Belgium – Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services – Désignation d'un bureau de contrôle pour une mission de contrôle technique portant sur le gros-oeuvre fermé et la sécurité incendie

The mission of the control office is twofold: - on the one hand, assisting the contracting authority in the analysis of the offers for the design-build market - on the other hand, a technical control mission covering the closed structural work and fire safety (passive and active), during the studies and execution of the project, in order to allow, at the end of the works, the subscription of an « assurance contrôle » policy covering the ten-year liability for the closed structural work. The control applies to Time 1 and, if the corresponding options of the design-build market are lifted with the adjudicating group, to Time 2. Time 3, not defined at this time, is not controlled as such, but the control checks the capacity of the structures of Time 1 to accommodate Times 2 and 3.

I.1.2 Project Object. Palais Collectif. Palais Collectif is a new multifunctional university construction intended to respond to the increase in the number of students. It will offer additional places in auditoriums and versatile spaces dedicated in particular to examination sessions, collective activities and meetings. It is intended to constitute a new centrality on the campus of the Plaine, boulevard de la Plaine, at 1050 Ixelles. The Palais Collectif project is the subject of a design-build contract, currently in the offer submission phase.

I.1.3 Programme of Palais Collectif. The Palais Collectif project is designed as an evolving infrastructure organised in three timeframes: Time 1 (+/- 6 000 m²): an invariant programme comprising a hub of three auditoriums of 750, 400 and 100 places (approximately 1 470 m² net), a versatile foyer of at least 1 250 m² (approximately 300 additional examination places and a Horeca offer) and a research hub of approximately 230 m² net (including the ULB-VUB Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels). In addition, there is a solar roof, an intensive roof dedicated to a research garden and support functions (cafeteria and catering, sanitary cores, circulations, technical rooms). Time 1 also includes a « capable space » intended to accommodate Time 2. Time 2: a research greenhouse (350 m²), workshops for the faculty of architecture (450 m²) and an extension of the foyer with its support premises. Time 2 corresponds to the options of the design-build contract. Time 3: not defined at this time, it constitutes a land reserve. Its height is limited to a « medium-sized building » within the meaning of the royal decrees setting the basic standards for fire prevention (R+3 on roof slab). The building is located on a plot of approximately 1.4 ha, already stripped and largely decontaminated. For more detailed programming > SEE ANNEX « SYNTHESE NON TECHNIQUE »

I.1.4 Volumetric and Structural Principles of Palais Collectif. The volume is implanted at ground level on the previously terraced site. The load-bearing structures integrate a capacity for evolution from Time 1: they are sized to allow the implementation of Times 2 and 3, as well as changes in the use of the spaces of Time 1. Time 3 subsequently provides for a light construction building, placed on the structural grid of the lower level in order to limit interventions on the foundations. This evolvability is a major point of attention for the control. The overall height of the building will not exceed that of a medium-sized building. The mission of the control office covers Times 1 and 2 (if the contracting authority orders Time 2 from the adjudicating group, which is an option) and does not cover Time 3 except for the verification of the capacity of the structures of Time 1 to accommodate Times 2 and 3.

I.1.5 Technical Requirements. No derogations from fire safety standards are envisaged, given the deadlines for obtaining permits, which must be as short as possible.

I.1.6 Context of the design-build contract. The Palais Collectif project is awarded through a design-build contract to a group associating a project author (architecture, stability, special techniques, PEB, acoustics, fire safety, soil decontamination, landscape studies), and a General Contractor class 8. This design-build contract is divided into 2 tranches (the obtaining of permits being one of the main risks of the project): -a firm tranche for the design until the permits are obtained -a conditional tranche for the execution of the works and the associated services. The total budget for the works of Time 1 is the subject of a closed envelope of 17,500,000 € excl. VAT. The options of Time 2 may or may not be lifted by the contracting authority before the submission of the urban planning permit. Their price is defined by the tenderers invited to submit an offer. The design-build contract is currently in the offer submission phase. The four preselected candidates develop their project autonomously, without exchange with the contracting authority outside the formal framework of the procedure (questions-answers, then negotiations). At the designation of the control office, no project will therefore be finalised: the structural and fire safety principles of the 4 preselected candidates will only appear at the stage of the offers (February 2027), in the form of principles and predimensioning. They will then be developed by the group that wins the contract, in consultation with the contracting authority, between the award of the contract and the final design, in compliance with the standards in force. Since design and execution studies are carried out jointly, the pace of the project is substantially faster than in a classic process.