Official UK procurement notice
Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services - Commercial M&E Servicing & Repair Delivery Options Appraisal - 2026
Authority: Portsmouth City Council (Local council)
Portsmouth City Council (the 'Council') is undertaking this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise as part of a strategic review of delivery options for the provision of servicing and repair of its Commercial M&E installations across its managed building assets. The Council is responsible for managing a portfolio of properties that require regular planned and reactive maintenance to ensure safety, compliance, and efficiency to Council properties. The on-island contractor is responsible for approximately 550 assets across both geographical areas, however these are predominantly within the PO1-PO5 postcode. The Contract will need to incorporate social value to ensure the Council achieves community benefits from the contracts beyond the core service provisions. The Council envisages an initial contract term of five years, with an option to extend for up to a further five years, in increments to be determined.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPortsmouth City Council (the 'Council') is undertaking this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise as part of a strategic review of delivery options for the provision of servicing and repair of its Commercial M&E installations across its managed building assets. The Council is responsible for managing a portfolio of properties that require regular planned and reactive maintenance to ensure safety, compliance, and efficiency to Council properties.
The Council currently have two separate contracts in place for M&E Maintenance across Council managed assets, one that manages all fire and life safety systems (which commenced in September 2026) and one that manages that manages all other Commercial M&E assets, which is due to expire on 31/03/2028.
The Councils options appraisal will consider the council's strategic objectives, addressing emerging risks & opportunities and, vitally, addressing service needs.
The subsequent formal procurement will commence in February/March 2027.
The Council are requesting the survey is completed by Friday 4th December 2026 at 14:00, any responses after this deadline may not be considered in the final options report.
Current Property Information, Scope of Services and Demand
Housing Stock info -
The Council has a housing stock of approximately 17,500 properties of which approximately 15,500 are socially rented and then there are approximately 2000 leasehold properties. Within the stock there is a mix of housing types including houses and bungalows, however the majority of the dwellings are within purpose-built blocks of flats constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.
Traditionally the estate has been spread across the two geographical areas of Portsea Island (on-island, PO1 to PO5) and Paulsgrove and Havant (off-island, PO6 to PO9).
A recent acquisition of approximately 800 properties has however subsequently increased the 'off-island' area to sites in Gosport, Southampton and Winchester.
Corporate Asset Info -
In addition to the residential housing stock the ‘on island’ repairs and maintenance contractor also manages repairs for a number of the Council’s corporate asset. This is a function managed by the ‘on island’ contractor only.
The on-island contractor is responsible for approximately 550 assets across both geographical areas, however these are predominantly within the PO1-PO5 postcode.
The Council's broader property portfolio encompasses a range of building types which include but are not limited to:
- Schools
- Offices
- Commercial buildings, warehouses and depots
- Care homes
- Sheltered housing and supported living properties
Systems Thinking Approach
The previous contract has been managed on a full open book partnership basis with adoption of a range of Vanguard Systems Thinking designed processes and performance measures. The Council envisages these principles will still form part of any ongoing delivery strategy, though potentially their application may be modified dependant on the chosen delivery model.
Existing M&E Contract
The Council's existing Commercial M&E contract provides planned servicing, inspection, testing and reactive repair across a broad range of M&E installations within the Council's housing and corporate property portfolios.
The contract has been in operation for roughly the last nine years and is due to expire on 31st March 2028. It is currently delivered by a single term service provider under an NEC4 Option E cost reimbursement arrangement and has an estimated overall contract value of approximately £25m over the whole 10 year contract term.
The scope has evolved during the life of the contract. Most notably, fire and other life-safety systems have recently been removed from the arrangement and transferred to a separate contract.
Current & future demand
Over the last 5 years for the existing scope arrangement there have been approximately 3500 service activities and 7000 repairs, which is likely to remain consistent over the course of any new contract.
With the impending changes to gas installations post 2025 it is unlikely that there will be an increase in demand for annual gas servicing as a result of any development and as the stock decarbonises the current level of demand may reduce.
Social Value
The provision of social value is an increasingly important topic for the Council and within public sector procurement, with the Council adopting an updated policy in 2021, see Appendix 8 Social Value Policy March 2021 or use the following link - www.portsmouth.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2… ↗
The Contract will need to incorporate social value to ensure the Council achieves community benefits from the contracts beyond the core service provisions. This commitment aligns with the Council's strategic priorities to foster local economic growth, improve social outcomes, and enhance environmental sustainability.
The Council are committed to continuously reviewing and improving the approach to social value delivery, and suppliers will be encouraged to innovate and suggest new ways of increasing their contribution to commitments made towards Economic Regeneration, Employment, Skills, and Training, Environmental Considerations and Community Engagement, whilst working in Partnership with the Council and partner organisations.
Envisaged Lotting and Contract Options Models
Overview of lotting Options
It is envisaged that this contract will be reprocured under a single lot, with all scope items delivered under a single contract.
Envisaged contract terms and durations
It is proposed that the contract will utilise the NHF Schedule of Rates. However, through the PME Survey, the Council is seeking suppliers' views on alternative contracting and pricing approaches that may offer benefits over the proposed model.
