Northumberland County Council is seeking to establish a Framework for the hire of operated plant across Northumberland. The Framework shall be divided into the following 28 Lots: Lot 1 - Excavators - North Northumberland Lot 2 - Excavators - Tynedale Lot 3 - Excavators - Castle Morpeth Lot 4 - Excavators - South East Northumberland Lot 5 - Loading Shovels - North Northumberland Lot 6 - Loading Shovels - Tynedale Lot 7 - Loading Shovels - Castle Morpeth Lot 8 - Loading Shovels - South East Northumberland Lot 9 - Road Sweepers - North Northumberland Lot 10 - Road Sweepers - Tynedale Lot 11 - Road Sweepers - Castle Morpeth Lot 12 - Road Sweepers - South East Northumberland Lot 13 - Road Pavers and Planers - North Northumberland Lot 14 - Road Pavers and Planers - Tynedale Lot 15 - Road Pavers and Planers - Castle Morpeth Lot 16 - Road Pavers and Planers - South East Northumberland Lot 17 - Tractors - North Northumberland Lot 18 - Tractors - Tynedale Lot 19 - Tractors - Castle Morpeth Lot 20 - Tractors - South East Northumberland Lot 21 - Hot Box and Tipper Wagons - North Northumberland                                        Lot 22 - Hot Box and Tipper Wagons - Tynedale Lot 23 - Hot Box and Tipper Wagons - Castle Morpeth Lot 24 - Hot Box and Tipper Wagons - South East Northumberland  Lot 25 - General Haulage - North Northumberland Lot 26 - General Haulage - Tynedale Lot 27 - General Haulage - Castle Morpeth Lot 28 - General Haulage - South East Northumberland

Hire of operated Excavators - North Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Excavators - Tynedale Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Excavators - Castle Morpeth Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Excavators - South East Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Loading Shovels - North Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Loading Shovels - Tynedale Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Loading Shovels - Castle Morpeth Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Loading Shovels - South East Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Roadsweepers - North Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Roadsweepers - Tynedale Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Roadsweepers - Castle Morpeth Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Roadsweepers - South East Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated road pavers and planers - North Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated road pavers and planers - Tynedale Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated road pavers and planers - Castle Morpeth Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated road pavers and planers - South East Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Tractors - North Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Tractors - Tynedale Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Tractors - Castle Morpeth Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Tractors - South East Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Hot Box & Tipper Wagons - North Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Hot Box & Tipper Wagons - Tynedale Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Hot Box & Tipper Wagons - Castle Morpeth Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated Hot Box & Tipper Wagons - South East Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated General Haulage - North Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated General Haulage - Tynedale Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated General Haulage - Castle Morpeth Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Hire of operated General Haulage - South East Northumberland Renewal: Initial contract duration fixed for 24 months with the option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Procurement Act 2023

Open procedure

Framework Operation For each Lot, Suppliers will be evaluated and ranked in accordance with their combined quality and price score. Suppliers will then be awarded a place on the relevant Framework Lot according to their ranking. The Supplier with the highest overall score (Most Advantageous Tender) will be ranked first, the Supplier with the second highest score will be ranked second, and so on. There is no restriction on the number of Suppliers that may be appointed to each Lot. Suppliers of one specific category of plant for example excavators may find they have a different ranking per geographic area. For example, Suppliers may be ranked first for Excavator Lot 1 North Northumberland but third on Excavator Lot 3 Castle Morpeth and so on. The successful suppliers will enter into a Framework Agreement in a form which is set out in Schedule 8. The Framework is expected to commence on 04 January 2027 and shall continue for a maximum period of four years. The Framework does not include any guarantee of any minimum volume of works or any minimum expenditure. Furthermore, appointment under the Framework does not constitute a commitment by the Contracting Authority or any other contracting authority to the exclusive use of the Framework or an individual supplier for such requirements. Call-off contracts under this Framework will be awarded either by direct award (also referred to as an award without competition) to the highest-ranked Contractor for the relevant Lot, or through a job-specific further competition. Details of the processes for both direct awards and further competitions are set out below. Award without Competition (Ranked) For each Lot, the highest ranked supplier will be awarded the call off order unless there are legitimate reasons that the Supplier cannot meet the Contracting Authority's requirements such as availability. In this instance the next highest ranked supplier will be contacted, if the second ranked supplier is unable to meet the requirement the third highest ranked supplier will be contacted and so on. When an award without competition is made the price will be based on the Supplier's tendered rates. The Supplier can improve on their tendered rates but must not exceed them. It shall be a Condition of Participation for the award of a call-off contract that the Conditions of Participation for the award of the Framework must continue to be met. The Contracting Authority may also include additional conditions that did not apply to the award of the Framework, for example, bespoke insurance requirements relevant to the particular call-off contract to be awarded. Further Competitions The Contracting Authority may run a further competition at their discretion throughout the life of the Framework. All Suppliers awarded to the Framework will be invited to participate in a further competition. At the discretion of the Contracting Authority, Suppliers may be initially requested to provide an Expression of Interest for the project. Any Supplier not expressing an interest by the scheduled deadline may not be invited to participate in the further competition. The Contracting Authority may request additional information or require a Supplier to supplement their Tender to meet the requirements of a project.

Tender documentation can be accessed, downloaded, and submitted electronically via the OPEN eTendering portal: https://www.open-uk.org. For assistance with registering on the OPEN portal or for technical support, please contact [email protected].