Appointment of Consultants

The following is a complete set of the Department of Education Appointment of Consultants documents.

Further guidance for school authorities, and their design teams, is available on our School Building and Design page.

Document Edition and Revision

Document edition numbers and revisions are stated on the cover of each document. To check for previous versions scroll down to archived documents.

January 2025

Please note as of January 2025 editable versions of the Instruction to tender documents have been uploaded to the website with reference to being published in January 2025. No changes have been made to the previous versions of these documents noted a published November 2024. It was brought to our attention that the previous versions were password protected which has now been rectified.

November 2024

As a result of the recent changes made to the Pillar 2 of the CWMF website (constructionprocurement.gov.ie ) documentation relating to Standard Conditions of Engagement Documentation, Instruction to Tenderers Documentation and within Pillar 3 of the CWMF website (constructionprocurement.gov.ie ) relating to Suitability Assessment documentation for Service Providers there was a requirement for the Department of Education to update Department Specific versions of elements of the CWMF documentation to reflect the recent updates. Users should refer to both the Department of Education Website and the CWMF website to ensure the most up to date and correct information is being used as part of tender processes. Where there are queries please contact the Department for further direction at any time at PBUprocurement@education.gov.ie. Documents updated include Instruction to Tenderers documentation, Conditions of Engagement documentation where applicable, Conditions of Engagement Schedules A&B where applicable and updates to Suitability Assessment Documentation for Service Providers (Consultants). Please refer to the CWMF website in relation to the updates on the Conditions of Engagement Documentation at Amendments to the Conditions of Engagement for Fee Adjustments published - Capital Works Management Framework. And please refer to the CWMF website at the following link Updated tender templates for Consultants published - Capital Works Management Framework. in relation to the Suitability Assessment Documentation changes.

September 2024

The PDSP Conditions of form of tender documents have been updated as of September 2024 – Document now updated - Form of Tender and Proposal Form for PSDP Consultant Service - September 2024

June 2024

The PDSP Conditions of engagement documents referenced and updated version for March 2023 but a 2019 version of the document remained at the download link. The document has now been updated to reflect the March 2023 updated document

May 2024

The Department of Education Form of Tender (And Tender Proposal Form) documents for both (Open Procedure for Minor Projects, Type 2a) had been updated in May 2024. There was an error within the fee payment structure that was updated in early May 2024 which did not reflect the structure of Type 2A projects. This error has now been updated and corrected to reflect the Type 2a projects stages

May 2024

The Department of Education Form of Tender (And Tender Proposal Form) documents for both (Restricted Procedure for Major Projects, Type 2b and Type 3 and Type 4) and Open Procedure for Minor Projects, Type 2a) have been updated. The Form of Tender and Proposal Form for PSDP Consultant Services has also been up dated to include details on fee percentages where various design stages have previously been completed. The purpose of these updates is to ensure that the Form of Tender (And Proposal Form) documents align with the recent Practice Note February 2024 relating to the realignment of PSDP fees issued by The Department of Education.

February 2024

The Department of Education has published the attached Practice Note in relation to the realignment of PSDP fees.

It permits PSDP Consultants to draw-down a fee payment on successful completion of Stage 1 and facilitates three equal payments during Stage 4 Construction.

The purpose of this Practice Note is to align the PSDP payment structure with the other design team disciplines appointed to Department funded school projects.

March 2023

The Department of Education suite of tender documentation associated with the appointment of a PSDP has been updated. These include the Form of Tender & Proposal, COE-1 Schedules A&B, Instructions to Tender, Conditions of Engagements and Letter of invitation.

February 2023

The Department of Education Minor Works (Type 2a) Form of Tender documents for Architects, Engineers and Quantity Surveyors have been updated to incorporate changes to the assessment criteria to reference green public procurement.

December 2022

The Department of Education Form of Tender documents for Architects, Engineers and Quantity Surveyors has been updated to include Type 4 projects and to incorporate changes to the assessment criteria to reference green public procurement. The Marking Matrix sheet has also been updated to reflect these amendments.

The DoE Suitability Assessment Declaration form and Appendices have been updated.

October 2021

April 2020

The Conditions of Engagement and associated Schedules A and B have been updated and separated to reflect recent changes to these documents published on the Capital Works Management Framework website. The relevant Letters of Invitation and Letters of Acceptance have been updated accordingly.

The Guidance for Appointing Design Teams for Devolved Grant Projectshas been updated to reflect these changes.

September 2019

New template document "Template Letter to PSDP to assess Design Team candidates", relating to the role of the Project Supervisor Design Process (PSDP) has been uploaded.

July 2019

The Guidance for Appointing Design Teams for Devolved Grant Projects has been revised to clarify the need to have a separate RFT for each of the four consultancy disciplines (refer to section 5.4, paragraph 6.). The eTenders RFT checklist (Open Procedure) and eTenders RFT checklist for PSDP tables have also been amended to realign with recent changes to the eTenders website.

April 2019

The Consultants Tender Marking Matrix has been amended to realign the reference hours for Architects, Engineers (Services and Civil & Structural) and Quantity Surveyors for Project Types 2a(0), 2a(1), 2a(2), 2b(1) and 2b(2). This realignment was considered necessary to better reflect the level of hours being tendered for consultancy services for these project types and due to the change from lump sum to percentage fees for Type 2a projects.

March 2019

New guidance note for the appointment of Design Teams for Devolved Grant projects has been uploaded (see Guidance below). Fees for projects using the Open Procedure for Minor Projects, Type 2a, will now be tendered on the basis of a percentage fee which will be converted to a Lump Sum Fixed Price fee at Stage 1. Forms of Tender have been amended to reflect this change.

February 2019

The DoES Tender Marking Matrix has been updated to include additional Type 3 project categories, i.e. 3(7), 3(8), 3(9) and 3(10).

December 2018

New additional documents have been uploaded, including template letters to non-compliant tenderers (both Restricted and Open procedures), template letter of intent (Open procedure), template letter to unsuccessful tenderers (Open procedure) and template letter of acceptance (Open procedure)

October 2018

New additional documents relating to the Appointment of Project Supervisor Design Process (PSDP) have been uploaded, including Suitability Assessment Declaration (QC1) and template letter of invitation, letter to unsuccessful tenderers, letter of intent and letter of acceptance.

September 2018

Documents for appointment of consultants updated (Suitability Assessment, Award Stage Documents (Restricted Procedure) and Award Stage Documents (Open Procedure). Scroll down to view.

January 2018

DoES Schedule of Stage Services for Construction Consultants (Revision 5, January 2018) published. Revision provides updated reference to Design Team Procedures Practice Note 1 (Revision 2, February 2017)

Note: For the appointment of Consultants for Small Works (summer works and devolved projects) refer to: Guidance on Procuring Consultants for Small Works Projects