The Council envisages an initial contract term of five years, with an option to extend for up to a further five years, in increments to be determined. The overall contract term could therefore be between five and ten years. The questionnaire will assist the Council in determining its preferred contract and pricing approach.
Based on current expenditure, the Council anticipates an indicative annual contract value of approximately between £2 million to £2.8 million. This figure is provided for market engagement purposes only and should not be regarded as a guaranteed level of expenditure.
The value of the future contract may increase or decrease during its term as a result of changes in the Council's property portfolio and service requirements. This could include the acquisition or disposal of assets, changes to the services delivered in-house or externally, and any future changes arising from Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) should proposals affecting the Council be progressed during the contract term.
Actual expenditure may also be affected by inflation and movements in labour, material and equipment costs over the life of the contract. The Council is therefore interested in suppliers' views on appropriate mechanisms for managing price changes over a longer-term arrangement, including the application and review of Schedule of Rates pricing.
Potential Local Government Reorganisation
Should proposals for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Hampshire be progressed during the life of the contract, the size and composition of the property portfolio for which the Council, or any successor authority, is responsible could change.
For planning purposes, the Council considers that this could result in the volume and value of services required under the contract increasing by up to approximately 50%, for example where a successor authority assumes responsibility for a larger property portfolio. Any such change would be dependent upon the final form of LGR, the assets and responsibilities transferring to the relevant authority, and the extent to which those requirements fall within the scope of the contract.
Further information regarding the anticipated contract value and any provision for potential changes arising from LGR will be provided in the subsequent tender notice and procurement documentation.
The Council currently envisages designing the competitive flexible procedure with two principal stages, comprising an initial participation/selection stage followed by an invitation to tender stage.
The Council anticipate the Competitive Flexible Procedure will be akin to the Restrictive Procedure under the Public Contracts Regulations (2015), with two separate stages -
Stage 1 - Conditions of Participation
Stage 2 - Invitation to Tender (ITT)
The Council are intending to run the PME and the subsequent envisaged tender process under the following Procurement Programme -
PME issued Tuesday - 10th November 2026
PME Survey Monkey Questionnaire Deadline - Friday 4th December 2026 by 14.00
PME Draft Feedback Report - shared with suppliers taking part with the PME process - Friday 18th December 2026
PME Draft Feedback Report - Deadline for supplier comments - Friday 8th January 2026
FTS & Contract Notice issued - March 2027
Tender issued and procurement documents published on Intend – CFP Stage 1 - March 2027
Deadline for requests for clarification - April 2027
CFP Stage 1 submission deadline - May 2027
Final procurement documents published on Intend - CFP Stage 2 - July 2027
Deadline for requests for clarification - September 2027
Tender return deadline - September 2027
Contract Award Notice Published - October 2027
Standstill and section 20 notification start - November 2027
Standstill finish - November 2027
Section 20 Notice Finish - December 2027
Contract award - December 2027
Contract commencement - 1st April 2028
CPV: Alarm system and antenna installation work · Cooling and ventilation equipment · Electrical installation work of heating and other electrical building-equipment · Electrical wiring and fitting work · Generators · Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning installation work · Lift-maintenance services · Other electrical installation work · Preventive maintenance services · Repair and maintenance of public conveniences · Repair and maintenance services of catering equipment · Repair and maintenance services of central heating · +7 more
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Portsmouth City Council buys Electrical installation work (CPV 4531), and who usually turns up
Portsmouth City Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Electrical installation work (CPV 4531) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
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
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South East England.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
Half of these awards have an award date within 53 days of the bid deadline.
i
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
1 bid23% / 10%
2–341% / 15%
4–632% / 20%
7+5% / 55%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Below estimate25% / 29%
Within ±2%75% / 43%
Above estimate0% / 29%
Assess each lot i
i
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 4212Published estimate£30m
This lot is listed as CPV 4212. The table above uses the notice category.
i
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 32 past lots.
1 bid28%
2–334%
4–631%
7+6%
i
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
i
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
i
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Estimates, labelled. The price range, possible competitors and earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards, not published facts, win chances or price advice. The buyer’s own record and the wider market are shown apart, never mixed.
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0, updated through the day and rebuilt nightly. Not every figure uses both feeds, and each one shows how many records it rests on: see 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
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Nov 2026, 16:17 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Nov 2026, 16:17 GMT
- Authority reference
P00005281- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-106841- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b8f1Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
10 Nov 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 4 dates- Planning notice published2 days ago10 Nov 2026, 16:17 GMT
- Today13 Nov 2026
- Market engagementin 21 days4 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
Key Areas of Focus for Feedback
The Council are looking to get feedback from the market by completing a PME Questionnaire. Further details in relation to the Questionnaire and return requirements can be found in section 11 of the PME Briefing Document - Commercial M&E Servicing & Repair Delivery - PME Questionnaire Return Requirements, available through the Councils Intend portal. (supplier.in-tend.co.uk/portsmouthcc/home ↗)
The key areas the Council are looking for understanding and feedback include -
- Market Capacity and Capability, including -
o Company Size and Core Services: understand the market’s current capacity in delivering contracts of similar volume and complexity.
o Supplier Size and Participation: how the Council can encourage participation from both large contractors and SMEs, whilst understanding if any barriers exist for smaller suppliers.
o Geographic Coverage: where suppliers are currently based, and current services delivered across diverse geographic locations.
