2.5 The Agency wanted its bidders to be in no doubt about the extent of the contractor's obligations. One of the key objectives in the procurement was the production of bid documents that would facilitate the negotiation of a contract in which the services were accurately specified. Between July 2000 and January 2003, the procurement team invested effort (costing over £3.3 million in advisers' fees) to produce an output specification, a draft contract and other tender documents intended to capture accurately and unambiguously the desired services. The procurement team consulted across the Agency to understand the organisation's telecommunications requirements as it migrated from a road network builder to a road network operator.
2.6 The Agency's procurement team also identified and outlined restrictive processes and constraints that would govern the contractor's working practices. For example, documents were produced to provide bidders with an understanding of the difficulties and hazards associated with working in close proximity to live motorways. Access to malfunctioning equipment would require liaison with the local motorway maintenance contractor so that appropriate lane closures were in place before repairs began.
2.7 Representatives for the two bidders, GeneSYS and LINK, informed us that they had been impressed by the quality and structure of the bid documents.