Testing and Maintenance of Garage Equipment

Description

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is preparing to retender its Testing & Maintenance of Garage Equipment used across its workshop estate. This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is being issued to engage with the market and gather insights from potential suppliers. The aim is to inform the development of the upcoming tender documentation and ensure the specification accurately reflects current capabilities, industry standards, technological developments, and best practice in the servicing and maintenance of garage workshop equipment. SFRS is particularly interested in understanding supplier capability across the following areas: - Ability to maintain, calibrate, test and repair a broad range of garage and workshop equipment - Geographic service coverage across all SFRS workshops, including Glasgow, Dundee, Inverness and Newbridge - Availability of service engineers accredited by the Garage Equipment Association (GEA) or equivalent - Use of digital tools for reporting, asset management, maintenance scheduling, and document control - Approaches to delivering both planned and reactive maintenance, including typical response times - Supply chain resilience, including availability of OEM or OEM equivalent parts - Capacity to supply and install new equipment on an ad hoc basis - Business continuity planning, risk management, and contingency arrangements - Contract management processes, KPI monitoring, and data/reporting capability - Ability to support collaborative call off by other eligible public bodies (e.g., Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland) where this is operationally beneficial and within scope of the Framework Lot 1: The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) seeks to establish a multi year Framework Agreement for the Planned and Reactive Maintenance, Calibration, and Ad hoc Replacement of Workshop Equipment used across its four Area Resource Centres: - Glasgow (Cowcaddens), - Dundee, - Inverness, and - Newbridge. The purchase is essential to ensuring the safety, reliability and operational readiness of SFRS’s fleet of emergency and support vehicles, which include fire appliances, rapid response units, platforms, and specialist rescue vehicles. Maintaining these vehicles to legislative and manufacturer standards is mission critical for emergency response capability. The requirement is highly critical, as improper maintenance or calibration of workshop equipment directly affects SFRS’s ability to service front line vehicles and therefore impacts emergency service delivery. The contract covers a full suite of workshop equipment and includes planned annual maintenance, calibration, reactive repairs within strict response times, and ad hoc equipment replacement when economically justified. This ensures equipment remains compliant with health and safety legislation, manufacturer requirements, and insurer standards. This purchase is a high importance, safety critical service contract aimed at safeguarding the operational reliability of SFRS workshops, ensuring compliance with national standards, and supporting uninterrupted emergency service provision. Responses to this PIN will help shape the final tender specification, technical questions, and selection criteria. Suppliers are invited to respond to the attached questionnaire, which covers the areas outlined above. Please note that this PIN is not a call for competition and does not commit SFRS to any procurement process at this stage. Responses should be emailed to flexibleprocurement@scotland-excel.org.uk by 5:00 PM on 26th March 2026.. Scotland Excel (SXL) will be acting on behalf of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) in the execution of this procurement exercise but will not be party to the contract or the management of the contract throughout its lifetime.