- Delivery Options - understand whether the outlined delivery options are feasible to be delivered in their current format and whether other options exist in the market.
- Commercial Information & Pricing - explore different pricing models and expected levels of associated costs
- Contractual and Legal Considerations - review of market norms in respect of the suggested contractual models, term and other options.
- Service Provision - understand current market experience
- Compliance & Safety - review of market specific accreditations expected for the delivery of the contract
The following supporting documents have been included as part of the PME Briefing pack via the e-tendering portal, Intend -
- PME Briefing Document - Commercial M&E Servicing & Repair Delivery
- Appendix 1 - Copy of PME Questionnaire
- Appendix 2 - Affected Properties (provides an overview of the stock, its compliance requirements and recent repair volumes)
- Appendix 3 - Current and Proposed Scope of Service (provides an overview of general tasks to be undertaken and a performance requirement of how they will be undertaken)
- Appendix 4 - Conflicts of Interest Statement
- Appendix 5 - Conflicts of Interest Declaration
- Appendix 6 - Intend Guidance, Supporting Information & Clarification Process
- Appendix 7 - Social Value Policy March 2021
- Appendix 8 - Microsoft Teams Guidance Recording - to follow
All documents issued in respect of this PME process are made available in good faith. Whilst the information in the PME documents is believed to be correct at the time of issue, neither the Council nor its advisors accept any liability for its accuracy, adequacy or completeness, nor is any warranty (express or implied) given as to its accuracy, adequacy or completeness.
Suppliers should refer to the latest version of the PME Brief (for an up-to-date list of PME documentation. For additional information in relation to Supporting Information, suppliers should refer to Appendix 7 - Intend Guidance, Supporting Information & Clarification Process.
PME Questionnaire Return Requirements
The Council request interested suppliers to complete the online PME Questionnaire by the Friday 4th December 2026 by 14:00.
Suppliers will have the ability to submit a response past the deadline above. However, if questionnaires are not submitted by this deadline the Council may not be able to use the information provided and subsequently take this into account as part of the options appraisal produced.
To assist suppliers, the Council have added Appendix 1 - Copy of PME Questionnaire to the briefing pack available through Intend.
Suppliers are recommended to download this document to enable the development of responses offline prior to completion of the on-line survey questionnaire.
The Questionnaire covers the following subject matters -
- Company Information
- Commercial Information and Pricing
- Contractual and Legal Considerations
- Primary Service Provision
- Secondary Service Provision
- Renewable Energy
- Compliance and Safety
- Additional Information
When completing the online questionnaire, if you wish to go back to an earlier question, please use the 'Prev' button on each page. DO NOT use your browser's back arrow. You can change your answers as many times as you need to or complete the form in stages. As long as you have not submitted your answers on the final screen, you can re-use the same link on the same device and continue answering (or amend) the questions. It will take you to the most recent question you answered when you return to the survey.
There are a few sections within the questionnaire that allow suppliers to free type the response, which suppliers may find easier to draft off-line in the first instance.
If suppliers are having any difficulty accessing and/or inputting information into the online survey, then they should use the correspondence function on Intend to raise the issues identified.
The Council reserves the right (but is not obliged) to seek clarification of any aspect of a Suppliers PME survey response, to ensure the Council fully understands the information being submitted to help inform the final options appraisal.
Any queries or questions or clarifications regarding the procurement documentation or PME process must be made in writing using the project correspondence facility on the In-tend system and raised by the request for clarification deadline stated within section 8 Envisaged Procurement Process & Timetable at the latest to ensure that additional information can be provided to all suppliers before the survey submission return date.
For full details of the clarification process suppliers should review Appendix 7 - Intend Guidance, Supporting Information & Clarification Process.
Documents to complete & return
In summary, suppliers wishing to contribute and take part in this PME process should complete and return the following documents -
- Online PME Survey Questionnaire - not submitted via Intend correspondence
- Appendix 6 - Conflicts of Interest Declaration - submitted via Intend correspondence
PME Draft Feedback Report
Any suppliers who complete the survey will be sent a draft PME Feedback Report.
The Council are aiming to have collated the PME feedback by December 2026 to issue the draft report via Intend correspondence for suppliers to review and feedback regarding any of the associated comments. Suppliers will need to ensure they reply no later than Friday 8th January 2027 by 10:00 using the Intend correspondence.
Suppliers should note that there is no obligation to take part in this exercise and that if they do not take part, it will not preclude them from any subsequent related procurement process. Engaging suppliers will not receive preferential treatment in any subsequent tender process, and this is in no way an indication of the selection of any organisation or a guarantee of future work.
Please complete the Survey Monkey Questionnaire by Friday 4th December 2026 by 14:00 - link available through the Councils e-tendering platform Intend.
- Tender notice expectedin 126 days19 Mar 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Nov 2026, 16:17 GMTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender