to-date information to enable re-evaluation of any economic operator. As set out in accordance with section II.2.9 above, an economic operator who no longer has the requisite: technical or professional ability; human resources; or economic and financial standing, as required under this Contract Notice shall be excluded from this procurement competition. Any request by economic operator’s for clarification of any part of the documentation shall be made using the Question and Answer feature on the Public Contract Scotland portal. If the query is commercially sensitive then it should be made to the following email address: andy.anderson@transport.gov.scot. The decision whether a request for clarification shall be considered commercially sensitive or not rests solely at the absolute discretion of the Scottish Ministers. The deadline to submit questions relating to the submission is 12pm GMT on 31 March 2021. NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=645911. The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx. Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems. Community benefits are included in this requirement. For more information see: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/info/InfoCentre.aspx?ID=2361 A summary of the expected community benefits has been provided as follows: (for example) The Scottish Government is committed to contributing to the social, economic & environmental well-being of the people of Scotland, in order to create a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. Accordingly, while the following community benefit objectives will not be evaluated as part of the tender process, the successful service provider will be expected to present a community benefit proposal with their tender detailing how, in the event that they should be successful in winning the contract, they will address the following Community Benefit themes: - targeted recruitment & and training for “disadvantaged” persons unemployed for over 6 months; - graduate placements (SC Ref:645911) Download the ESPD document here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=645911