Page 41 - THE FIRE STATION
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COMPETITION TIMELINE

Giving the Charleroi fire brigade the lead role in the Hainaut-Est        Examining the only project deemed to be in line with the tender
Zone, the last reform acted as a trigger to find a solution to the        conditions, the selection panel complained of the manoeuvring
dramatic state of the city’s firefighting facilities, scattered through-  difficulties fire engines and other emergency vehicles would have
out the city in often unsuitable and run-down locations.                  due to the insufficient space planned.The panel considered that
                                                                          the modifications required to improve this situation would lead
Grasping this opportunity to completely upgrade its facilities, the       to design and architectural changes.
City of Charleroi decided to hold a competition for the construction
of its new fire station.                                                  On the basis of these considerations, the awarding body in
                                                                          Charleroi decided on 31 May 2011 not to award the contract
For the first time in its history, the Charleroi fire brigade would be    and to launch a new tender 7.
getting a purpose-built building meeting its specific needs.
                                                                          “The large garage can accommodate all firefighting, rescue, support
On 24 April 2008, the Walloon Government approved the investment          and command vehicles ... One or more folding doors make up the
programme providing for the alternative funding of certain public         main IN entrance.The OUT exit is made up of several folding doors.
buildings, including €7 million for a new fire station in Charleroi 1.    The entrance to and exit from the vehicle parking garage must be
                                                                          located on different sides of the garage, preferably on opposite
In a memorandum dated 19 April 2007, the Walloon Government               sides. Each vehicle must have its own dedicated parking space,
had set forth the priorities it wanted to have respected in the           with appropriate floor markings (coloured, embossed, ...).
tenders, i.e. the realisation of reference projects, fully adapted        The parking spaces must be designed in such a way that vehicle
to requirements, energy-efficient and with 100% accessibility.            manoeuvring is kept to a minimum, without any need to reverse.” 8

On 28 September 2009, the City of Charleroi decided to issue a            The fire brigade thus rewrote the specifications, insisting on its
tender for the design, execution, financing and maintenance of            own specific requirements, in particular with regard to the central
a fire station for an estimated value of €20 million on the Rue           garage with its key functions.
de laTombe site in Marcinelle 2.
                                                                          On 29 August 2011, the City of Charleroi decided to launch a
The following criteria were defined for deciding which bidder             new tender taking account of the new specifications issued
would be awarded the contract:                                            by the fire brigades 9.
– Overall project cost: 40%
– Quality of the proposed design: 35%                                     Extended on 19 December 2011 by Paul Furlanto, the Region’s
– Quality of the proposed SLA (Service Level Agreement): 10%              Minister for Local Authorities, the new 30 June 2012 deadline
–Timeframe: 10%                                                           allowed the Charleroi awarding body to agree in principle to
– Project management quality: 5%                                          award a public works contract via a restricted EU-wide tender 10.

The tender was issued on 28 October 2009 under no. 2009/S                 Eight applications were submitted by the official submission dead-
208-298362 3. Further tender documents included:                          line of 10:00 on 9 April 2012. Once their admissibility had been
– Addendum No. 1 to the specifications (Conc-Cons-Fin-SRI/2009),          checked, five candidates were selected. Four of these submitted
approved on 18 December 2009, resulting in an additional delay 4 ;        their bids at 10:00 on 22 August 2012 11.
– a modification to the tender conditions related to the setting of
a new deadline for bids (1 July 2010), approved on 26 April 20105 ;       I took part in the first tender. My draft was not selected on admin-
– a further postponement of the date for opening bids (now                istrative grounds. A fundamental condition found its way into the
8 September 2010), and Addendum No. 2 to the specifications,              new specifications. Vehicles should not have to manoeuvre in the
approved on 14 June 2010 6.                                               main garage! I immediately drew a circle which was to become
                                                                          the guiding design principle of the new draft.”  12
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