Published date: 12 February 2024
Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.
Contract summary
Industry
Analysis services - 71620000
Location of contract
Any region
Value of contract
£18,000 to £20,000
Procurement reference
CF-0238600D8d000003VQwdEAG
Published date
12 February 2024
Closing date
21 February 2024
Closing time
12pm
Contract start date
1 March 2024
Contract end date
30 June 2024
Contract type
Service contract
Procedure type
Open procedure (below threshold)
Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.
This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.
Contract is suitable for SMEs?
Yes
Contract is suitable for VCSEs?
No
Description
Cefas require a successful supplier to process 15 NIOZ core samples (which have been sub divided into 67 separate samples, with a maximum of 5 slices per core - see Annex 1); to extract and identify all biota retained following sieving on a 1.0 mm capture mesh, as per the NMBAQC guidelines detailing extraction and identification protocols.
Cefas require the data to be provided in an appropriate format (industry standard spreadsheet expected) and to include taxa abundance, species matrix and biomass by station.
In addition to the above, the analysis will be audited as per the NMBAQC own Samples protocol prior to final submission (Hall, 2019): The AQC will http://www.nmbaqcs.org/media/1764/os686970_summary-report.pdf. The AQC will be be organised and awarded by Cefas following the initial submission of the results from this contract.
A single reference collection of all species/taxa identified should be returned to the Cefas laboratories in Lowestoft, in an appropriate preservation liquid (i.e. 100% IDA or 70% IMS, 20% water and 10% glycerol). The reference collection should contain, as a minimum, the species name, name of identifier/ supervisor, station code, cruise code, date of collection and name of species identification verifier. A list of all taxa in the reference collection is also requested; in electronic form, with these details included. Notable taxa should be highlighted here such as non-native species and new or unusual records. Non-native species should be added to the Non-native Species Information Portal (NNSIP) (hosted on the Non-native Species Secretariat website, http://www.nonnativespecies.org/index.cfm?sectionid=81).
The abundance and biomass data matrices should be completed using the details in Annex 1, and then sent via email following completion. All species names must be run through the WoRMS 'Match Taxa' tool so that all naming is current (http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=match).
The supplier is to provide regular progress updates via email detailing the stage of each batch of samples in the process and estimated completion dates. It is also expected that there will be weekly project summary updates and correspondence.
Quality assurance:
Three NIOZ cores, comprising all associated sub samples, from this contract are to be subject to an independent QA process following the requirements of the NMBAQC 'own sample' scheme assessment criteria with the scheme coordinator (or their assigned AQC lab).
As this is also a project level audit the full data set will be quality assured; in addition to the samples selected to assess processing, additional taxa will be identified for review from the full data matrix.
Download the Bidder Pack at https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome and search for CEFAS24-155 under opportunities.
About the buyer
Contact name
Laura Anderson
Address
Pakefield Road
Lowestoft
NR33 0HT
GB
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Closing: 21 February 2024, 12pm
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