Agenda item

The Council was currently working on a transformative regeneration programme across the Broadwater Farm estate. In total, the Council had committed to spend over £250m of resources to retrofit existing homes, build new homes and transform the wider environment, better connecting it to the local area and wider facilities.

Construction work was supported by an ambitious set of socio-economic programmes. These aimed to better connect residents to each other, support residents into employment and training and maximise health and wellbeing outcomes.

The report sought authority to award a contract for Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEPH) engineering services for the Broadwater Farm New homes programme which was a key component of the overall regeneration programme. By awarding this contract, the Council would be able to complete RIBA stage four designs ahead of procuring a contractor to build the homes.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

That the Cabinet Member, pursuant to Contract Standing Orders 9.07.1 (d) and 16.02, approves the award of a Mechanical Electrical and Public Health Services consultancy contract to the contractor identified in the exempt part of the report for the total value of £663,280.

Reasons for decision

In order to build new homes on the Broadwater Farm estate the Council needed to finalise designs ahead of appointing a contractor. The Council appointed a contractor last year to undertake the work but the contract was terminated following a failure to agree a build contract for the first phase.

While design and engineering work on phase one was completed and procurement for a build contactor was underway, design and engineering work for all future phases is required. In order to progress this, and to ensure the Council retained control over engineering design quality and design integrity, the Council was proposing to appoint a qualified Mechanical Electrical and Public Health consultant. Without this appointment, the Council was unable to progress the new homes scheme.

As part of the commission the consultant would provide a range of services, including the design, detailed specification, tendering, construction, completion and commissioning of all mechanical electrical installations, and to support the development and delivery of the Broadwater Farm Estate regeneration programme for the remainder of the pre-construction programme and construction programme.

The Council was procuring other professional services to complete the design and engineering team. A lead consultant, architect, and structural and civils engineer have been selected and other services will be procured including fire safety, principal designer and clerk of works. These appointments will be subject to separate decisions.

Alternative options considered

The Council could have sought to procure a new contractor to complete the RIBA stage four designs. Analysis of market conditions and advice from the procurement team concluded that this approach would not offer the council the best value for money.

The Council could have sought to resource the work in-house. Unfortunately, the council did not have the resources in house to do this work. 5.3 The Council could have decided to not progress the scheme.

The Council had however committed to residents to deliver new homes and improvements to Broadwater Farm, so this option was discounted.