Decision

For the Director of Capital Projects and Property to approve a waiver of the Council’s Contract Standing Order (CSO) 12.02 as permitted under CSO 18.01.2(d)(i), (ii) and (iii) and approve the award of a contract to Longley Group Ltd in the sum of £73,634.56 (excl VAT) for the provision of a scaffolding crash deck in at Hornsey Library.

Reasons for the decision

The construction work to the RAAC roof at Hornsey Library is due to begin in October 2026. An existing award of contract for the crash deck is in place with Longley Group Ltd, this expires in May 2026. As a formal construction contract to support this previous decision is not in place and or has expired, on this basis a waiver of contract standing orders is recommended to create a new award in lieu of varying the existing.
This offers the council the most efficient solution in term of time and cost and mitigates further disruption to Library Services which would be exasperated with the need for partial closure (to dismantle and erect new) if a competitive tender exercise was undertaken for a new supplier.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing – a decision not to support the increase in value of this contract will result in the Council being unable to pay the for the scaffolding that is essential to the library remaining open. This would result in the contractor removing the scaffold deck, and the closure of the library until the incoming contractor starts on site.
Re-tender - To re-tender this scaffold contract at this stage would involve the closure of the library to remove the scaffold. The library could not be reopened until such a time that the procurement exercise was concluded, the contract let, and contractor mobilized, and the roof structure made safe.
This option would also mean working with another suitable contractor to re-design and re-install the scaffold crash deck which would not demonstrate best value for money.
Purchase scaffolding – whilst the cost of doing so is unknown, practical issues arise from this decision such as where to store the scaffolding after use, and the fact that the weekly inspections as required under CDM 2015 would need to be sourced and paid for.