Technical Assessment and Refurbishment of the Telecommunication Tower and Building in United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON)

Item Description:

The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) seeks the services of a skilled and qualified multidisciplinary vendor to refurbish the communications tower and associated building.

The communications tower is a self supporting lattice tower of about 70 meters high, constructed in 2010 together with the communications building. Both facilities host and support RF-based services, including HF, VHF, UHF, C-band, microwave, mobile network, satellite and radio equipment and related services. These systems are critical to emergency communications, air dispatch, vehicle fleet continuity and hosted mobile services.

Since construction, the tower and building have remained in continuous use, with no significant maintenance works undertaken. Refurbishment has been identified as the preferred option, as it addresses the structural and safety compliance issues while maintaining ongoing operations.

The above assignment is to be undertaken it two phases namely:

1) Phase 1 (Technical Assessment and Design): This will include undertaking a technical assessment, design validation of the tower, building and related infrastructure and refurbishment design and implementation plan.

2) Phase 2 (Construction Works): this will include the implementation of the approved scope of refurbishment works on the tower, comms building and related infrastructure.

UNON will review the technical report submitted by the vendor at the close of phase 1, and progression to phase 2 will be subject to UNON’s approval of scope and confirmation of technical and financial feasibility.

Scope of Assignment

The Client’s preliminary understanding of the required works is outlined below; the service provider shall

assess, validate, refine and, where justified, expand or amend these requirements based on verified site conditions, engineering analysis, applicable standards and operational needs:

The general scope for assessment and refurbishment of communications tower include:

• Structural integrity and improvements
• Cable management
• Cable protection and anti-rodent safeguards
• Lightening protection, bonding and earth-resistance testing
• Aviation lighting
• Cable ladder, feeder support and cable-entry assessment
• Coating condition and corrosion-protection specification
• Existing antenna and equipment loading inventory

The general scope for assessment and refurbishment of the communications building include:

• Exterior envelope including roof, walls, floor, doors and windows
• Interior finishings such as acoustic ceiling panels, wall paint, antistatic floor mat
• Rain / storm water drainage provisions,
• Power cables and installations, electrical fittings, lighting protection, grounding
• Fire safety installations including automatic fire detection and suppression
• Environmental monitoring systems with alerting (SNMP capabilities)
• Structured cable management through provision of ducts cable ducts, etc.
• Anti rodent safeguards and cable protection
• Physical security including perimeter fencing
• Rack layout, equipment clearance and cable pathway; including PDU, ODF and patch panels
• Modular data-center feasibility
• Space, power, and cooling capacity for current and future radio equipment
• OTDR and optical-liss testing of fibre
• Antenna feeder return-loss and distrance-to-fault testing
• Verification of existing antenna and feeder condition
• Assessment of redundant fibre connectivity against intended 99.99% availability target
• Satellite links communication equipment

Vendor’s Technical Capacity and Experience

Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the requirement, consortium/ joint ventures of contractors or single general contractors are encouraged to express interest. Also, general contractors with long standing contractual or construction affiliation with experienced specialist subcontractors are encouraged to express interest. In a joint venture or consortium, the principal/prime contractor shall have core competence in either:

1) construction, installation, maintenance of steel telecommunications towers or,

2) construction and renovation of buildings.

The consortium of contractors MUST collectively have the following experience and technical capacity:

1) design, construction, installation, maintenance, and rigging of steel lattice telecommunications towers

2) design, construction, renovation of buildings and associated services e.g power, HVAC, etc.

3) design, construction and fit-out of IT data centres and related insfrastructure

Proposed schedule of key personnel

• Project Manager
• Design/ Lead Engineer
• Telecommunications Engineer
• Certified Data Centre Professional
• Construction Supervision
• Mechanical Engineer
• Electrical Engineering Technician
• Health, safety and environment specialist

Proposed works schedule

Phase 1: 8 weeks

Phase 2: 16 weeks (excludes a defects liability period of 1 year)

Pre-qualifications Criteria

Only those vendors meeting ALL of the following pre-qualification criteria will be invited to participate in the anticipated tender exercise:

1. Vendor(main/prime contractor) shall provide valid company documents showing certificate of Registration at the Kenyan National Construction Authority (minimum NCA Category 3, Building Works) and/or Kenya Communications Authority Telecommunications License, (or equivalent certificate for international bidders).

1.1. Documents required from Vendors: Copies of certificates (in English or translated into English) for the documents mentioned above.

2. Vendor shall provide Certification for their Health and Safety personnel showing proof of professional qualification from Kenya Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services, or equivalent OSHA certifications (as per ISO 450001).

2.1. Documents required from Vendors: Certification for H&S personnel.

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