Project Overview:
Westworks Procurement Limited (WPL) is a collaborative group of 18 member housing providers, groups and local authorities operating in the South and South West of England and South Wales, which is being continually added to, working together to achieve better value through sharing resources, best practice and aggregated contract values. Westworks is a consortium backed by the Homes and Communities Agency and works alongside other consortia within the scheme. Current organisations permitted to access Westworks frameworks are: Alliance Homes, Aster Group, Bournemouth Borough Council, Curo Group, Housing Solutions Group, Knightstone, Merlin Housing Society, Selwood HA, Shepherds Bush Housing Group, Solon SW HA, Sovereign HA, Stroud District Council, Stonewater, Affinity Sutton, Bristol City Council, Gloucester City Homes, Oxford City Council, Winchester City Council. The Advantage SW LLP procurement consortium (ASW) operates in the south west of England, predominantly Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset. It comprises Coastline Housing, DCH, East Devon District Council, Magna Housing, North Devon Homes, Ocean Housing, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Teign Housing, United Communities, Westward Housing and Yarlington Housing. Westworks aims include:

• Improving and maintaining value for money from the supply chain
• Creating efficiencies and providing higher quality services
• Creating new jobs and sustainable communities in its region
• Engaging with local providers and communities
• Giving opportunities to SMEs to participate in works
• Minimising the impact on the environment
• Sharing knowledge and increasing the procurement effectiveness of all of its members
• Providing access to more beneficial procurement activities for smaller organisations
• Reducing the complexity and time for potential providers to participate in tenders
• Ensuring mutual benefits for our customers, members and partners

The Authority members in total provide housing and property asset management and maintenance services to around 300,000 homes. Armstrong York are one of ten asbestos survey providers to provide planned, cyclical and ad-hoc Asbestos Survey and reporting and Management services to both occupied and vacant domestic housing and commercial properties throughout the area covered by WPL and ASW, their members and partners. Providers appointed to the framework may be required to act as main contractor within projects and to utilise supply chains already in existence or yet to be established by the consortia and its users. The main areas serviced by Westworks and Advantage South West are the South and South West of England and the South of Wales, other areas may be served through their sister consortia using this arrangement. The framework consists of 2 work stream lots and multiple providers have been appointed to achieve geographical and volume coverage for each lot:

1. Surveying and reporting of presence of ACM
2. Removal and management of ACM

The works must be carried out in accordance with Mandatory UK legislation and Approved Code of Practice and Guidance and Surveying companies appointed must be accredited to ISO 17020 and ISO 17025.

Inspection demand (void, programmed, ad hoc and emergency), response times and notification

Clients will have requirements for surveys to be undertaken as a result of a property becoming void, works programmed to be undertaken and ad hoc requirements. Only in a minority of cases will the property be unoccupied. The differing reasons for requiring surveys will drive the required response times.

For programmed surveys, unless agreed otherwise with the Client as part of a programme, the survey must be completed and the full report provided within 10 working days.

For voids it is essential that the survey is undertaken as soon as the property becomes vacant.

1.1. Where the Client provides us with 5 or more working days’ notice that the property will become void the survey must be undertaken within 24 hours of the keys being provided to the Client. The full report must be provided to the client within 5 days of the void becoming vacant.

1.2. Where the Client provides Armstrong York with less than 5 working days’ notice that the property will become void the survey must be undertaken within 48 hours of the keys being provided to the Client. The full report must be provided to the client within 5 days of the void becoming vacant.

For urgent surveys Armstrong York must attend within 24 hours (not subject to normal working hours), provide a verbal update to the client officer within an hour, and provide the full report within 48 hours of the original notification.

For emergency surveys Armstrong York must attend within 5 hours (not subject to normal working hours), provide a verbal update to the client officer within an additional hour, and provide the full report within 24 hours of the original notification.

For ad hoc services the client may require a faster response dependent on the particular situation. They will fit the ad hoc survey into one of the above categories.