Agenda and draft minutes

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The Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Leisure referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Jess Crowe and Claire Gillespie.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest.

This report sought approval to award a contract to Niblock (Builders) Ltd pursuant to

Contract Standing Orders 9.07.1 (d), 10.01.1 (a) and 10.01.2. (dii) for urgent condition works at Muswell Hill Library. This would give a modern, accessible library space with a lift installed that meets needs of customers with fresh furniture, books, and decoration.The space available and flexibility of that space would meet the needs of residents and partners. The library space had increased opportunity for working with partners and other service providers, iternal refurbishment including new partitions, screens/ doors partial new floor coverings, new signage & redecoration. A separate package of external condition work had been undertaken by the Corporate Landlord. The initial award of contract to Diamond Build Plc therefore focused on internal works only to include:

· Condition and compliance works including rewire, fire alarm, intruder alarm and heating repairs.

· A new extension - accessible lift and staircase.

· Internal redecoration.

· New furniture.

· Upgraded ICT including enhanced WiFi system, additional PC’s and workstations, and new self-serve facilities.

· New signage.

· Extended CCTV system

Councillor Connor attended the signing, it was clarified that there would be no changes to the build or design of this project. Due to Voluntary Liquidation of Diamond Build Plc the cost of reprocuring was expensive, officers were looking at value engineering the lighting system, this would produce a possible £5,000 saving. The new contractor was well established and tendered actively for work across the council. For future tenders, officers would seek further financial information from contractors. Contractors would be on site from early July with completion by February, this would provide a period to recant the library; with usage from early April 2025.

RESOLVED

• Award a contract to Niblock (Builders) Ltd, pursuant to Contract Standing Orders 9.07.1 (d), 10.01.1 (a) and 10.01.2 (dii) based on their tender value of £1,189,835.20 for urgent condition works at Muswell Hill Library.

• Approve a client construction contingency as set out in Part B of this report which will be strictly managed under change control governance arrangements. This is in addition to the award value noted in 3.1, refer to Part B section 3 for the contingency value and total award value.

• Approve the issuance of a Letter of Intent up to the value of £118,983.42 as allowed under Contract Standing Order 9.07.3.

• To approve an increase to the project and programme budget as set out in Part B.

Reasons for decision

On the 8th January 2024 Diamond Build Plc notified the council that they had placed themselves in voluntary liquidation. Formal notification of this was advised in the public domain on 19th January. As a result, there is a need to procure a new contractor to complete outstanding works.

Niblock (Builders) Ltd originally tendered for the Muswell Hill Library Works in 2023 and recently competitively tendered, awarded and successfully completed Highgate Library. A positive relationship has been formed with Niblock (Builders) Ltd built on quality of work, collaborative approach to site challenges, trust and respect. A comprehensive procurement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Item 5  is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public be from the meeting as it contains exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 3 and 5, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

To exclude the press and public be from the meeting as it contains exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 3 and 5, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

The cabinet member considered the exempt information.

A minor discrepancy is noted within these minutes between published (Part A) and exempt (Part B) information:

The tender value - is £1,189,835.20 (as noted per part B) and not £1,189,834.20 (as noted in Part A). The total contract award including contingency as noted in Part B is correct.

The contract is to be awarded to Niblock (Builders) Ltd (as noted in 1.1 and 3.1 of Part A) not Niblock (Builders Group) as referenced in 3.1 of Part B.