Guidance for procuring contractors to provide an Options Appraisal
This Invitation to Tender (ITT) is for community organisations and other interested parties to procure contractors to provide a small scale energy Options Appraisal.
It is appropriate to seek an Options Appraisal where your organisation has a mandate, desire, or remit to undertake energy projects, but where consultancy support is required to help identify the most appropriate local energy project to develop. It should be noted that decarbonising energy must be a key factor.
This ITT document has been developed for identifiable geographical sites, single buildings, and smaller building clusters. It is suited to projects where ownership and management of energy is within the remit of the applicant & their project partners. Organisations seeking to investigate larger geographical areas or where high numbers of interested parties are involved, should contact Local Energy Scotland to discuss. Developing a more bespoke and specific Invitation to Tender may be appropriate in such cases.
The following Options Appraisal ITT is a template document that sets out a three stage process, and must be edited prior to issue.
The text that must be edited is highlighted in yellow in the pages below. This guidance page should be deleted prior to issue.
In general, the anticipated process of editing and issuing this document, then the activities required following the receipt of tender submissions, is given below.
Prior to using this invitation to tender
1. Contact Local Energy Scotland, and if you and the project are eligible, discuss how to apply for funding to undertake an Options Appraisal.
2. Make an application for funding, and / or secure another source of funds for the Options Appraisal.
3. Confirm you have the latest version of this Invitation to Tender.
4. Review and edit the ITT. This may take time & may require some initial research on your part. Your CARES development officer can provide support.
5. Identify a minimum of three contractors (preferably five) likely to have the skills to undertake an Options appraisal, or confirm that you would like to use Public Contracts Scotland to issue the tender. Local Energy Scotland can assist you with either
Following the issue of this invitation to tender
6. Contractors submissions should be evaluated in a formal process. Local Energy Scotland can support this process and have additional resources to record such evaluations.
7. Confirm your preferred contractor with Local Energy Scotland and / or any other funders, through your own Board, or similar and any project partners.
8. Confirm all required funding is in place.
9. Instruct the contractor to undertake the Options Appraisal. Usually this will require three separate instructions, separated by breakpoints (described in the ITT). At this stage instruct phase 1 work.
10. Following each breakpoint, and provided the breakpoint review recommends progression, confirm with all parties that they agree, and instruct the next stage of work.
On completion of the Options Appraisal
Ideally, undertake the development of one or more of the Options Appraisal recommendations.
Local Energy Scotland will provide support and assistance wherever possible throughout.
Budget
We recommend including a budget figure within the ITT, section 6.
This guides the contractors and helps prevent unexpectedly high costs.
As more Options Appraisals are undertaken, we will have more clarity on appropriate costs related to the scale of the site involved and likely complexity.
Please discuss budget with your Local CARES Development Officer, however we also provide the following as a very rough guide.
Single community building: £6,000 to £10,000
Small cluster of buildings: £8,000 to £15,000
Small estate, or more complex site: £10,000 to 20,000
Requirements for large scale Options Appraisals should be discussed with Local Energy Scotland, as these are anticipated to require a bespoke or amended ITT.