Building consultancy services. The Corporate Officers of the House of Lords and the House of Commons (the Employer) require the services from a firm of M&E building service design consultants with Listed building design experience to undertake a feasibility study, design and implementation plan for the installation of the works which are described below.

There is now a requirement for a building services design consultant to develop the Long Term M&E plan up to an agreed RIBA stage C or above for the replacement/refurbishment of the primary building services and provision of alternative energy sources to the Palace of Westminster (PoW) and neighbouring buildings within the Parliamentary Estate. The plan will include, but not limited to, the following for the PoW and neighbouring buildings i) Information gathering and measurement where required of primary building services: inclusive of load assessment, resilience, discrimination and assessment of alternative primary energy sources, ii) option appraisal development inclusive of energy centres, plant room and infrastructure rationalisation, natural ventilation integration, tri-generation, cooling plant strategy, renewable energy sources and complete energy management system iii) detailed option appraisal and business case development.

The strategic goals for the M&E Long Term plan will be:

Reduce Energy Consumption.

Improve Resilience/security of supply.

Reduce Operational costs.

Optimise Life-cycle investment cost.

Assess impact on Stakeholders.

The appointment is currently anticipated for six months from the start of the commission including verification of all documents.

Background:

The Palace of Westminster (POW) is large multi-use and multi-occupational World Heritage Site and has consistent occupation 365 days of the year with public access for much of the year and security considerations. The high profile public interest in the workings of Parliament, mean that it is essential that all of the Estate remains fully functional whilst work is progressing.

The primary Mechanical & Electrical (M&E) plant and equipment that provides steam, heating, hot and cold water, chilled water, ventilation and power to the estate is principally located in the PoW basement but does extend to other floor levels and neighbouring buildings within the Parliamentary Estate.

The distribution infrastructure ranges up to 110 years old which is substantially in excess of its predicted lifespan. Infra-structure systems are not easily modified, and in some cases, have been encapsulated in contaminate material preventing ready accessibility for maintenance and repair. This situation has been further exacerbated by the uncontrolled manner in which the services have been installed over a number of years.

A Short, Medium and Long term approach has been developed for the refurbishment of primary M&E building services. The Medium term approach has two work streams namely i) High Risk reduction and ii) Aggressive Maintenance, to stabilise and refurbish the M&E building services within the Palace of Westminster. The Short term project was completed during 2009 followed by the start of a five year Medium Term Programme. The Medium term is currently in the second year of the programme and at RIBA stage D. Information gained from the Medium Term Programme will inform and direct the future Long Term M&E development plan.