As part of its rolling estate upgrade program, this week Defence has issued two Invitations to Register Interest (ITRI). Steering away from the current trend toward Design and Construct contracts, these ITRIs are for either the Design or the Construction only phase of the project. The Design contract is for work at Puckapunyal Military Area in Victoria, and the Construction contract is for work in South Australia at the Edinburgh Defence Precinct.
Puckapunyal Mid Term Refresh -Design Services: The Puckapunyal Military Area (PMA) is a major Australian Defence Force training base that plays an important role in preparing troops for significant international engagements. This project aims to extend the life of the infrastructure with particular focus on aging water facilities and environmental concerns relating to pond embankments and chemical storage. Overall the plan is to reduce maintenance costs by installing more efficient infrastructure, increasing engineering services reliability and adhering to relevant compliance requirements
The chosen design consultant will be engaged under Defence’s Design Services Contract (DSC-1 2003). Design services will include Master Planning, site selction right through to detailed design and construction phase advice. The design services are expected to be undertaken between December 2018 and May 2020 with an estimated value of $800,000 to $1,000,000. The REOI is due 12 Sep 18.
Defence High Performance Computing Centre– Construct Only: This project will deliver a new Defence High Performance Computing Centre at the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST) establishment in the Edinburgh Defence Precinct. It will consist primarily of a secure high performance computing centre, capable of a capacity expansion, visualisation capability and training facilities. This will provide DST and the Australian Defence Organisation with secure capability for high fidelity modelling and simulation.
The chosen contractor will be engaged under the Defence Head Contract (HC-1 2003) and joint bids are welcome. Building Code 2016 and WHS Accrediation requirements apply and the award date for the contract is anticipated to be around February 2019, with completion in or about May 2020. The estimated value of the work is $58-$64 million. Note hard copy tenders are required to be submitted, so allow adequate time for delivery, the REOI is due 18 Sep 18.
Both of these ITRIs are the first in a two stage procurement process, where respondents will be shortlisted for progression to the Request for Tender phase. Defence contracting templates tend to differ from commercial design and construction, so it is worth reviewing the online templates for familiarisation.
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