The outline Output Specification should be incorporated in the Descriptive Document, for issue as part of the pre-qualification stage of the procurement process.
All relevant background information about existing facilities and services should be provided in a data room or through a collaborative website. Critical data would include:
• Comprehensive historic waste flow data;
• Waste compositional data;
• Forecast Contract Waste for each Contract Year;
• The maximum level of landfill acceptable to the Authority;4
• Relevant plans and policies of the Authority;
• Property and personnel data - where assets and/or staff are being transferred;
• Site and environmental conditions data including any relevant survey data; and
• Relevant waste management licences and authorisations.
To enable bidders to assess the optimum treatment process, technology and capacity, the Authority should carry out sufficient waste investigations to provide data and information on the source tonnage, nature and composition (including its variability) of the waste that will be delivered to the site. It is in the Authority’s interests to ensure such data is accurate and up to date and to facilitate access to such data. This information would form part of the data room contents and should ordinarily be provided to the bidders without warranty. There may, however, be specific circumstances where the Authority either warrants or procures the warranty (i.e. through extensions of duties of care by its own consultants) of certain information (e.g. environmental studies used as part of the Environmental Statement to be submitted with a planning application). Bidders should be told right from the outset of the procurement process, how the Output Specification will be fine-tuned at each stage of the process.
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4 This will comprise any tonnage of Contract Waste that goes to landfill unprocessed plus the tonnage of residue that goes to landfill after processing. Both these tonnages should be based on the Reference Project in the OBC. A range may be stated. For further explanation see Module 4 Part I (Payment Mechanism Principles).