Purpose

The award of contract for the delivery of Fire Risk Assessments, Fire stopping surveys and Fire Door surveys and inspections across the Councils property portfolio.
 

Decision

Cabinet RESOLVED to:

1. Delegate the decision-making function in relation to the outcome of the procurement and the contract award for the provision of Fire Risk Assessment, Fire Stopping and Fire Door Survey Services to the Executive Director of Place and Economy in consultation with the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Director of Legal and Governance. The contract awarded shall be for the initial contract period of two years (anticipated commencement date

1 October 2026) with two 1-year optional extension periods and the total value of the contract, including optional extensions, shall not exceed £1,000,000.

1. Delegates responsibility to the Executive Director of Place and Economy to exercise the two optional 1-year extension periods and any necessary contract variation(s) throughout the life of the contract provided that the total value of the contract shall not exceed £1,000,000.
2. Notes that a budget of £99,000 per annum (£396,000 across the maximum four-year term) is already included within the Corporate Property Revenue Programme for the provision of Fire Risk Assessments. Further fire stopping and compartmentation surveys and Fire Risk Assessments are likely to be required as part of capital projects, these will be funded through each of the projects own budget allocation.

Alternative options considered

1.     Do Nothing – The current delivery of the FRAs through direct appointment of a contractor via the Bloom Framework could compliantly continue, however the tendering of this contract enables the Council to seek competitive market rates and ensures that the specific requirements of the Council are met whilst encouraging smaller local organisations to tender and contribute to Peterborough's economic development.The delivery of the surveys was previously delivered via Peterborough Limited. There were no current contract arrangements in place. As these services have been insourced for the continuation of these services an exemption report has been approved for an interim period only. By undertaking an open tender process, it encourages suppliers an opportunity to tender for these services.

2.     Appoint via a Framework – Whilst the current delivery of FRAs have been appointed via the Bloom Framework and the continued use of the framework is an option, the tendering of this contract enables the Council to seek competitive market rates and ensures that the specific requirements of the Council are met. It also encourages local smaller organisations to tender for these services contributing to Peterborough’s economic development. The current delivery of the Fire Surveys is not via a public framework, and future use of a framework would mean the Council loses the opportunity to potentially procure suppliers who are local Peterborough business.