Provision of Commercial Property Consultancy Services

Description

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (the “Board”) entered into a contract with Lisney Limited for Commercial Property Consultancy Services in connection with the New Children's Hospital in March 2017 (the “Contract”). The Contract was awarded following an open tender competition published on eTenders in December 2016. The Contract was be for a period of three (3) years with the option to extend for up to a further two (2) years. However, the New Children’s Hospital is not expected to be complete until 2025. The Board is of the view that the Contract and tender documents for the competition made provision for or flagged in a sufficiently clear and precise manner that the term of the Contract would match the programme for the delivery of the New Children’s Hospital including any extended/prolonged period of construction Lot 1: In March 2017, NPHDB entered into a contract with Lisney Limited for Commercial Property Consultancy Services relating to the New National Children’s Hospital. Although the original value of the Contract was not expected to exceed the then applicable EU threshold for contracts of this nature (i.e. €209,000 excluding VAT) in the interests of transparency the Board conducted an open tender competition published in the Official Journal of the European Union in December 2016. The process was concluded when Lisney Limited was identified as the preferred tenderer and a services contract was executed between NPHDB and Lisney Limited in March 2017 (the “Contract”). The Services provided by Lisney under the Contract primarily involve assisting NPHDB with the procurement of the car park funder/operator and the leasing/letting of various other (non-car park) commercial units on the site (e.g. commercial catering, cafes, pharmacy and retail units), the optional drawdown of services in relation to Leasing/Letting of Commercial Units on site of new children’s hospital, as well as the optional drawdown of ad-hoc consultancy services. The term of contract was due to expire in 2022. However, the Board is of the view it is justified in relying on the provisions of Article 72(1)(a) to continue to drawdown the Services pursuant to the Contract until practical completion of the project as this was provided for in the initial procurement documents in clear, precise and unequivocal review clauses.. This is based on the position that the Request For Tenders expressly states that it is envisaged that the Services would be completed by practical completion of the project and a key part of the scope was to provide leasing/letting of various other commercial units on the site (a service which can only be provided once the development is completed). In addition the overall value of the Contract following completion of the Project will not exceed the applicable EU threshold for contracts of this nature (i.e. €215,000 excluding VAT) and will not exceed the indicative contract value advertised. As such, it is NPHDB’s view that the continuation of drawdown of services under the Contract is permissible in accordance with the principle of Regulation 72(1)(a) of European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 on the basis that it was clearly and sufficiently provided for in some of the tender documents.