Town Planning / Environmental Specialist Consultancy Services for Wicklow County Council

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Wicklow County Council ran this procurement for “The provision of Town Planning / Environmental Specialist Consultancy Services to carry out Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment of Wicklow County Council plans and strategies” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

• Title: The provision of Town Planning / Environmental Specialist Consultancy Services to carry out Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment of Wicklow County Council plans and strategies
• Minimum requirement to remain eligible in the competition: Tenderers should demonstrate that they have at their disposal effective and efficient technical resources/systems to deliver services as specified by the Cont
• Minimum requirement to remain eligible in the competition: Tenderers should provide information on the measures in place to ensure the delivery of a quality service, for example by way of an externally certified syste
• cts of similar nature, size and complexity - The tenderer should demonstrate a minimum of three relevant projects completed within the previous five years with successful provision of services in the relevant discipline
• 1 The Framework Member accepts its appointment as one of several Framework Members to provide Services
• y contract under this framework agreement, the Framework Member cannot, for whatever reason, deliver the required services to the satisfaction of
• The provision of Town Planning / Environmental Specialist Consultancy Services to carry out Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment of Wicklow County Council plans and strategies.
• If, following the award of any contract under this framework agreement, the Framework Member cannot, for whatever reason, deliver the required services to the satisfaction of the Contracting Authority; the Contracting Authority reserves the right to award the contract to the next highest-ranked tenderer emerging from the process at any time during the contract tender validity period.
• • The Implementation of SEA Directive (2001/42/EC): Assessment of the Effects of Certain Plans and Programmes on the Environment, Guidelines for Regional Authorities
• • The Implementation of SEA Directive (2001/42/EC): Assessment of the Effects of Certain Plans and Programmes on the Environment, Guidelines for Regional Authorities and Planning Authorities November 2004 (DoEHLG)
• [4A Request for Tender Multi-Party Framework Open Procedure (RFT).docx] The Contracting Authority requires tenderers to nominate a dedicated contract manager who will act as the main point of contact for the duration of the framework. This person shall have the authority to deal with all matters in relation to contracts and be responsible for the satisfactory delivery of the services required. The duties of the contract manager will include the following:
• • Proactively discuss with the Contracting Authority ways of improving efficiency regarding service delivery in general and providing suggestions for improvement and cost savings Non-binding monetary references in the source were treated as context only and were not used as qualification thresholds.

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

• 6.19 Policy on Personal Debriefings 22
• [4A Request for Tender Multi-Party Framework Open Procedure (RFT).docx] It is the policy of the Contracting Authority to promote participation by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on a fair and equal basis.
• [4A Request for Tender Multi-Party Framework Open Procedure (RFT).docx] * Appropriate Assessment screening and Appropriate Assessment where required for further variations to the current County Development Plan 2022-2028 and other Wicklow County Council plans and programmes as the need arises.
• (a) Strategic Environmental Assessment screening of plans and programmes in the case where Strategic Environmental Assessment is not mandatory and / or it is unclear whether Strategic Environmental Assessment is required;

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• Insurance — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.; Insurance Confirmation of the following insurances being in place: * Employer’s Liability - €13 million * Public Liability - €6.5 million * Professional Ind fall due; Insurance Confirmation of the following insurances being in place: * Employer’s Liability - €13 million * Public Liability - €6.5 million * Professional Indemnity - €200,000
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — not specified for this tender
• Personnel — not specified for this tender
• Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender Additional binding lines surfaced in the deterministic extract:
• — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• Insurance Confirmation of the following insurances being in place: * Employer’s Liability - €13 million * Public Liability - €6.5 million * Professional Ind fall due
• Insurance Confirmation of the following insurances being in place: * Employer’s Liability - €13 million * Public Liability - €6.5 million * Professional Indemnity - €200,000
• e following insurances in place Insurance Type Level required if successful Level in Place Details of Any Excess Renewal Date Employers Liability €13,000,000 € Public Liability €6,500,000 € Professional Indemnity €200,000 € AND I confirm

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — not specified in extract.
• CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
• Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
• Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
• Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — ESPD/declaration/statement-of-confirmation language was present.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• • on the eTenders website on 02 March 2026 with an RFT ID WCC122026 (the ‘Contract Notice’)
• Contact for Queries Messaging facility on www.etenders.gov.ie
• Format for submission of tenders Via www.etenders.gov.ie only
• Please note that information relating to this Request for Tender, including clarifications and changes, will be published on the Irish Government Procurement Opportunities Portal www.etenders.gov.ie. Registration is free of charge and there is no charge for documents. Please note that the Contracting Authority accepts no responsibility for information relayed (or not relayed) via third parties.
• [4A Request for Tender Multi-Party Framework Open Procedure (RFT).docx] Admission to the framework agreement will be conditional upon acceptance of the Contracting Authority’s Framework Terms and Conditions as appended at the relevant Appendix.
• Tenderers are required to review these terms and conditions and indicate their acceptance thereof as part of their tender submission. Any reservation with regard to these terms should be submitted as a query in accordance with the procedure described in the Instructions to Tenderers.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 2 years. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• Technical Equipment & Resource Required Minimum Requirement
• Minimum requirement to remain eligible in the competition: Tenderers must demonstrate compliance with all the relevant Health & Safety legislation
• cts of similar nature, size and complexity - The tenderer should demonstrate a minimum of three relevant projects completed within the previous five years with successful provision of services in the relevant discipline
• e entitled to terminate the appointment of the Framework Member forthwith and without liability by giving notice at any time if:
• 1 The Framework Member commits a material breach of any term or condition of this Framework Agreement, o
• 2 shall not relieve or discharge the Framework Member from any obligations which may have accrued prior to such termination
• re parts of the contract may be performed that are in force 7 days prior to the deadline for receipt of Te

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Qualification gate: the deterministic extract included a turnover threshold line (— use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.), which can materially narrow bidder pool composition.
• The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
• Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

• Credible bidder profile — mid-sized to large specialist with formal QA/compliance process.
• Consortium / sub-contracting — allowed or addressed in the extracts (Appendix references and reliance provisions).
• Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
• Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT/PQQ filenames: 4A Request for Tender Multi-Party Framework Open Procedure (RFT).docx, 3.

[4A Request for Tender Multi-Party Framework Open Procedure (RFT).docx, 6

[4A Request for Tender Multi-Party Framework Open Procedure (RFT).docx.

• eTenders CFT / notice reference: Contract Notice’).
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: 4B Multi Operator Framework Terms and Conditions.docx, Schedule 1, RFT ID WCC122026 (the ‘Contract Notice’).