Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 8 Oct 2026, 17:05 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Fire Protection Systems and Equipment Maintenance

Authority: Milton Keynes City Council (Local council)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove threshold
Published estimate£320,000≈ £107k / year · £384,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 19 Nov 202612:00 GMT · 41d 12h left
Clarification cut-off 5 Nov 202623:59 GMT · questions to the authority
Contract term 3 yrsends 30 Jun 2030 · up to 30 Jun 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Jul 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Milton Keynes City Council are currently out to tender for the provision of Fire Protection Systems and Equipment Maintenance.

For the Corporate Landlord stock (properties from which the council predominately offer their services) the Council has full maintenance responsibility (subject to assets) including reactive, quoted, planned, best practice and statutory compliance obligations. Fire Protection systems fall into this category.

Suppliers that would like to take part in this tender process are invited to "Express Interest" upon which they will be given access to the full tender documentation through this E Tendering system https://in-tendhost.co.uk/milton-keynes/

Suppliers will be notified by email and the tender documents can be accessed from the "My Tenders" area of this website be electing the "view details" button for this tender.

Deadline for submissions for this tender will be 12 Noon 19th November 2026

The contracting authority has prior experience of procuring similar services and is aware of a mature and competitive marketplace. The project team therefore determined that Pre‑Market Engagement would not add material value or improve competition, specification development, or procurement outcomes. In accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and adopting a proportionate approach, the authority proceeded directly to the tender stage.

  • The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Jul 2030, 23:59 BST.

CPV: Alarm systems · Emergency lighting equipment · Fire extinguishers · Fire suppression system · Fire-alarm systems · Fire-detection systems · Repair and maintenance services of electrical building installations · Repair and maintenance services of firefighting equipment

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Renewal 3 yrsPublished valueAED 320,000
Contract period: 1 Jul 2027 — 30 Jun 2030 (up to 30 Jun 2031 with extensions) · up to 4 yrs with extensionsDelivery: South EastTurnover guideline: ~AED 213,139/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
AED 320,000 exc. VAT · AED 384,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
option for the Council to extend for 12 months
31518200 Emergency lighting equipment31625100 Fire-detection systems31625200 Fire-alarm systems35111300 Fire extinguishers35111500 Fire suppression system35121700 Alarm systems

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids are scored
Quality: 55%Price: 45%
Published sub-criteria (2)
  • Quality Critiera — 55%
  • Price — 45%
Published award criteria (2)
  • Quality Critiera — Please see Invitation to Tender for further details. The Tender documents can be accessed by logging into https://in-tendhost.co.uk/milton-keynes/
  • Price — Please see Invitation to Tender for further details. The Tender documents can be accessed by logging into https://in-tendhost.co.uk/milton-keynes/

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 45 of 100 points — a 10% discount moves about 4.5 points. Quality carries 55 of 100 — the paper moves it further than the discount.
  • Turnover usually expected at this size: about AED 213,139 (twice the annual value).

Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring — the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Milton Keynes City Council buys Sound or visual signalling apparatus (CPV 3162) — and who usually turns up

Milton Keynes City Council’s own published record, next to the South East England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Sound or visual signalling apparatus (CPV 3162) →

1

How the contest usually goes

This buyer’s published record next to the market where the work is delivered — contested contracts only, counted per lot

Question for the bid
This buyerMilton Keynes City Council · all categories
The marketSound or visual signalling apparatus (CPV 3162) · South East England
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 30 of 49 known-size awards · market: CPV 3162, n=9
61%67%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in South East England.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 19 of 60 known-location awards · market: CPV 3162, n=12
32%33%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South East England.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 16 decided notices · market: n=6
80 days37 days

Half of these awards were announced within 80 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 7 of 66 awarded contracts without a rival · market: n=12
11%8%

Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer35 lots with bid counts · all categories
17% had one bid
The market10 lots with bid counts · CPV 3162
0% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid17% / 0%
Buyer: 6 of 35 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 10 lots with published bid counts.
2–323% / 10%
Buyer: 8 of 35 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 10 lots with published bid counts.
4–623% / 20%
Buyer: 8 of 35 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts.
7+37% / 70%
Buyer: 13 of 35 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 10 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer44 lots with estimate and award · all categories
43% below estimate
The market7 lots with estimate and award · CPV 3162
14% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate43% / 14%
Buyer: 19 of 44 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 7 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%30% / 43%
Buyer: 13 of 44 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 7 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate27% / 43%
Buyer: 12 of 44 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 7 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors — from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 31620% single-bidPublished estimate£320,000
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

The published estimate is in AED, so this lot carries no forecast — the model is trained on sterling estimates.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—0% single-bid risk
Past bids on 10 similar lots
1 bid0%
0 of 10 similar past lots received 1 bid (0%).
2–310%
1 of 10 similar past lots received 2–3 (10%).
4–620%
2 of 10 similar past lots received 4–6 (20%).
7+70%
7 of 10 similar past lots received 7+ (70%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 7 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the winning price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A guide, not a price to bid.

—Estimate in AED
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet — the published estimate is £320k, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueMatch
—

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

SupplierWon in this categoryLive contractsAward vs estimate
—
Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each figure explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two sides are never blended. A lot’s own market is read at its delivery region where the lot names one; where it names several, or none that can be resolved, the chart falls back to the UK-wide record for the same category and says so under the bar. An empty cell means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • When we call out a difference. A buyer figure is only flagged against the market when the sample is large enough that the gap is unlikely to be chance; at most two callouts appear, always phrased as a comparison with both numbers and the sample size.
  • Coverage (re-measured 5 Oct on the live record, 94,497 awarded procedures of the last three years). 51 % publish a bid count and 72 % a delivery region, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice names none, labelled. Of the 17,687 award-vs-estimate pairs, 34 % sit exactly on the estimate — the buyer published the award at the figure it advertised. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden, and a distribution is not drawn as percentages below ten observations.
  • “Match”, text similarity, the expected-bid figure and the distribution drawn beneath it are model outputs, not published facts or win probabilities. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
Yes · next expected 1 Jul 2030
First published
8 Oct 2026, 17:05 BST
Last source update
8 Oct 2026, 17:05 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 1 Apr 2027
Authority reference
2026-025
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095417
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Alarm systemsEmergency lighting equipmentFire extinguishersFire suppression systemFire-alarm systemsFire-detection systemsRepair and maintenance services of electrical building installationsRepair and maintenance services of firefighting equipment
Delivery area
South East (UKJ12)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078434 Find a Tender
Contract terms summary
As stated in tender documents
Review and risk notes
Risks
As stated in tender documents

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via In-tend
Submission portal named on this notice: In-tend · Who buys & how to bid on In-tend
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · one account per buying organisation's portal · reCAPTCHA on signup
Requests to participate (first stage)
—
Tender submission deadline
19 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
5 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Published estimate £320,000 excludes VAT (£384,000 including VAT).

Timeline

5 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice publishedearlier today
    8 Oct 2026, 17:05 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 28 days
    5 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  3. Submission deadlinein 42 days
    19 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
  4. Award decision expected byin 175 days
    1 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
  5. Contract startsin 265 days
    1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 8 Oct 2026
  1. Tender notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 17:05 BSTUK4
  2. First tender notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 17:05 BST

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Milton Keynes City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PLDZ-6131-PWZH Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes, South East, MK9 3EJ Procurement Team [email protected] 01908691691

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Bidding documents and specifications tenderBidding documents and specificationsPlease see Invitation to Tender for further details. The Tender documents can be accessed by logging into https://in-tendhost.co.uk/milton-keynes/

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender