Official UK procurement notice
Framework for Inspection and Maintenance of Underground Infrastructure
Authority: DfI Transport and Road Asset Management (TRAM) (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Framework for Inspection and Maintenance of Underground Infrastructure will encompass three Measured Term Contracts to deliver underground inspection and maintenance in the following Contract Areas:
IMU1 – Greater Belfast Area
IMU2 – Coleraine, Omagh and Fermanagh Areas
IMU3 – Armagh & Lisburn Areas
Within each Contract Area, the works to be undertaken under this Contract may include, but not be limited to, the following Principal Work Activities which are provided by way of example:
A) Desilting of Culverts
B) CCTV and Fly-through Surveys of Culverts
C) Trenchless / Specialist Repairs of Culverts
D) Traffic Management, Gaining Access to Culverts, Associated Civil Works
E) Small Scale Civil Works
F) Underground Man Entry Repairs
Within each Contract Area, the successful Supplier will be required to carry out any such works instructed by a Works Order, issued under the provisions of the Contract. Such works will require a standard of works delivery consistent with that defined in the Procurement Documents. Reimbursement to the successful Supplier for such works will be paid generally on the basis of an applicable Schedule of Rates and Prices (SoRP), adjusted in line with permitted price-fluctuation-factor provisions.
For each Contract Area, it is likely that the successful Supplier will be required to work at more than one location at any one time in order to meet the requirements of the programme of work for each Contract Area.
Successful Suppliers will be expected to have sufficiently skilled and available resources necessary to meet the requirements of such a programme and will be required to include in its rates and prices for the inevitable peaks and troughs that will be inherent in any such programme. Such peaks and troughs may result from a variety of circumstances, not all within the control of the Department.
The financial limits for individual Works Orders under this Contract shall generally be between £1 – £300,000 GBP.
CPV: Construction work for dams, canals, irrigation channels and aqueducts · Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork · Construction work for water projects · Construction work for waterways · Drainage works · Flood-defences maintenance works · River regulation and flood control works · Sewer survey services · Storm-water piping construction work · Works for complete or part construction and civil engineering work
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 19 Apr 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
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).
- “Framework for Inspection and Maintenance of Underground Infrastructure” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How DfI Transport and Road Asset Management (TRAM) buys Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523), and who usually turns up
DfI Transport and Road Asset Management (TRAM)’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Northern Ireland.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 49 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
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.
1 bid0% / 0%
2–311% / 20%
4–689% / 80%
7+0% / 0%
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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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.
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 4523Estimate not published
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.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 10 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid0%
2–320%
4–680%
7+0%
i
Where the award 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 statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
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.
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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
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.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Works
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 29 May 2026, 13:19 BST
- Last source update
- 1 Jun 2026, 13:00 BST
- Authority reference
T-1163- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-051370- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a8e2Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
29 May 2026 → 19 Apr 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published146 days ago29 May 2026, 13:19 BST
- Latest notice published143 days ago1 Jun 2026, 13:00 BST
- Market engagement131 days ago12 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
DfI seeks to engage with the market to gather early insight from the market to help inform the development of our proposed requirements and future procurement approach.
An online information session will be held on Friday 12 June 2026 at 11:00am.
During this session, DfI will outline the proposed procurement approach, work scope and indicative delivery timelines for each framework.
How to Register:
To register your interest in attending, please email [email protected] by 5:00pm on Thursday 11 June 2026, including:
The name(s) of attendee(s)
Contact email address(es)
Following receipt of expressions of interest, DfI will issue further details and instructions on how to join the PME briefing.
Please note that the procurement description, estimated contract dates, publication timeline, and contract value are indicative only and should not be considered a final representation of DfI’s proposals or requirements.
The PME pertains to a future contract opportunity which will be advertised in its own right in due course. This notice is not a call for competition to procure any works or services.
Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response, or lack thereof, to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an opportunity to participate in this market engagement exercise or any future procurement process that DfI may conduct.
DfI is not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party responding to this notice or any party who may participate in the market engagement exercise.
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 179 days19 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 May 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published29 May 2026, 13:19 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 Jun 2026, 13:00 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender