Model ITT letter paragraph on timber

The tenderer’s attention is drawn to the contract requirements governing the supply and use of timber and wood derived products in performing the contract. It is UK Government policy to require that all timber is from legal sources.  Further, where possible, timber and wood derived products should be obtained from sustainable sources. Timber and wood derived products in the context of this Contract includes any product that contains wood or wood fibre supplied to the Authority or used by the Contractor, his agents and subcontractors in performance of the Contract.

 The Contract Conditions require that all timber and wood derived products supplied to the Authority or used by the Contractor in performing the Contract are legal, as defined by the Contract.  The Authority will reject any bid that cannot offer to provide independent verification that all timber and wood derived products used in the Contract meets this requirement.

 Further, a Variant Specification covering the sustainable criteria has been included with the draft contract documents for tenderers to incorporate in their tender should they choose to offer timber from a sustainable source.  Tenderers who submit Variant bids must also submit a separate standard bid that may be priced differently. The Authority reserves the right to restrict the final evaluation to variant bids only provided they are affordable and provide an effective and efficient use of expenditure. Alternatively, the Authority reserves the right to evaluate standard bids only. In either case the contract will be awarded to the most economically advantageous compliant tender.

 In summary, tenderers are offered the option of providing either:

 (a) – Timber and wood derived products that are legal (this is a condition of contract and so is an absolute minimum requirement); or

(b) – A standard tender as in (a) above plus a separate tender for Timber and wood derived products that are both legal and from a sustainable source.

 The Authority would prefer to award the contract to an offer to supply both legal and sustainable timber and will do so if it represents value for money