Preliminary Inquiry (PI) to identify and select companies that are interested in and capable of delivering the following services:

Lot 1: technical maintenance and engineering support services for daily operations of the Observatory, including:

A. Regular services for :

-        Preventive maintenance of technical infrastructure including telescopes and astronomical instruments;

-        Basic corrective maintenance;

-        Support to engineering activities linked to operations in general.

B. Variable services for:

-        Emergency support;

-        Projects related to the Paranal Observatory operations;

-        Projects related to the Extremely Large Telescope Assembly-Integration-Verification phase at Paranal and Armazones.

Lot 2: operation of the Observatory Warehouse, which manages the consumables and spares required for all activities on site, including:

-        Reception and storage of goods;

-        Customer service at warehouse;

-        Stock and inventory management;

-        Procurement of goods under stock control;

-        Miscellaneous additional services on-site (e.g. storage area inspections).

All services are to be performed on site, 365 days a year, in a shift system.

The PI will be released in Q3/2020 to potential suppliers in Chile and will be followed by a Call for tender planned to be issued in Q4/2020.

The process may result in a single contract for the 2 Lots or in two contracts.

The contract(s) shall start on 01 July 2021 for a firm period of 3 years, with options to extend by up to 3 more years.

The contract(s) is(are) expected to be awarded in Q1/2021, to the Bidder, which has submitted a fully compliant Tender and offers the best value for money for ESO taking into account the quality and price of the offer.