Official UK procurement notice
Collection and Transportation of Water and Wastewater Samples
Authority: Northern Ireland Water (Public body)
Sectors: Architecture & Engineering (71)IT Services & Software (72)Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: Northern Ireland (UKN)
Published estimate£16,250,266≈ £5.4m / year · £19,500,319 inc. VAT55.1% above final estimate
Submissions closed 27 Oct 2025awarded 2 Feb 2026
Awarded to RPS Environmental Management Limited
Contract term 3 yrsends 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2033 with extensions · starts 1 Jul 2026
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Contract is for the following services: -
- Sampling of water, waste water and Cryptosporidium filters from locations throughout Northern Ireland
- Subsequent transportation of the samples to a specified NI Water laboratory (Gelvin Grange, Altnagelvin, Co. Londonderry or Westland House, Old Westland Road, Belfast) for
analysis
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Oct 2032, 23:59 BST.
- How the procedure runs: The Competitive Flexible Procedure is described in the CfT documents which are available on eTendersNI.
- No preliminary market engagement: Preliminary market engagement notice was published for T102 tender (procurement was terminated). T146 is a retender of this same requirement
CPV: Bacteriological analysis services · Data analysis services · Laboratory services · Services related to water pollution · Waste analysis services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£16,250,266
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).
How bids were scored
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Quality: 60%
- Cost: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality
- Cost
What this means for your bid
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
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
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Oct 2032
- First published
- 1 Oct 2025, 16:59 BST
- Last source update
- 12 Feb 2026, 13:34 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 12 Jan 2026
- Authority reference
T146 Collection and Transportation of Water and Wastewater Samples- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-061491- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a63dFind a Tender
- How it runs
The Competitive Flexible Procedure is described in the CfT documents which are available on eTendersNI.
How it was run
Official noticeRun through: eTendersNI · Who buys & how to bid on eTendersNI
Access & registration note: Free Northern Ireland registration
- Submission deadline
- 27 Oct 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 17 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Timeline
1 Oct 2025 → 1 Jul 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published390 days ago1 Oct 2025, 16:59 BST
- Clarification questions by374 days ago17 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline364 days ago27 Oct 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by286 days ago12 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent266 days ago2 Feb 2026
- Standstill ends256 days ago11 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published256 days ago12 Feb 2026, 13:34 GMT
- Contract starts117 days ago1 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
6 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 Oct 2025- Tender notice published1 Oct 2025, 16:59 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published2 Feb 2026, 14:52 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete2 Feb 2026, 14:52 GMT
- Procurement method changed2 Feb 2026, 14:52 GMT
- Contract details notice published12 Feb 2026, 13:34 GMTUK7
- Contract signature expected12 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastAwards 1
Awarded value (inc. VAT) £25,200,0001 award inc. VAT; no net value published
Bids received 21 from SMEs
Named bidders 2published on the award notice
Contracts signed 1latest 12 Feb 2026
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RPS Environmental Management Limited1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2033Extensions: There is the option to avail of extensions for 2+1+1years · Options: The Client reserves the right to procure any other services associated with Sampling and Transportation of Water and Wastewater samples services within the scope of the Contract. The anticipated contract value is £18,000,000. The anticipated range is from £15,000,000 to £21,000,000 (exc VAT), this takes into account such changes to demand and scale which may result from future operational requirements. | £25,200,000 inc. VAT | 2 Feb 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · RPS Environmental Management Limited
- Signed
- 12 Feb 2026
- Value
- £25,200,000 inc. VAT
- Period
- 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2033 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- There is the option to avail of extensions for 2+1+1years
- Options
- The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. The Client reserves the right to procure any other services associated with Sampling and Transportation of Water and Wastewater samples services within the scope of the Contract. The anticipated contract value is £18,000,000. The anticipated range is from £15,000,000 to £21,000,000 (exc VAT), this takes into account such changes to demand and scale which may result from future operational requirements.
3 agreed KPIs: Response Times · Completion Times · Quality of Work
- Response Times
- Completion Times
- Quality of Work
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2final-stage tenders · 3 at stage one | 1 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonRPS ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED · South East England
- did not winBIO - SEARCH (N.I.) LTDSME · Northern Ireland
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- BIO - SEARCH (N.I.) LTDBidder / tenderer
- RPS ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender