Scottish Water has gone out to tender with a contract for hire of trenching and shoring equipment worth an estimated £24 million.

The water company is looking for one or more suitable suppliers to provide cost-effective hire of trenching and shoring equipment to support its capital and operational programmes during the period of the framework agreement across the whole of Scotland including the islands.

The hire of equipment covered under the contract includes:

• trench sheets
• hydraulic struts and wailers
• drag boxes
• struts
• braces
• edge protections
• roadplates
• shoring and trench boxes

The contract will also cover associated health and safety equipment such as access / egress equipment and rescue equipment. The framework does not include hiring of scaffolding.

Successful suppliers will be required to provide design, training and onsite support regarding their equipment, together with out of hours support.

In emergency situations, where there is a burst affecting properties, equipment will be required to be onsite within 2 hours of call out. The framework will provide trenching and shoring hire to Scottish Water, its Alliance partners, delivery partners and any Scottish Water subsidiary.

Scope of requirements for the services has the potential to include a comprehensive end-to-end managed service covering:

• Provision of suitable and compatible equipment for the lot advertised and associated equipment (purchase and/or hire options);
• The provision of data recording and storage and the management of all aspects of records that are associated with any equipment supplied;
• A non-obligation trial phase may be needed prior to final adoption of the service to ensure that Scottish Water is fully satisfied with the offered service and to avoid any situation where Scottish Water’s requirements cannot be fully met.

Initial framework agreement term will be 4 years, with 4 further annual extension options – anticipated start date will be in July 2022.

Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 28th January 2022 – click here to access the tender documentation.