Official UK procurement notice
B947 (2027) Excavation, Cable Laying & Reinstatement Works
Authority: Northern Ireland Electricity Networks Limited (Public body)
What is being bought6 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of this procurement is to appoint multiple suppliers for the Provision of Excavation, Cable Laying and Reinstatement and related services across six Lots:
Lot 1 Belfast District,
Lot 2 North District,
Lot 3 South District,
Lot 4 East District,
Lot 5 West District
Lot 6 Projects.
Lots 1-5 are geographical and Lot 6 is non-geographical.
The services within Lots 1-6 will include, but not limited to as follows::
- The excavation and reinstatement of trenches and joint holes.
- Installation of electricity cables (33kV, 11kV, LV mains and LV service) and related equipment (including minipillars, underground distribution boxes, auxiliary cables, ducts, etc.) associated with:
a) Provision of New Customer Connections
b) Fault and Emergency Response
c) Asset Installation / Replacement / Upgrade Works
- Management of Street works activities including signing, lighting and guarding of works to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
Possible additional activities include:
- Cable Jointing of 33kV, 11kV, LV and Service Cables
- Route selection
All appointed Suppliers in Lots 1 to 5 as either Primary Supplier or Reserve Supplier will be appointed to the Framework Agreement for Lot 6.
Call off contracts for each Lot will be appointed as outlined in Appendix C - Call Off Procedure of the ITT document.
NIE Networks estimates the value of the Contract to be in the region of £331.5 million for the potential full 8 year period (inclusive of contingency).
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Mar 2034, 23:59 GMT.
- How the procedure runs: As set out in the Procurement documents attached to the project on eSourcingNI
CPV: Ancillary works for electricity power lines · Ancillary works for pipelines and cables · Construction work · Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines · Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork · Engineering works and construction works · Excavating and earthmoving work · Excavating work · Installation of cable infrastructure · Installation of cable laying · Trench-digging work · Works for complete or part construction and civil engineering work
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs may be awarded directly or by further competition
- Framework period
- 4 yrs · up to 8 yrs from 2 Mar 2027
Published description of the framework
Criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Lots and requirements (6)Procurement structure
6 lots · all with a published value · win at most 3 of them · same conditions of participation on every lot · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1Belfast DistrictRenewalPublished value£90,400,000
Lot 1 Belfast District will include, but not limited to:
- The excavation and reinstatement of trenches and joint holes.
- Installation of electricity cables (33kV, 11kV, LV mains and LV service) and related equipment (including minipillars, underground distribution boxes, auxiliary cables, ducts, etc.) associated with:
a. Provision of New Customer Connections
b. Fault and Emergency Response
c. Asset Installation / Replacement / Upgrade Works
- Cable Jointing of 33kV, 11kV, LV and Service Cables.
- Management of Street Works activities including signing, lighting and guarding of works to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the procurement documents
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the procurement documents
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Lot #2North DistrictRenewalPublished value£67,200,000
Lot 2 North District will include, but not limited to:
- The excavation and reinstatement of trenches and joint holes.
- Installation of electricity cables (33kV, 11kV, LV mains and LV service) and related equipment (including minipillars, underground distribution boxes, auxiliary cables, ducts, etc.) associated with:
a. Provision of New Customer Connections
b. Fault and Emergency Response
c. Asset Installation / Replacement / Upgrade Works
- Cable Jointing of 33kV, 11kV, LV and Service Cables.
- Management of Street Works activities including signing, lighting and guarding of works to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
.
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the procurement documents
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the procurement documents
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Lot #3South DistrictRenewalPublished value£56,000,000
Lot 3 South District will include, but not limited to:
- The excavation and reinstatement of trenches and joint holes.
- Installation of electricity cables (33kV, 11kV, LV mains and LV service) and related equipment (including minipillars, underground distribution boxes, auxiliary cables, ducts, etc.) associated with:
a. Provision of New Customer Connections
b. Fault and Emergency Response
c. Asset Installation / Replacement / Upgrade Works
- Cable Jointing of 33kV, 11kV, LV and Service Cables.
- Management of Street Works activities including signing, lighting and guarding of works to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the procurement documents
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the procurement documents
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Lot #4East DistrictRenewalPublished value£3,120,000
Lot 4 East District will include, but not limited to:
- The excavation and reinstatement of trenches and joint holes.
- Installation of electricity cables (33kV, 11kV, LV mains and LV service) and related equipment (including minipillars, underground distribution boxes, auxiliary cables, ducts, etc.) associated with:
a. Provision of New Customer Connections
b. Fault and Emergency Response
c. Asset Installation / Replacement / Upgrade Works
- Cable Jointing of 33kV, 11kV, LV and Service Cables.
- Management of Street Works activities including signing, lighting and guarding of works to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual. .
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the procurement documents
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the procurement documents
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Lot #5West DistrictRenewalPublished value£16,000,000
Lot 5 West District will include, but not limited to:
- The excavation and reinstatement of trenches and joint holes.
