Archival Quality Boxes for the National Archives of Ireland

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

Department of Culture Communications Sport ran this procurement for “Archival Quality Boxes for the National Archives of Ireland” 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:

• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• [20221207ArchivalBoxTender_RFT.docx] any actual or potential conflict of interest, the Contracting Authority may invite Tenderers to propose means by which the conflict of interest might be removed and in circumstances where there are links between Tenderers, the Contracting Authority may seek further information to confirm the Tenders have been prepared independently. The Contracting Authority will, at its absolute discretion, decide on the appropriate course of action, which may in appropriate circumstances include eliminating a Tenderer from this Competition or any Mini-Competition or terminating any Framework Agreement or Services Contract entered into by a Tenderer.
• It is a requirement of tendering that contractors have previous experience of supplying substantial orders of archival quality boxes to institutions.
• Referees may be contacted in order to evaluate the award criterion of reliability and continuity of supply. The details relating to previous contracts undertaken or previous experience is required to assess previous experience and to assess award criterion B, as outlined in section 3.3.1
• RE: Request for Tenders for the Supply of
• Re: Request for Tenders for the Supply of
• Has, in the performance of all public contracts, complied with applicable obligations in the field of environmental, social and labour law that apply at the place where the works are carried out or the services provided, that have been established by EU law, national law, collective agreements or by international, environmental, social and labour law listed in Schedule 7 of the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (Statutory Instrument 284 of 2016).
• Relating to the Supply of Goods pursuant to
• Request for Tenders for the supply of
• 1.1 (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the supply of the goods as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Goods”).
• 1.7 Contracting Authority policy seeks to encourage participation on a fair and equal basis by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”s) in this Competition. SMEs that believe the scope of this Competition is beyond their technical or business capacity are encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with larger enterprises. Through such relationships they can participate and contribute to the successful implementation of any Goods Contract that may result from this Competition and therefore increase their social and economic benefits.
• 2.8.2 Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph 2.8.1, all costs and expenses relating to the supply of samples for purposes of tendering and their return after evaluation or participation in field trials (if any) will be borne exclusively by the Tenderer. 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.

• 1.7 Contracting Authority policy seeks to encourage participation on a fair and equal basis by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”s) in this Competition. SMEs that believe the scope of this Competition is beyond their technical or business capacity are encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with larger enterprises. Through such relationships they can participate and contribute to the successful implementation of any Goods Contract that may result from this Competition and therefore increase their social and economic benefits.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — not specified for this tender
• Insurance — not specified for this tender
• 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

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — Appendix 1 questionnaire/PQQ response was required.
• 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:
• Each Tenderer is required to accept the provisions of this RFT. ALL TENDERERS MUST RETURN, with their Tender, a scanned signed copy of the Tenderer’s Statement, as set out in Appendix 3, printed on the Tenderer’s letterhead. The Contracting Authority must be able to read the scanned signature of the Tenderer. If possible, please sign documents using blue ink. If the Contracting Authority cannot read the scanned signature, Tenderers may be requested to re-submit. Tenderers may not amend the Tenderer’s Statement.
• Where a group of undertakings (in whatever form and regardless of the legal relationship between them) come together to submit a Tender in response to this RFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competition through a single nominated entity authorised to represent all members of the group of undertakings. The Tenderer must provide details of all members of the group of undertakings and their role in the Tender and clearly and comprehensively set out the contact details including name, title, telephone number, postal address, facsimile number and email address of the nominated entity authorised to represent the Tenderer and to whom all communications shall be directed and accepted until this Competition has been completed or terminated. Correspondence from any other person will NOT be accepted, acknowledged or responded to.
• Tenderers are required to notify the Contracting Authority immediately, via the e-tenders website, if at any stage they decide to withdraw from this Competition.
• or an equivalent body, demonstrating that all requirements of the specification are met and submit the certificate with the tender. The board supplied will be tested by the National Archives in the State Laboratory for conformity.
• [20221207ArchivalBoxTender_RFT.docx] demonstrating that all requirements of the specification are met and submit the certificate with the tender. The board supplied will be tested by the National Archives in the State Laboratory for conformity.
• Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 12 months. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• Sector: Office Supplies & Equipment
• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• [insert number] calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days notice
• breach(es) (if the breach(es) are capable of remedy) within 30 days after receipt of a request in writing f
• For the Term and for a period of 12 months thereafter (and save in respect of publ
• Where a group of undertakings (in whatever form and regardless of the legal relationship between them) come together to submit a Tender in response to this RFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competition through a single nominated entity authorised to represent all members of the group of undertakings. The Tenderer must provide details of all members of the group of undertakings and their role in the Tender and clearly and comprehensively set out the contact details including name, title, telephone number, postal address, facsimile number and email address of the nominated entity authorised to represent the Tenderer and to whom all communications shall be directed and accepted until this Competition has been completed or terminated. Correspondence from any other person will NOT be accepted, acknowledged or responded to.
• The terms “Registrable Interest” and “Relative” shall be interpreted as per Section 2 of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001
• The terms “Registrable Interest” and “Relative” shall be interpreted as per Section 2 of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001, copies of which are available at www.irishstatutebook.ie. The Contracting Authority will, in its absolute discretion, decide on the appropriate course of action, which may in appropriate circumstances include eliminating a Tenderer from this Competition or terminating any Goods Contract entered into by a Tenderer.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Numeric qualification gates were only partially visible, so eligibility certainty required full pack review.
• 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 — specialist operator with compliant procurement governance and evidencable experience.
• 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: 20221207ArchivalBoxTender_RFT.docx, Insert here details of any site visit required by the Contracting Authority to the Tender

[20221207ArchivalBoxTender_RFT.docx, RFT Requirements.

• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: RFT. ALL TENDERERS MUST RETURN, with their Tender, a scanned signed copy of the Ten, Appendix 3, printed on the Tenderer’s letterhead. The Contracting Authority must be able, RFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competit.