Project Name
Enhancing The Bahamas National Quality Infrastructure Through the Establishment of a Metrology Laboratory
Role/Service
Consultancy Services for Technical Assistance to The Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality Metrology Laboratory and Services
Country
Deadline
03:00 PM
Download TOR

Overview

(This is a republication of a notice issued on February 23, 2022)

The Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas (GOCB) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in an amount equivalent to EUR330,963 towards the costs of “Enhancing the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) of The Bahamas through the Establishment of the Metrology Laboratory” Project and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under a contract for which this invitation is issued.  Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of the GOCB and the Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality (BBSQ) upon approval by CDB and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement.  The Financing Agreement prohibits withdrawal from the financing account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.  No party other than GOCB shall derive any rights from the Financing Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the Financing.

The BBSQ, the executing agency now wishes to procure consultancy services from a Consulting Firm to streamline the development and provision of services to be offered via the Bureau’s laboratory facility which is to provide industrial metrology services to government and industry sectors.  The objective of this consultancy is to provide BBSQ with technical assistance to:

  1. Assess the demand for calibration services and develop a strategy to guide the expansion of metrology services in The Bahamas;
  1. Establish a competent calibration service to meet identified demands among current and potential users of metrology services; and
  1. Develop and implement a quality management system in preparation for accreditation to the ISO/IEC 17025.

The duration of the assignment is expected to be implemented in one hundred and fifteen (115) person-days over a period of twelve calendar months.  Further details can be found in the attached Terms of Reference (TOR).

The BBSQ now invites interested eligible consulting firms to submit Expressions of Interest for the provision of these consultancy services.

Eligibility

Consultants shall be eligible to participate if:

  1. in the case of a body corporate, it is legally incorporated or otherwise organised in an eligible country, has its principal place of business in an eligible country and is more than 50 percent beneficially owned by citizen(s) and/or bona fide resident(s) of eligible country(ies) or by a body(ies) corporate meeting these requirements;
  1. in the case of unincorporated firms, the persons are citizens or bona fide residents of an eligible country; 
  1. in all cases, the consultant has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangements, whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country; and
  1. Consultants from member countries of CDB, as well as EU Member Countries which are not CDB Member Countries, and other countries which are eligible under EU procurement provisions, will be eligible to participate in these procurement opportunities[1].

In the assessment of submissions, consideration will be given to technical competence, qualifications and experience on similar assignments, existing commitments and specifically credential as follows:

  1. A Senior Quality Infrastructure/Metrology Expert with a post-graduate degree in Engineering, Natural Sciences, Applied Sciences, Business, or associated discipline; or working experience of at least ten years in the field of metrology and five years in quality management.
  1. At least seven years’ experience working in a calibration or testing laboratory that operates according to the requirements of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard (experience working in an accredited laboratory is preferred); At least two of the seven years should be at the supervisory/head of laboratory level.
  1. Ten years of professional experience in the implementation of quality infrastructure technical assistance projects (Standards and Technical Regulation, Metrology, Accreditation, Conformity Assessment or Quality Promotion) in support of trade and private sector development in support of trade and private sector development in the Caribbean or ACP countries.
  1. Good command of English (at least level 2 on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 5 (basic) as per the EU-CV format).
  1. Experience in conducting similar projects in Caribbean/CARICOM Member Countries or Small Island Developing States would be an asset.

All interested consultancy firms are advised to review the detailed eligibility criteria detailed in Section 4 and conflict of interest provisions in Section 5 of the Procurement Procedures for Projects Financed by CDB (January 2022), as published on CDB’s website.


[1] See eligible countries listed in Part II of Annex A2a of the European Union Procurement procedures and practical guide at: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/document.do?isAnnexes=true

 

Instructions

All information must be submitted in English.  Further information, if necessary, may be obtained from the first email address and copied to the third email address below between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. 

An electronic copy of the Expressions of Interest must be sent in PDF format to both email addresses identified for the first contact below no later than 3:00 p.m. (Bahamas time) on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 and one electronic copy must be sent simultaneously to CDB at the second email address below.  The Expression of Interest will be deemed to have been received at the time that it is received by BBSQ at the email addresses referenced for the first contact below.  The burden of proving receipt of the e-mail will be on the applicant and will not be met solely by a read receipt or sent items report generated by the Consultant’s computer.  The e-mail containing each submission should include the name and address of the applicant.  The subject line shall be clearly marked “Consultancy Services for Technical Assistance to The Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality (BBSQ) Metrology Laboratory and Services.”

Following the assessment of submissions, the most technically capable and appropriately experienced applicant will be invited to negotiate a contract to provide the consultancy services.  If this applicant is unsuccessful, the process shall repeat with the next best qualified and experienced applicant.  BBSQ reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to inform or assign any reason for not engaging the services of any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest.

Contact

1. Address
Ms. Marva Williams
Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality
Information Services Officer

The Source River Center

1000 Bacardi Road

Nassau, N.P.

The Bahamas

 

(242) 362-1748 thru 55
2. Address
Procurement Policy Unit

Caribbean Development Bank

P.O. Box 408

Wildey

St Michael

Barbados, W.I. BB11000

(246) 539 1600
Address 3: For Further Information Contact
Dr. Renae Ferguson-Bufford
Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality
Project Coordinator/Director

The Source River Center

1000 Bacardi Road

Nassau, N.P.

The Bahamas

E-mail: renae.bufford@bbsq.bs;

(242) 362-1748 thru 56
Address 4: For Further Information Contact

Miss Nicollette Burrows

Metrology Inspector/Project Manager

Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality

The Source River Centre

1000 Bacardi Road

Nassau, N.P. The Bahamas

E-mail: nicollette.burrows@bbsq.bs

Tel: (242) 362-1748 thru 55