- Installation of electricity cables (33kV, 11kV, LV mains and LV service) and related equipment (including minipillars, underground distribution boxes, auxiliary cables, ducts, etc.)associated with:
d. Provision of New Customer Connections
e. Fault and Emergency Response
f. Asset Installation / Replacement / Upgrade Works
- Cable Jointing of 33kV, 11kV, LV and Service Cables.
- Management of Street Works activities including signing, lighting and guarding of works to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the procurement documents
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the procurement documents
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Lot #6ProjectsRenewalPublished value£33,600,000
Lot 6 Projects will include, but not limited to:
- The excavation and reinstatement of trenches and joint holes.
- Installation of electricity cables (33kV, 11kV, LV mains and LV service) and related equipment (including minipillars, underground distribution boxes, auxiliary cables, ducts, etc.) associated with:
a. Provision of New Customer Connections
b. Asset Installation / Replacement / Upgrade Works
- Cable Jointing of 33kV, 11kV, LV and Service Cables.
- Management of Street Works activities including signing, lighting and guarding of works to Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
- Route selection
- LV and HV jointing from LV to 33kV.
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the procurement documents
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the procurement documents
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 40%
- Commercial: 60%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical
- Commercial
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the procurement documents
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the procurement documents
- Condition of participationshortlisting
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
- Price carries 60 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 6 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “B947 (2027) Excavation, Cable Laying & Reinstatement Works” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract: call-offs may be direct or by further competition.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Works
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Mar 2034
- First published
- 2 Jun 2025, 10:46 BST
- Last source update
- 14 May 2026, 14:51 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Feb 2027
- Authority reference
B947 (2027)- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-044435- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-052a61Find a Tender
- How it runs
As set out in the Procurement documents attached to the project on eSourcingNI
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 15 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Appointment period ends
- 15 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
2 Jun 2025 → 2 Mar 2027 · 6 dates- Planning notice published2 Jun 2025, 10:46 BST
- Market engagement16 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
Interested parties should register their interest and attendance via eSourcing NI (as below) by 5.00pm on Wednesday 11th June 2025 providing the name(s) and contact email addresses of who will attend. Attendance shall be limited to a maximum of 3 attendees per organization. Registration for the PME briefing event(s) shall only be through eSourcing NI.
pqq_4665 has been created on eSourcing NI where parties can register their interest to attend the session via the secure messaging function. Upon receipt of Suppliers' Expressions of Interest, we will provide additional information with further instructions on how to participate in the PME Briefing Event.
The PME briefing event shall consist of a presentation by NIE Networks Ltd (consisting of an overview of requirements, objectives, proposed approach to the forthcoming procurement and anticipated timelines), with an opportunity afterwards for interested parties to raise clarification questions. Interested parties should note that any questions regarding the content of the PME briefing event or procurement process raised in advance of the PME briefing event through eSourcing NI will not be responded to by NIE Networks Ltd.
Please note that NIE Networks Ltd will be conducting this PME exercise in accordance with the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency. To that end, it is important to stress that the structure, specification and all other aspects of the procurement will not be designed to give direct or indirect advantage to any interested party and all information concerning the forthcoming procurement will be disseminated to all interested parties.
It is important to note that this PME Notice and the PME briefing event do not constitute a call for competition, selection process or a current tender opportunity. This PME Notice has been produced solely for the purpose of conducting a pre-market engagement exercise. All interested parties will need to express a formal interest in any future tender opportunity in due course once a contract notice (as appropriate) is published.
NIE Networks Ltd welcomes interest from all interested parties. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this PME Notice or the PME briefing event. Participation or non-participation in the PME exercise shall not prevent any interested parties from participating in any subsequent procurement exercise.
All information shared with interested parties as part of the PME exercise (including, for the avoidance of doubt, a copy of the PME presentation and any questions and answers provided) will be made available to all parties that express an interest in participating in any subsequent procurement exercise. For the avoidance of doubt however, NIE Networks Ltd will not disclose any specific comments or feedback provided by any interested party, nor the identity of any party that chose to take part in the PME process.
NIE Networks Ltd may, at its absolute discretion, consider any questions or feedback provided during the PME exercise in finalising its procurement strategy, procurement process and/or any aspects of the procurement. NIE Networks Ltd also reserves the right to request additional information from any interested party in relation to any question raised or feedback provided as part of the PME exercise.
The information provided in this PME Notice and as part of the PME exercise is preliminary in nature and is subject to amendment/updating by NIE Networks Ltd. No reliance may be placed by any party on the information contained in this PME Notice or provided as part of the PME exercise and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made in relation to such information.
- Tender notice published161 days ago14 May 2026, 14:51 BST
- Admission / appointment period ends129 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown15 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 103 days1 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 131 days2 Mar 2027
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Jun 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published2 Jun 2025, 10:46 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published14 May 2026, 14:51 BSTUK4
- Published value published: £331,500,00014 May 2026, 14:51 BST
- Status changed to active14 May 2026, 14:51 BST
- Procurement method changed14 May 2026, 14:51 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: eSourcingNI is NIE Networks’ chosen electronic tendering portal for this Procurement and documents can be found within the project pqq_4722 - B947 (2027) Excavation, Cable Laying & Reinstatement Works, on the following website - https://e-sourcingni.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/web
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender