Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 20 May 2026, 15:21 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Inspection, refurbishment, and re-panning of wheel pans used on London Underground Circle, District and Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan line fleets.

Authority: Docklands Light Railway Limited (Public body)

ServicesUtilities
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrs 3 moends 9 Oct 2030 · starts 8 Jul 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

London Underground Limited is undertaking a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise in accordance with sections 16 and 17 of the Procurement Act 2023 to understand market capability for the inspection, refurbishment and re‑panning of S Stock wheel pans used across the Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan line fleets. This engagement is intended solely to inform internal planning and sourcing strategy and is not a tender, does not form part of any competitive procurement, and may not result in a future opportunity.

The authority is assessing the market's ability to refurbish and re‑pan safety‑critical wheel pan assemblies to OEM, TfL and London Underground specifications. The indicative scope may include inspection and condition assessment, removal and replacement of wheel pan material, dimensional checks and non‑destructive testing where required, application of corrosion protection suitable for underframe conditions and long‑term storage, and associated quality assurance, traceability, packaging and return logistics. Final specifications are subject to further development.

The authority is particularly interested in suppliers with experience refurbishing safety‑critical metal components (rail sector experience preferred), ISO 9001‑accredited quality management systems, robust inspection and traceability processes, and the capacity to support consistent batch throughput and turnaround. At this stage, the authority is seeking high‑level, non‑binding information only, including a brief summary of organisational capability and relevant experience, an outline of the proposed technical approach, indicative capacity and turnaround times, high‑level pricing ranges, and details of relevant certifications and accreditations.

Any information provided will be used solely to support market understanding and does not constitute pre‑qualification or supplier selection. Suppliers interested in participating are invited to submit the requested information by the stated response date. All responses will be handled in confidence and the authority will take appropriate steps to ensure that participation in this engagement does not provide any supplier with an unfair advantage in any potential future procurement.

CPV: Overhaul and refurbishment work · Repair and maintenance services of machinery · Repair, maintenance and associated services related to railways and other equipment

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Docklands Light Railway Limited buys Other building completion work (CPV 4545), and who usually turns up

Docklands Light Railway Limited’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: Other building completion work (CPV 4545) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerDocklands Light Railway Limited · division 45
The marketOther building completion work (CPV 4545) · Greater London
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: 0 of 6 known-size awards · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London, n=71
0%82%

No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.

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.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Greater London.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 9 of 11 known-location awards · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London, n=97
82%31%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 7 decided notices · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London, n=14
126 days43 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 126 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 8 of 13 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London, n=133
62%22%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer6 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 45
17% had one bid
The market18 lots with bid counts · CPV 4545 · Greater London
22% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid17% / 22%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
2–317% / 0%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
4–650% / 22%
Buyer: 3 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
7+17% / 56%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 18 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 buyer25 lots with estimate and award · all categories
48% below estimate
The market23 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4545 · Greater London
48% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate48% / 48%
Buyer: 12 of 25 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 23 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%32% / 22%
Buyer: 8 of 25 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 23 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate20% / 30%
Buyer: 5 of 25 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 7 of 23 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 454551 monthsEstimate not published
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.

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 18 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet22% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 18 similar lots
1 bid22%
4 of 18 similar past lots received 1 bid (22%).
2–30%
0 of 18 similar past lots received 2–3 (0%).
4–622%
4 of 18 similar past lots received 4–6 (22%).
7+56%
10 of 18 similar past lots received 7+ (56%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 7.5 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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.

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.

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
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Utilities
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
20 May 2026, 15:21 BST
Last source update
27 May 2026, 15:31 BST
Authority reference
WS3101901798
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-049825
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Overhaul and refurbishment workRepair and maintenance services of machineryRepair, maintenance and associated services related to railways and other equipment
Delivery area
London (UKI)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069dc5 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

20 May 2026 → 8 Jul 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published162 days ago
    20 May 2026, 15:21 BST
  2. Latest notice published155 days ago
    27 May 2026, 15:31 BST
  3. Market engagement133 days ago
    17 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    The sourcing plan is to develop and publish a Tender package by 14.08.2026 after the

    completion and review of responses from potential suppliers towards the Preliminary Market

    Engagement published.

    TfL also desires to complete the Tender process by 13.11.2026. Please note dates are indicative and subject to change.

  4. Contract starts113 days ago
    8 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 20 May 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    20 May 2026, 15:21 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    21 May 2026, 10:04 BST
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    27 May 2026, 15:31 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (2)

Timelines adjusted

Central line is not included as part of this scope

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

2 public bodies on the notice

London Underground Limited

Contracting authorityPublic undertaking GB-COH: 01900907 · GB-PPON: PWJB-7544-VZCL 5 Endeavour Square, London, London, E20 1JNContact email

Other public bodies

  • Transport for LondonProcess contact pointProcuring entityTransport for London is procuring on behalf of it's subsidiary London Underground LimitedGB-PPON: PHMT-6197-NWNZ London, LondonContact email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure