Official UK procurement notice
Grounds Maintenance and Grass Cutting Machinery
Authority: the Education Authority (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Framework Agreement for the supply of Grounds Maintenance Machinery is being established on behalf of EA, Primary and Post Primary schools under the control of the EA, Catholic Maintained Schools, Independent Schools in NI, Irish Medium Schools in NI, both Controlled and Voluntary Grammar Schools, Nursery School for NI (both controlled and Catholic Maintained), school meals kitchens on-site at all of these schools, and Controlled Youth Centres.
www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/further-edu… ↗
Further Education Colleges in NI
www.nicie.org/parents/school-finder/ ↗
Grant Controlled Integrated Education Schools in NI
www.isc.co.uk/schools/northern-ire… ↗
Independent School in NI
Libraries NI
www.librariesni.org.uk/Libraries/ ↗
EA Teachers’ and Educational Centres
Council for the Curriculum, Examination and Assessment NI (CCEA)
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
Middletown Centre for Autism
Controlled Schools Support Council (CSSC)
Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE)
Pre-Schools and Nurseries included within the EA's Pre-School Education Programme (PSEP)
- Not divided into lots: This Framework has been structured into individual lines where tenderers can submit a bid for one, more than one or all lines. The Tender will be evaluated and awarded on a line by line basis. A line-by-line approach therefore ensures greater market accessibility and competition, allowing suppliers to bid for individual product lines and considers small medium/micro enterprises.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Mar 2030, 23:59 GMT.
CPV: Agricultural and forestry machinery for soil preparation or cultivation · Agricultural machinery · Grounds-maintenance equipment · Lawn, park or sports-ground mowers · Lawnmowers · Miscellaneous gardening equipment · Mowers · Pedestrian-controlled agricultural tractors · Tractor accessories · Tractors
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs may be awarded directly or by further competition
- Bids received
- 7 bids received · 6 suppliers appointed
- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 1 Nov 2026
Published description of the framework
Scope is to supply Grounds Maintenance and Grass Cutting machinery and equipment to the EA and Grounds Maintenance Service for EA and all NI Educational Bodies. There is no commitment as to the usage, volume, or value of products required under this Framework Agreement. Any levels, or aggregate values of goods, referred to are indicative only and shall not be binding on the Buyer
The Buyer may purchase items from the Framework Agreement via direct call-off or
Secondary Competition throughout the Framework Term.
Further competitions may be commissioned for additional grounds and grass cutting products required by the Buyer during the Framework Period. Any further competition will be run with all Suppliers appointed to the Framework irrespective of the items they are awarded.
(Unless otherwise excluded through poor performance). Once awarded, the Competed
Goods shall form part of the Standard Goods which the successful Framework Agreement
Supplier is eligible to provide under the terms of this Framework Agreement for the
duration of the Framework Agreement.
The Buyer reserves the right to add items or take items off the Framework Agreement
schedule at any time during the period of the Framework Agreement. Suppliers are
reminded that the extent of these additions/deletions is not limited.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat 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 award criteria (1)
- Price: The evaluation of this tender will be based on the assessment of Mandatory Requirements (Pass/Fail) and the prices submitted within the document FMM-26-001 Pricing Schedule to achieve the MAT bid for each line under the Framework
- Price carries 100 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 10 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “Grounds Maintenance and Grass Cutting Machinery” 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
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Mar 2030
- First published
- 21 Apr 2026, 15:27 BST
- Last source update
- 16 Oct 2026, 14:44 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Oct 2026
- Authority reference
FMM-26-001- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-063598- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0687adFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 7 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
21 Apr 2026 → 1 Nov 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published184 days ago21 Apr 2026, 15:27 BST
- Market engagement169 days ago5 May 2026, 23:59 BST
Pre Market Enagement Questionnaire (PME) for Grounds Maintenance and Grass Cutting Machinery for the Education Authority and NI Educational Bodies. Interested Suppliers are asked to complete and return the questionnaire via eTendersNI messaging portal by no later than 15:00 hours on 05 May 2026.
- Next notice expected135 days ago8 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published107 days ago7 Jul 2026, 12:14 BST
- Clarification questions by82 days ago31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Admission / appointment period ends75 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown7 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Award decision expected by20 days ago1 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent7 days ago15 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published6 days ago16 Oct 2026, 14:44 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Standstill endsin 6 days27 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 10 days1 Nov 2026
Notice history
9 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 21 Apr 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published21 Apr 2026, 15:27 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published7 Jul 2026, 12:14 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £12,000,0007 Jul 2026, 12:14 BSTwas £1,200,000
- Status changed to active7 Jul 2026, 12:14 BST
- Procurement method changed7 Jul 2026, 12:14 BST
- Deadline published: 7 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST7 Jul 2026, 12:14 BST
- Contract award notice published16 Oct 2026, 14:44 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete16 Oct 2026, 14:44 BST
- Contract signature expected28 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Armstrong & Sons LtdSME, DA FORGIESME, Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies LtdSME, Laird Grass Machinery LimitedSME, M Large Tree ServicesSME, R D Mechanical Services LtdSME1 Nov 2026 – 31 Oct 2030Options: The right to additional purchases while the framework is valid. The Buyer reservers the right to run Secondary Competitions as detailed within the tender documents | £12,000,000 | 15 Oct 2026standstill to 27 Oct 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7final-stage tenders | 7 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonM Large Tree ServicesSME · Northern Ireland
- wonDA ForgieSME · Northern Ireland
- wonR D Mechanical Services LtdSME · Northern Ireland
- wonAJ Armstrong & Sons LtdSME · Northern Ireland
- wonLaird Grass Machinery LimitedSME · Northern Ireland
- wonDownpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies LtdSME · Northern Ireland
- did not winMPM Specialist Vehicles 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
Framework contractors & participating bidders
7 commercial parties on the notice · 6 awarded- AJ Armstrong & Sons LtdFramework contractor
- DA ForgieFramework contractor
- Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies LtdFramework contractor
- Laird Grass Machinery LimitedFramework contractor
- M Large Tree ServicesFramework contractor
- MPM Specialist Vehicles LtdBidder / tenderer
- R D Mechanical Services LtdFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender