Laboratory Equipment (General) and Associated Services

This framework agreement was procured via the open process under the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) The agreement covers the purchase of General Laboratory Equipment and Associated Services. The framework is broken down per lot as provided below: 

 Lot 1 - Centrifuges 

Lot 2 – Environmental Control 

Lot 3 – Safety 

Lot 4 – Measurement 

Lot 5 – Environmental Storage - Fridges and Freezers 

Lot 6 – Environmental Storage - Other Equipment 

7 Lot 7 – General Equipment – Miscellaneous 

Lot 8 – Water Purification 

Lot 9 – Liquid Handling Robotics and Laboratory Automation Systems 

Lot 10 - One Stop Shop 

 Fully compliant route to market for participating Institutions (compliant with PCR 2015 and EU regulations). 

Access to market leading suppliers and innovative concepts and instrumentation. Equipment maintenance, calibration and servicing can be requested via the agreement at Point of Sale. 

Time saving, members can use the framework rather than completing a full tender process. 

Call offs purchases will be covered by UKUPC’s pre agreed Terms and Conditions of trade, oriented towards members’ needs. 

Fixed commercial terms on all lots, via maximum tender pricing files (or ‘ceiling’ pricing), which is the maximum price that should be paid when direct awarding or via desktop exercise. 

Additional cost savings possible via mini competitions based on the specific requirements, aggregation and higher volumes. This provides potential to report cashable savings. 

Suppliers have been encouraged to promote product lines to manage and reduce Whole Life Costs. 

Framework pricing will be lower than non-framework pricing, and will include process for price checking which is linked to supplier KPIs. 

Flexible technical scope within each lot. 

Customers will be supported by LUPC if account management escalation is required. 

1. Using this framework supports our Giving Back initiative. Our charity's focus is on SEND, wellbeing and absenteeism

 Call-off from this framework agreement is by means of ranking, running a competitive further competition (or mini – competition) or a combination of ranked and further-competition as set out below: 

Option One – Ranked Direct Award 

 Institutions are able to contract directly with the first-ranked supplier, unless: 

The first ranked supplier confirms that they do not have capacity to undertake the work; or 

Cannot respond within the required timescales as detailed in the specification of requirements; or 

There are other relevant issues such as conflict of interest. 

 If any of these criteria are applicable, then the second ranked supplier should be appointed. If the second ranked supplier cannot meet the need (by reason of issues detailed above), the third ranked supplier should be approached and so on. 

 This award of a contract will take place after the institution has discussed its specific requirements with the supplier and agreement has been reached as to timescales, methodology/approach, specific service requirements and key milestones and performance indicators to be met.  The Standard Terms and Conditions of any call-off contract shall be as those stated in the Call-Off Terms and Conditions and only minor points can be amended with the consent of the supplier and the institution such as Payment Terms.  For individual assignments under longer term call-off contracts, instruction will be given and received as per the Specification of Requirements section of the ITT. 

Option Two - Desktop Calculator 

 If time is of the essence and institutions are comfortable with the terms of the proposed contract, and these do not require amendment or supplementary conditions then institutions may amend the criterion to reflect their local requirements by up to 20%, provided the sum of the new criteria still equals 100%.  

Once complete, you should place your contract with the highest scoring supplier. 

Option Three – Further-Competition 

Institutions wishing to undertake a further competition may do so. A further-competition may apply to a selection or a basket of items or may be for the purposes of selecting a single source supplier for a fixed period of time.  ALL capable supplier(s) appointed must be invited to submit responses to the institution’s further-competition tender document, which may include participation in an e-Auction for example or the re-submission of a Supplier’s product range. 

 The original framework agreement evaluation criteria should be applied in the further-competition tender document, though the weightings may be adjusted, as long as the original main criteria weightings (Quality 40% and Price 60%) do not increase of decrease by more than a total of 20% and provided the sum of the new criteria still equals 100%. 

Important Procurement Act 2023 requirement

It is very important for CPC members to register on the new Find a Tender Service to create your organisation’s unique procurement identifier, known as an API Key. You then need to add the API Key to your profile on our MultiQuote eSender portal to run compliant mini competitions for our frameworks. It is a requirement under Procurement Act 2023 that relevant notices are published to the Find a Tender Service and MultiQuote can only publish your notices if you have added your API Key. See our Find a tender service registration web page for a step-by-step guide on how to register.

The CPC Quote Tool makes it easy to perform and manage a further competition exercise on this Framework. It's free to use for all our members and offers quick, compliant access to all suppliers on purchases that fall below £207,720.00

Get a Quote

If your purchase exceeds £207,720.00, the CPC Sourcing Cloud is available that complies with the regulations to allow electronic tender returns whilst still being free to use for our members. Find out more about the CPC Sourcing Cloud.

Direct award is best suited to procurements such as (but not limited to):

• Low value / low complexity requirements
• Where goods or services are exclusive to one supplier / provider
• Continuity or additions to existing goods or services
• Urgent / one-off requirements

Make a Direct Award