Procurement and installation of a Visitor Management System and Hot-desk Booking System

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

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is procuring a cloud-hosted Visitor Management System and a Hot Desk Booking System. This framework agreement will establish terms for awarding individual contracts to a single economic operator. The scope includes the procurement, installation, configuration, and implementation of these systems across EPA locations.

Key activities and components include:

• System Procurement: Acquisition of a cloud-hosted Visitor Management System and Hot Desk Booking System that meet specified functional and technical requirements. Solutions must adhere to EPA's Cloud Principles and be compliant with GDPR.
• Hardware Provision and Installation: Supply and installation of necessary hardware at EPA sites, including touch screens, badge printers, and other operational equipment.
• System Configuration and Deployment: Configuration and deployment of the procured solutions across all relevant EPA buildings.
• Site Coverage: The systems will be deployed across eight buildings at six EPA locations:
• Dublin (3 buildings): 72 bookable spaces
• Wexford: 145 bookable desks and 43 bookable offices
• Castlebar: 37 bookable desks
• Monaghan: 17 bookable desks
• Cork: 73 bookable spaces
• Kilkenny: 7 bookable spaces
• Note: These numbers are subject to change.
• Training: Comprehensive training for EPA administrative and reception staff (approximately 15-20 individuals) on system operation and management. Tailored training materials, including videos and user guides, will be developed for all EPA staff.
• Documentation: Provision of detailed documentation covering system architecture, configuration, installation, and operational procedures.
• Support and Maintenance: Ongoing support and maintenance services, including updates, issue resolution, and system optimisation throughout the contract period. This includes proactive maintenance, monitoring, and timely application of upgrades and patches.
• Future Enhancements: Provision for potential future enhancements, with a maximum of 5 days allocated for such work within the tender.
• Specific Module Requirements:
• Visitor Management: Electronic visitor interface, badge printing, photo capture, multi-language support (including Gaeilge), fast-track sign-in/out, QR code support, real-time visitor lists for fire evacuation, host notification, and bulk visitor pre-population.
• Hot Desk Booking: User-friendly interface for booking desks and offices, web browser and mobile device access (Android app required at implementation, iOS support desired), integration with Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams), configurable booking rules, administrative reporting, multi-site deployment, and GDPR compliance.
• Technical Integration: Solutions must be compatible with Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), use Microsoft Entra ID for authentication, and support Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Devices must be compatible with Microsoft Intune.

3. Background & buyer context

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent public body established under the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992. Its mandate includes environmental licensing, enforcement, monitoring, reporting, regulating greenhouse gas emissions, environmental research, strategic environmental assessment, waste management, and radiological protection. The EPA operates across eight locations, employing approximately 550 staff. This procurement is driven by the need to modernise and streamline visitor and workspace management through the implementation of digital systems. The EPA has a standard IT infrastructure including a main IT room in Wexford and regional IT rooms, utilising VMware environments, Microsoft Windows Server 2025, and a Microsoft Azure cloud tenancy.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement: Tenderers must confirm that their turnover exceeded €300,000 during one or each of the last three years, or pro-rata if more recently established. Firms must have been in existence for at least 6 months.
• Insurance:
• Employer's Liability: €13 million
• Public Liability: €6.5 million
• Product Liability: €6.5 million
• Cyber Liability: €1 million
• 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

The award will be based on the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT), comprising price and quality.

Note: The lowest cost tender meeting minimum qualitative criteria receives maximum score for that criterion. Specific scoring weights for price and quality are not detailed in the provided extract.

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document: Tenderers must use the provided Tender Response Document (TRD) and adhere to its format. Specific page limits are not stated.
• CVs: Not specified for this tender.
• Pricing schedule: A pricing template (Appendix 3) must be used.
• Case studies: Not specified for this tender.
• Declarations:
• Declaration of Bona Fides (Art. 57 of Directive 2014/24/EU).
• Declaration regarding compliance with relevant statutory obligations.
• Confirmation of tax compliance.
• Confirmation of financial standing.
• Mandatory site visit: Site visits will be facilitated if required on 18th and 19th August.
• Submission portal: All submissions and queries must be made via eTenders.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

• Term: Framework agreement for a maximum of 10 years (5 years initial + 5 year extension). Contracts awarded under the framework may extend beyond the agreement expiry.
• Payment terms: Invoices will be paid within 30 days of receipt.
• Key SLAs/KPIs: Service Level Agreement (SLA) details are required, including support hours (Monday-Friday, 9:00-17:30 core hours), response times, and quarterly reporting on call metrics. The EPA website must be operational outside normal working hours, requiring support for out-of-hours calls.
• Liquidated damages or penalty regimes: Not specified for this tender.
• Termination clauses: Either party may terminate if a Force Majeure Event continues for 30 days, with 30 days' written notice. If a situation continues for 14 calendar days, either party may terminate with 14 days' notice.
• IP ownership: Not specified for this tender.
• Sub-contracting rules: Not specified for this tender, but consortia must appoint a single point of contact.
• Parent-company guarantee or bond requirements: Not specified for this tender.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

The tender establishes a "single party framework agreement" with one economic operator. This structure, combined with an estimated maximum spend of €150,000 over 10 years, suggests a potentially low volume of work or a very specific, niche requirement. The low estimated value for a 10-year framework might indicate that the initial contract is for a pilot or a limited scope, with future contracts awarded via supplementary tenders or potentially outside the framework. The requirement for solutions to be compatible with Microsoft Intune and Entra ID, and the EPA's Azure tenancy, indicates a strong preference for integration within their existing Microsoft ecosystem. The tender also explicitly states the EPA reserves the right to procure requirements outside of this framework.

10. SME fit assessment

This tender is open to all interested parties via an Open Procedure, but only those demonstrating required financial and technical capacity will be fully considered. SMEs are encouraged to form partnerships to meet capacity requirements. A credible bidder would likely be a specialist IT solutions provider with proven experience in implementing cloud-hosted visitor and hot-desk booking systems. They must meet the turnover requirement of €300,000 annually and possess the specified insurance levels. The bid preparation effort is likely moderate, requiring detailed responses to technical and qualitative criteria, and completion of the TRD and appendices. Given the single-party framework and the low estimated value over a long period, the incumbent advantage is not apparent, and the tender appears genuinely open to new entrants with the right capabilities.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT filename: RFT - Request for Tender Single-Party FW Open August 2026.docx
• eTenders CFT ID: F000017
• Contact / Clarification portal: eTenders only
• Key attachments:
• Tender Response Document (TRD)
• Appendix 3: Pricing Template
• Appendix 4: Single Operator Framework Agreement