PRO004392 — Independent Technical Adviser (HARP)

United Utilities Water Limited (UU) is delivering a scheme titled Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP) to provide long-term water supply resilience to Manchester and the Pennines. The project will utilise a Competitively Appointed Provided (CAP), which is currently being procured using Ofwat’s new Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) approach.

Under the Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) approach, Ofwat requires the appointment of an ITA to provide assurance. UU views the role of the ITA as crucial to ensure objective, independent oversight of costs that may be passed on to customers and to provide robust scrutiny of the CAP’s management of project costs and delivery.

The ITA will act as an independent party to UU, the CAP, and Ofwat, and will therefore owe a duty of care to all three parties.

The purpose of this PIN is to make any interested parties aware of this potential opportunity and enable them to express their interest ahead of UU issuing ITA market engagement materials out for market feedback. Previous PIN: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:369172-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML

The anticipated services to be provided by the ITA are:

(a) the performance of the duties and roles assigned to the ITA under the HARP Project Agreement;

(b) those required (of the ITA) by or for the purposes of UU's Statutory Licence, the DPC Allowed Revenue Direction, the DPC Designation or Ofwat, including in terms of assurance and reports; and

(c) associated services such as:

(i) the assessment of the CAP's allowable construction costs, programmes and any claims for compensation events, throughout the construction (and defects) period;

(ii) certifying the completion and readiness of each of the sections; and

(iii) the provision of quarterly assurance reports to Ofwat and UU.

This notice is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-market engagement and is not a call for competition. Parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this request for information and a response to this PIN does not guarantee any invitation to participate in this event or any future procurement.