Mr. Robert AinsworthTo ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what arrangements have been made to procure the cladding for the new parliamentary building; what factors have delayed the procurement process; and if he will make a statement. [31305]
§ Mr. Ray PowellThe new parliamentary building is being procured using the construction management form of contracting. This involves tendering separately for each of the main elements of the building under a firm of construction managers. The tendering process includes advertising the main packages in theEC Journal before selecting a short list of companies to submit their offers. The criteria for awarding the packages is overall value for money.
In the particular case of the fenestration, the initial offers were all over the budget. It was therefore necessary to modify the scheme before seeking revised bids, which were received towards the end of last year. Since then, detailed discussions have taken place to finalise the technical and legal aspects of the contract.
The contract has now been awarded to Seele Avis Fenestration Ltd., a joint venture formed by Seele GmbH and Alvis plc to combine and exploit their respective skills. I understand that much of the work will be undertaken at Alvis' factory at Coventry.