Excluded Prima returns to the tender for the reconstruction of the Art School in Hradec Králové

Hradec Králové - The city of Hradec Králové will once again evaluate the bids for the reconstruction of the Střezina Elementary Art School, valued at around 160 million crowns. The Hradec-based company PRIMA, which was excluded from the competition, succeeded in its objection to the city as the contracting authority. For the new evaluation of all six bids, a new evaluation committee will be appointed by the city council. This was stated today by the spokesperson of the town hall, Petr Vinklář. The repair of the Střezina Art School is currently the largest investment project in the city. The construction has experienced about a year's delay compared to the original plans, and the new evaluation will prolong the process by several more months.

Company Prima offered the lowest price in the competition of 154.46 million crowns excluding VAT. However, the tender was won by the construction company Stako Hradec Králové in association with Geosan Group with a price of 157.7 million crowns excluding VAT. As the winner of the competition, it was approved by the representatives of Hradec Králové on May 30. The representatives excluded the Prim company from the competition. According to Deputy Mayor Jindřich Vedlich (TOP 09), this was due to the extraordinarily low bid price for one of the items in the offer.

In its objection, Prima stated that the city had no reason for its exclusion. The exclusion of the company was labeled as discriminatory and purposeful. The procedure of the evaluation committee and the city was deemed unlawful by the company. It pointed out that the contested price referred to concrete costing 3000 crowns, which accounted for only 0.002 percent of the total value of the contract. Prima also indicated that the Stako-Geosan association should have been excluded, as it allegedly did not meet the required technical qualifications.

The new evaluation committee will conduct a new assessment of the suppliers' qualifications and a new assessment and evaluation of the bids, according to Vinklář. If the city council decides on the selection of the most suitable bid at the September meeting and no objections are filed against it, the reconstruction of Střezina could begin at the start of November. In such a case, the delay compared to the original plans would reach a year and a half. However, if the tender were to be challenged again with objections, the start of the construction could be postponed by several weeks to months.

There were six bids in the competition. In addition to the Stako-Geosan association and company Prima, bids were also submitted by Hochtief CZ, OHL ŽS, Metrostav, and PKS stavby. One applicant submitted a bid past the deadline and was not evaluated. The criterion for establishing the order of applicants was the offered price. On the opposite end of the price scale from Prima was Hochtief CZ with a bid of 178.8 million crowns.

The main part of the project is the complete reconstruction of the former pavilion-based Jih Elementary School in the Slezské Předměstí. The elementary art school already utilizes most of the buildings. Through the reconstruction, the Střezina Art School will acquire multifunctional spaces, such as a rehearsal room for popular music students, a theater hall, and classrooms for the visual arts. The school's management plans for the complex to become a natural cultural center for the city of one hundred thousand. The art school has been waiting for its modern building for a quarter of a century.