Notice of intent to Award 

For

Building Automation System (“BAS”) for 

Multiple Facilities in City of St. Albert

Notice of Intent to Award No.  NOI-2024-0042

Issued: March 7, 2024

1. Notice of Intent to Award (“NOIA”)

This Notice of Intent to Award is issued by City of St. Albert (the “City’) for procurements as required by policy and trade agreements in relation to a specific procurement, as detailed below. 

This is a public notice indicating to the vendor community that the City intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre‐identified vendor, thereby allowing other vendors to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a Statement of Capabilities. If no vendor submits a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in this NOIA, on or before the closing date specified above, the City may then proceed with the award to the pre‐ identified vendor.

The City has a requirement for building automation system in eight (8) of our major facilities. The purpose of this NOIA is to signal the City’s intention to award a contract for these services and/or goods to the vendor identified in this notice.

Before awarding a contract, however, the City provides other vendors with the opportunity to demonstrate that they can satisfy the requirements set out in this NOIA by submitting a Statement of Capabilities during the posting period.

If other potential vendors submit Statements of Capabilities during the posting period that meet the requirements set out in the NOIA, the City may undertake a public bid solicitation process in order to award the contract to a vendor that meets the City’s requirements. If no other vendor submits, on or before the closing date a Statement of Capabilities meeting the requirements set out in this NOIA, a contract will be awarded to the pre‐selected vendor.

2. Description of Procurement

The City utilizes a Siemens Building Automation System (BAS) for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning controls in eight (8) of our major facilities: RCMP, Public Works, Transit, St. Albert Place, Fire Hall 1, Fire Hall 3, Fountain Park and Servus Place.

The service will,

• help ensure that these systems are operating effectively and efficiently. 
• includes summer and winter automation inspections and service, online / phone automation support and semi-annual automation health reports. 
• ensures that we receive emergency onsite response, should a problem occur. 

Services description includes:

• Preventative Maintenance – Automation
• Software Subscription Service 
• Automation Health Report
• Remote Management Services – Automation
• Customer Directed Support
• Firmware Updates
• Data Back Up and Restore Service 

3 .Justification of Award

Siemens Canada Limited, the designated service provider for the City’s eight building automation system and Servus Place's fire alarm system maintenance, plays a pivotal role in our infrastructure. The Siemen’s BAS (Desigo CC) platform is the City’s standard for building control systems, with Siemens having proprietary rights to this equipment.

Siemens Canada is the existing service provider, responsible for maintaining the system, conducting and performing related preventative maintenance and repairs. Their in-depth knowledge of the proprietary technology ensures timely and specialized assistance, minimizing downtime and optimizing system performance. 

The City did not call for open competitive proposals for the following reasons: 

• Siemens has proprietary right to the existing equipment. A substantive investment on time and resources has already been made by the City for the Siemens’ building automation system and equipment. Any changes on the supplier and BAS solution would cause significant duplication of costs to the City.
• Siemens BAS is considered a critical piece of the City’s HVAC system. Transition to a new system can be reasonably expected to cause operational disruption for each facility which is contrary to the City’s best interest.
• Retraining of the appropriate staff would be required at eight locations which will create a resource strain and a disturbance to regular operational activities.

4. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)

Any interested vendor must demonstrate in a Statement of Capabilities how they meet all the listing below. The City reserves the right to validate the submitted Statement Capabilities within a set time period (if applicable).

1. Ability to supply the service at the same (if not exceeded) requirements, as noted in Section 2. Description of Procurement and 3. Justification of Award.
2. Ability to supply the service at equal or lesser cost.
3. Ability to perform the building automation system change with minimal impact to facility operations.
4. *Consistent with familiarization of other existing system that may need to be compatible with BAS in the future.

* The City’s Desigo CC BAS program from Siemens monitor and control building operations at eight major City owned facilities (including Servus place). The BAS is a combination of both software application and field panels installed at different locations in the building relaying inputs on the building environmental conditions. It also generates alarms to indicate failure of units as well as facilitates control of HVAC related parameters. Currently the BAS is not integrated with the fire alarm system in Servus Place, but capable of being configured to do so; it is not part of the scope of this project but maybe considered in the future.

5. Award Details 

1. Vendor (pre-identified): Siemens Canada Limited
2. Time Frame for Delivery or Length of Contract and Extension Options: Three (3) year-term
3. Value: $115,272.00 total for the three-year term excluding GST.

6. Deadline for Statement of Capabilities

The submission deadline for this NOIA is Thursday, March 28, 2024 2:00:00 PM Local time. 

7. Contact Information

To contact the City in relation to this NOIA, respondents must initiate the communication electronically through the bidding system. The City will not accept any respondent’s communications by any other means, except as specifically stated in this NOIA.

For the purposes of this procurement process, 

Questions related to this NOIA are to be submitted through the bidding system only by clicking on the “Submit a Question” button for this specific notice.   

8. Statement of Capabilities Submission Instructions

If you intend to provide a Statement of Capabilities per these NOIA requirements, submit by using “Submit a Question” and adding an attachment in the bidding system.

9. Trade Agreement

Unless otherwise indicated, and subject to applicable exceptions and exclusions, this procurement is covered by:

•     Article 14 of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement