Application Deadline: April, 28, 2021
BACKGROUND
Jordan’s garment industry is one of the leading exporting industries in the country. In 2019, garments and related exports were valued at over US$1.7 billion and accounted for about 25 percent of the country’s total exports in that year. Since its inception, Better Work Jordan has aimed to improve the working and living conditions and productivity in Jordan’s garment sector, collaborating with various stakeholders to create sustainable solutions. The mandatory status of the programme for all garment factories exporting to the US has helped BWJ create industry-wide impact. As it progressed throughout the years, the number of garment exporting factories registered in the Programme has increased. Currently, 86 garment factories are registered with Better Work (50 direct exporters, 21 subcontractors and 15 satellites), employing approximately 70,000 workers, of whom 75% are migrants.
As part of the employment contract between the employers and migrant workers, employers are required to provide migrant workers working in the factory with accommodation. The latest data from 2019 presents that there are currently 250-300 dormitories associated with factories, most of which have been previously allocated for residential use. Since its inception, the BWJ program continued to produce annual reports that include a reflection on the living conditions of workers in the sector. It is from this premise that the BWJ Programme will continue to build on its efforts, and aims to improve dormitory conditions through advocating for and prioritizing dormitory building safety, strengthening capacity to monitor and maintain standards, working with national stakeholders to strengthen their capacity to inspect worker dormitories, as well as promoting the development of Guidelines for Dormitories for the garment sector.
In Mid 2020, BWJ has worked with a consulting enterprise on Phase I of the project to address the issue of enhancing the safety and public health conditions of dormitory buildings in Jordan’s garment sector. Results from this project included an assessment report covering a sample of 14 dormitories, the assessment was directed towards the following four elements: structural integrity and seismic loading, electrical safety, fire safety and public health; a report containing guidelines on the structural, fire and electrical safety for future dormitories in Jordan’s garment sector; as well as a roadmap report containing recommendations for upgrading the current situation of existing dormitories.[1]
The purpose of this Terms of Reference (ToR) is to support the International Labour Organization’s Better Work Jordan (BWJ) program, as an active partner in Jordan’s garment industry, to build and expand on ‘Phase I of the Enhancing the Structural Integrity of Dormitories in Jordan’s Garment Sector’, and identify typical building safety and public health defects that should be addressed as a priority, provide guidance for factory owners to carry out self-assessments and remediation of defects, as well as document standards to be used for remediation, and new build of future dormitory buildings.
The objective of this scope of work is to further support national stakeholders in the garment industry, the Government of Jordan and Better Work Jordan to promote structural integrity, safety and public health of dormitories associated with garment factories for the benefits of workers and factories, with a view to improving the living conditions and respect of the rights of workers.
The expected key responsibilities and specific deliverables are as follows:
- Typical defects identification report
- Based on the Phase I service provider reports of inspections of 14 buildings, identify typical issues that present safety and/or public health concerns.
- To give as representative a sample as possible of the approx. 250-300 dormitory buildings under consideration, use the existing data on ‘14 Phase I service provider buildings’, as well as inspections of up to 4 additional buildings, to verify the service provider work and supplement the data to be used for this exercise.
- Verify typical defects identified by Phase I service provider, add to them if necessary, and give rating for prioritisation of actions to resolve these issues
- Guidance for assessment and repair of typical defects report
- For typical defects identified above, and using Phase I service providers’ ‘Safety Guidelines Report’ as a basis, provide illustrated guidance on the safety and public health defects and practical ways of rectifying those defects.
- Identify detailed code requirements and explain principles underpinning code requirements for rectification of the common typical defects, to serve as guide for factory owners and consultants commissioned by them.
- Methodology for identification of other non-typical defects
- Provide a methodology that factory owners can use to identify typical as well as other safety and public health defects in their dormitories.
- Develop checklists for factory owners or their representatives to use in applying the methodology.
- Standards to be used for rectification of defects in existing dormitory buildings and design of new dormitory buildings report
- Identify current Jordanian building code requirements, local authorities’ regulations, directives and recommendations for building safety and public health issue related to dormitories in Jordan.
- For the typical issues addressed in guidance document developed under item 2 above, provide detailed references in applicable codes to explain requirements..
- With reference to the Jordanian building code as basis and supplemented by international codes identified in 4b, provide a reference document covering all areas of building safety and public health issues related to dormitory buildings appearing on the checklists developed in item 3 above, which can guide the authorities on the remediation of defects as well as the design of new dormitory buildings.
The Better Work Jordan Programme is seeking applications from qualified technical partners and engineers with:
- demonstrated experience of safety assessments of large portfolios of buildings
- extensive experience in remediation of building safety and public health defects,
- a proven record of providing guidance on applying engineering and architectural solutions to rectifying these defects
- a thorough knowledge of structural, electrical and fire safety codes and protocols for new and existing buildings
- proven engineering knowledge of structural integrity, electrical and fire safety and public health issues related to dormitory buildings.
One week from the date of posting this ToR, the ILO will provide a virtual bidder’s conference, and all bidders are invited to attend. Interested bidders are asked to send an email to: [email protected], and a meeting invite will follow. The purpose of the bidder’s conference is to answer any inquiries bidders might hold, and to more thoroughly explain the expected scope of work mentioned above. The date and link for the bidder’s conference will be made available and sent by email to all interested bidders. A Questions and Answers document will be publicly available for any other bidders who could not participate in the bidder’s conference.
In the proposal, please provide the following:
- A clear indication of which activities are covered in each phase under the proposal
- A succinct, well-documented approach and methodology for the relevant phase(s)
- Identifying a list of deliverables and planning a detailed time allocation for the covered activities including expected submission dates for each deliverable
- Agreement size: Up to $40,000 for this project to ‘Enhancing the Building Safety and Public Health Conditions of Dormitory Buildings in Jordan’s Garment Sector’ .
- Inclusion of a budget with a break-down of person-days/rate per consultant
- Statement of experience (the only experience from the suggested team members is relevant) on related projects
- Questions and any consultations about this ToR shall be send by e-mail to [email protected].
- Proposals for this ToR shall be split in two: Technical Proposal (85%) and a Financial Proposal (15%), and sent by email to the contact details below.
- The deadline for submitting applications is 28th April 2021 (23:00 GMT+2).
- The full completion of deliverables is expected within (180) calendar days from the day of signing the contract.
- The service provider is asked to specify which part of the programme can be affected by the health restrictions of COVID-19, and the ways in which the time for the full completion of the project could be extended proportionally if the specified components of the work are delayed due to the health restrictions of COVID-19.
- The service provider incurs full liability of their health and safety when commuting to and from dormitories, as well as when inside the dormitories.
Better Work Jordan
Tayseer Nanaa Street, South Abdoun,
P.O. Box 831201 Amman
11183 Jordan
T: +962(0) 6 592 5778
Additional information
please check Full ToR from here
To apply for this job email your details to noufal@ilo.org