Official UK procurement notice
ID 6453916 Department for Communities – HED – Provision of PPE
Authority: Department for Communities (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Historic Environment Division (HED), part of the Department for Communities (DfC), is the government lead for the historic environment of Northern Ireland. HED records, protects, conserves and promotes Northern Ireland’s historic environment, managing heritage assets ranging from archaeological sites and monuments to listed buildings and historic landscapes.
Given the hazardous nature of conservation, construction related activities and outdoor site management across a diverse and geographically dispersed estate, the provision of reliable, compliant and fit for purpose Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is essential.
The contract will require the Supplier to supply a full range of workwear and PPE items meeting or exceeding all relevant European, British or equivalent standards for safety, performance and durability.
Suppliers should refer to the Specification Schedule for full detail on the requirements of this contract.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 5 May 2031, 23:59 BST.
- How the procedure runs: This competition is being conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) and the Procurement Regulations 2024 (PR 2024) using a Competitive Flexible Procedure. Once the tender assessment process as set out in the Instructions to Tenderers has been completed, the marks for the Award Criteria and for Price will be combined to identify a provisional Most Advantageous Tender (pMAT). This pMAT will be required to provide as a minimum one sample of some products to confirm their compliance with the requirements. Full details are in the Instructions to Tenderers document.
CPV: Clothing, footwear, luggage articles and accessories · Footwear · Miscellaneous outerwear · Occupational clothing · Occupational clothing, special workwear and accessories · Protective and safety clothing · Protective footwear · Special clothing and accessories · Special workwear · Weatherproof clothing · Workwear accessories
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£200,000
- Value
- £200,000 exc. VAT · £240,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- There are three optional extensions of up to 12 months on each ocassion.
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).
- AC1 Provision of a Technical Brochure and / or Supporting Technical Documentation — Pass / Fail as per tender documentation.
- AC2 Service Delivery and Contract Management — 35% as per tender documentation
- AC3 Quality Control — 35% as per tender documentation
- AC4 Total Cost — 30% as per tender documentation
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £199,726 (twice the annual value).
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 Department for Communities buys Firefighting, rescue and safety equipment (CPV 3511) — and who usually turns up
Department for Communities’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Firefighting, rescue and safety equipment (CPV 3511) →
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 29 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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 bid27% / 19%
2–327% / 43%
4–645% / 24%
7+0% / 14%
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.
Below estimate11% / 20%
Within ±2%56% / 80%
Above estimate33% / 0%
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 3511Published estimate£200k
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid17%
2–329%
4–623%
7+31%
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.
Based on 10 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A guide, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£175k–£200k
Estimate£200k
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £31m30 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 8 live · £22m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 39% below n=4 | |
| £155k12 awards in 36m · last 7 months ago | 1 live · £31k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 12% above n=11 | |
| £864k7 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 3 live · £2.0m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=2 | |
| £4.5m2 awards in 36m · last 7 months ago | 1 live · £4.5m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs | |
| £40k2 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 1 live · £15k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs |
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
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Requests to participate open
- 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
- Yes · next expected 5 May 2031
- First published
- 12 Oct 2026, 14:04 BST
- Last source update
- 12 Oct 2026, 14:04 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 1 Dec 2026
- Authority reference
ID 6453916- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-096113- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0785acFind a Tender- Contract terms summary
- For further details on invoicing procedures please see : https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/ar ticles/account-ni-good-invoicing-practice
- How it runs
- This competition is being conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) and the Procurement Regulations 2024 (PR 2024) using a Competitive Flexible Procedure. Once the tender assessment process as set out in the Instructions to Tenderers has been completed, the marks for the Award Criteria and for Price will be combined to identify a provisional Most Advantageous Tender (pMAT). This pMAT will be required to provide as a minimum one sample of some products to confirm their compliance with the requirements. Full details are in the Instructions to Tenderers document.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via eTendersNI- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 9 Nov 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 2 Nov 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
5 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice published1 day ago12 Oct 2026, 14:04 BST
- Clarification questions byin 20 days2 Nov 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 27 days9 Nov 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Contract startsin 49 days1 Dec 2026
- Award decision expected byin 50 days1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
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 12 Oct 2026- Tender notice published12 Oct 2026, 14:04 BSTUK4
- First tender notice published12 Oct 2026, 14:04 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies and Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entityConstruction and Procurement Delivery – Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender