High Purity Gases and Gas Mixtures Supply

The National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA), a Type 3A Public Entity established under the Measurement Units and Measurement Standards Act, No. 18 of 2006, is inviting bids for the supply and delivery of high purity gases and gas mixtures, including cylinder rentals, for a period of five years. The gases are used in NMISA's analytical equipment and national measurement standards work at its laboratories in Pretoria and Cape Town. The contract covers a broad range of products, including industrial-grade argon, oxygen and acetylene; high purity argon at 99.9995%; zero air; carbon dioxide; dissolved acetylene; and nitrogen at 99.999% in liquid form. It also includes specialised gas mixtures such as 10% methane in argon, 5% methane in argon, and air mixtures with 21% oxygen in nitrogen. Products are supplied in a range of cylinder and mini-tank sizes, including small F-type cylinders for mixtures where required. Estimated annual quantities are provided for pricing purposes and are expected to be the minimum requirement per annum, with suppliers asked to indicate expected annual price increases over the five-year term.

The bid sets out strict delivery and technical requirements. General gases must be delivered to the laboratories within 1-2 working days of a purchase order, and special gas mixtures within 5 working days. Bidders must confirm whether they can meet these timeframes for each gas. Cylinders and mini-tanks must be compatible with NMISA's existing fixed equipment, such as bullnoses and manifolds. Where compatibility is lacking, the supplier must replace or modify the equipment at its own cost, and the bidder must explain how this will be addressed. Separate delivery points are required for each laboratory for dedicated delivery and billing. Each gas must be supported by a technical datasheet, certificate of analysis (CoA) or safety data sheet (SDS), and bidders must state their quality certifications, such as ISO 9000 and ISO/IEC 17025. A specific requirement covers the delivery of liquid nitrogen to Cape Town, either as a mini-tank delivered by 09:00 and collected the same day at 14:00, or in a portable dewar for the Radioactivity Standards laboratory.

Pricing must be firm and in South African Rand, all-inclusive of applicable taxes and delivery charges, with cylinder rental quoted as a fixed annual price. Foreign suppliers may submit non-firm pricing where the exchange rate is the only variable. Bidders must be registered on the Central Supplier Database (CSD) and hold a valid tax compliance status PIN. The bid is evaluated in two stages: mandatory and technical compliance, followed by scoring under the 80/20 preference point system, with 80 points for price and 20 points for B-BBEE status. The bid is open until 24 November 2026 at 11:00 SAST. Proposals may be emailed to tenders@nmisa.org, hand-delivered, or couriered as original documents, and a compulsory briefing session will be held at the CSIR Campus in Pretoria on 10 November 2026 at 10:00. The briefing also offers the opportunity to inspect the existing fixed gas installations.