Procurement

Transparency:

Making information available to all stakeholders: contractors, suppliers, service providers and the public, unless there are valid and legal reasons for keeping certain information confidential.

Integrity:

This is about being honest, trustworthy, responsible and reliable. It assures confidence in procurement activity and gives potential bidders a clear understanding of requirements without ambiguity or bias. Evaluation and selection criteria must always be clear.

Value for money:

To optimise the value derived from the money and other assets Bernicia have available.

Openness:

Procurement requirements should be open to all qualified organisations and individuals.

Fairness and equity:

Decision-making and actions must be unbiased; and suppliers, contractors or service providers should have the right to challenge the procurement process if they feel unfairly treated.

Competition:

The use of non-competitive procurement methods should be used only in exceptional circumstances.

Compliance:

We will comply with all relevant laws, regulations and rules

Accountability and internal control:

Roles and responsibilities should be clear and individuals accountable for their actions and decisions throughout the procurement process.

Bernicia wants to work with suppliers, contractors and consultants who will make sure we get value for money by procuring high-quality goods, services and works. In procurement, we work to make sure we have appropriate measures in place to trade with the most reputable and industry-compliant suppliers, contractors and consultants.
Bernicia’s contracts are awarded through a competitive process, either quotation or tenders, dependent on the value.

Bernicia’s current procurement thresholds are:

• Expenditure between £10,000 and £25,000 (excluding VAT) requires a minimum of two written quotations.
• Expenditure between £25,000 and £100,000 (excluding VAT) requires a minimum of three written quotations.
• Expenditure above £100,000 (excluding VAT) but less than the relevant threshold from the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 – (Public Procurement (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. for goods, services and works requires formal tenders.
• Expenditure equal to or exceeding the relevant threshold from the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 – (Public Procurement (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. for goods, services and works requires formal tenders in accordance with these procedures, with a call for competition advertised on the U.K Find A Tender Service.

For information on Bernicia’s latest tender opportunities, please visit our Procurement Portal – www.housingprocurement.com.

This Portal is shared with other registered providers, which increases your access to opportunities by one single registration to the Portal (select all organisations when you register).

The Portal will give you access to all opportunities within Bernicia. All our quotations and tenders are issued through this Portal.

As a registered supplier on the Portal, you’ll be able to:

• Maintain your own company profile, indicating the opportunities you’re interested in.
• View current and future tendering opportunities.
• Get email notifications whenever opportunities matching your profile become available.
• Register an expression of interest in a published opportunity and request contract documentation to be sent.
• Submit quotations and tenders electronically.

If you’d like the opportunity to quote or tender for Bernicia, you should register for free within the supplier area of www.housingprocurement.com. If you’re already registered, please log into the Housing Portal and update your company profile to include notifications from Bernicia.
Opportunities that are advertised through the Housing Procurement Portal will also be advertised in conjunction with Contracts Finder. Notices for opportunities above the appropriate thresholds detailed above will also be advertised on the U.K Find A Tender Service.

Our tender process makes sure all suppliers are treated consistently and fairly and we compete with the highest degrees of transparency, honesty and integrity.
Tenders are evaluated against a predetermined set of criteria.

Within our selection process, we make sure suppliers, contractors and consultants have the financial, commercial and technical capability to meet our requirements.
We ensure corporate responsibility and recognise social value. We make sure there’s a commitment to equal opportunities, environmental and health and safety. All companies are required to comply with standards including Bribery Act 2010, General Data Protection Regulations 2018 and Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We encourage all contractors and consultants to be members of Constructionline and have a safety scheme in procurement in place. You can register with Constructionline at www.constructionline.co.uk.

For Contractors, Bernicia supports the use of the PAS91 questionnaire (a standardised pre-qualification questionnaire). This lets contractors submit all your pre-qualification data at once for all procurements across common commodities. This saves time and reduces costs.
If you’re a small business, we make sure the procurement process is competitive and transparent, so you’re not disadvantaged and precluded from tendering exercises.

The Bernicia Group help support our communities by including social value in procurement which ensures through the supply chain, we look beyond the price of each individual contract and look at the collective benefits to a community when a contract is awarded.

Social value is the extra value created when we deliver a service or works contract which has a wider community or public benefit.

All tenders currently over £100,000 include a social value expectation. We want our suppliers, through social value to make a positive social and economic contribution to the communities in which our tenants live.

Bernicia maintains an approved list of contractors and consultants for works and services. The approved list is contractors and consultants who are vetted to Bernicia’s standards and technical capability, including financial, health and safety and insurance assessments.

The approved list gives reassurances to Bernicia that a minimum standard has been met and saves contractors and consultants from having to reapply for contracts that meet the standard. Bernicia uses Constructionline to support and maintain their approved list.

Being on our approved list does not guarantee any work, and companies can also be removed from the list if performance or probity become an issue or concern. The list is reviewed on an annual basis, and companies can be added or deleted as appropriate.

Bernicia has a suite of contracts which cover supplies, service and minor works. These standard terms and conditions are to be incorporated into any contract for the purchase of services and/or goods by Bernicia. We also use the JCT suite of contracts for works and maintenance contracts.