Official UK procurement notice
Managed Stations Fire Safety Systems Maintenance
Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNetwork Rail is seeking to appoint a single supplier to deliver comprehensive fire safety systems and Voice Alarm/Public Address (VAPA) system maintenance, reactive repairs, and installation services across 16 managed stations in England. The scope of the contract includes but not limited to:
Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM):
Regular inspection, testing, servicing, and certification of all fire safety and VAPA systems, including fire alarms, detection devices, visual alarms, manual call points, aspirating smoke detection, public address equipment, amplifiers, microphones, battery backup systems, and suppression systems. The supplier will be responsible for ensuring all systems remain compliant with relevant legislation and standards.
Reactive Maintenance:
Rapid response to faults, breakdowns, and emergency call-outs, including fault diagnosis, repairs, and restoration of system functionality. The supplier must meet agreed service levels for response and resolution times, and provide 24/7 helpdesk support for all managed stations.
Project Works:
Installation, upgrade, and commissioning of new fire safety and VAPA systems, including system replacements, enhancements, and integration with existing infrastructure. The supplier will manage all aspects of project delivery, from design and procurement to installation, testing, and handover.
Asset Data Management:
Collection, maintenance, and reporting of asset data for all fire safety and VAPA systems, ensuring accurate records are maintained and updated on Network Rail’s Citadel system. This includes uploading maintenance and reactive records, updating system schematics, and supporting compliance audits.
Compliance and Technical Assurance:
Delivery of services in accordance with the Fire Safety Regulatory Reform Order (2005), Network Rail standards, and all relevant statutory and industry requirements. The supplier must hold or obtain all necessary certifications and accreditations for the systems and disciplines covered by the contract.
Social Value and Workforce:
The supplier is expected to support skills development and local employment through apprenticeship placements and workforce engagement, and to comply with TUPE regulations for any eligible incumbent staff.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 26 Sept 2033, 23:59 BST.
- How the procedure runs: Network Rail is procuring a single-supplier contract for fire safety systems and Voice Alarm/Public Address (VAPA) system maintenance, reactive repairs, and installation services across 16 managed stations, using the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023. The scope covers planned preventative maintenance, reactive fault resolution, and project works, ensuring compliance with the Fire Safety Regulatory Reform Order (2005) and safeguarding the health and safety of passengers, staff, and the public. The process is structured in three stages: 1. Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ): All interested suppliers complete a PSQ to demonstrate compliance, capability, and suitability. This includes mandatory pass/fail criteria and scored technical questions. Only those meeting all mandatory requirements and achieving the minimum technical score will progress to the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage. 2. Invitation to Tender (ITT): Shortlisted suppliers are invited to submit a full tender, including technical and commercial proposals. Tenders are evaluated using a combined quality (70%) and price (30%) model. Only fully compliant tenders meeting the minimum technical threshold will be considered for the next stage, Best and Final Offer (BaFO) stage. 3. Best and Final Offer (BaFO): The three highest-ranked tenderers (by technical score) are invited to submit a revised commercial proposal. Technical scores remain fixed from the ITT stage; only commercial submissions are updated. The contract is awarded to the tenderer with the highest combined technical and commercial score. The contract will be governed by the NEC4 Term Service Short Contract (TSSC) with Network Rail amendments, and will run for an initial five-year term, with options to extend annually for up to three years, subject to performance. All communication and submissions are managed via the Bravo Portal, ensuring transparency and auditability.
CPV: Fire doors · Fire suppression system · Fire-alarm system installation work · Fire-alarm systems · Fire-detection systems · Fire-prevention installation works · Fireproofing work · Installation services of fire protection equipment · Repair and maintenance services of electrical building installations · Repair and maintenance services of firefighting equipment · Repair and maintenance services of mechanical building installations · Sprinkler systems installation work
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 5 yrs · up to 8 yrs from 26 Sept 2026
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£18,780,000
- Economic & financial standing
Detailed conditions of participation will be set out in the Instructions to Participants document, which is issued alongside the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and made available via the Network Rail Sourcing Platform (Bravo).
Candidates must confirm they have the legal capacity to perform the contract under the laws of England and Wales, are registered on the Central Digital Platform (CDP), and are not subject to mandatory exclusion grounds or listed on the debarment list.
All entities who are relied upon to meet the criteria are required to provide their own up-to-date core information on the Central Digital Platform (CDP).
Candidates must demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to perform the contract by meeting the following minimum requirements:
- Completion of the Network Rail Financial and Economic Standing Model and achieving a pass score in accordance with the model's criteria.
- Confirm ability to obtain required insurances.
- Confirm ability to meet other conditions of participation related but not limited to legal capacity, GDPR, environmental management, and tackling modern slavery.
Please refer to the Instructions to Participants for full details.
- Technical & professional ability
Detailed conditions of participation will be set out in the Instructions to Participants document, which is issued alongside the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and made available via the Network Rail Sourcing Platform (Bravo).
Candidates must demonstrate the following technical capabilities to participate in this procurement in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 including, but not limited to:
- Relevant Experience and Competence
- Technical Capability
- Health & Safety
- Information Security
- Social Value
Please refer to the Instructions to Participants for full details.
- Condition of participationshortlisting
(1) Network Rail is using a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) which sets out its conditions of participation for this Procurement. Participants must satisfy the conditions of participation in order to progress to the next stage of this Procurement.
(2) The PSQ will be available via the Bravo Portal. The PSQ has been divided into two envelopes qualification and technical.
(3) The assessment and shortlisting Process (PSQ) will involve an evaluation and a moderation process resulting in an agreed score which will be weighted according to the designated weight of the question.
(4) Participants who have successfully achieved a pass for all pass/fail questions, will have their PSQ responses ranked by reference to their total weighted score identified through the assessment process, with the highest ranked PSQ response being ranked in first place.
(5) It is Network Rail’s intention to progress Participants to the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage provided they:
- Pass all mandatory requirements set out in the Qualification Envelope, as defined in Appendix B – Conditions of Participation Criteria; and
- Achieve a minimum score of 60.00% across the scored technical questions within the Technical Envelope;and
- Satisfy all certification and accreditation requirements, as detailed in Technical & Professional Ability – Certification/Accreditation under Appendix B – Conditions of Participation Criteria, which are assessed as mandatory pass/fail criteria within the Technical Envelope.
More detailed information is provided in the Instructions to Participants document.
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).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical Envelope: 70%
- Commerical Envelope: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical Envelope: 2.1 Service Delivery & Maintenance Approach (19.76%) 2.1.1 Service Delivery Plan – 33.33% 2.1.2 Access Management in Operational Railway Environments – 33.33% 2.1.3 Maintenance Quality Assurance – 33.33% 2.2 Health, Safety & Compliance (14.24%) 2.2.1 Health and Safety Management Plan – 100.00% 2.3 Design Engineering & Quality Assurance (13.34%) 2.3.1 Programme & Milestones – 100.00% 2.4 Asset Data Management (13.34%) 2.4.1 Asset Data Collection and Management Strategy – 100.00% 2.5 Resource & Organisation Management (11.41%) 2.5.1 Organisational Structure & Key Personnel CV's – 50.00% 2.5.2 Resource Allocation Plan – 50.00% 2.6 Innovation & Continuous Improvement (5.57%) 2.6.1 Innovation and Continuous Improvement – 100.00% 2.7 Mobilisation (12.34%) 2.7.1 Mobilisation Plan and Programme – 100.00% 2.8 Social Value & Sustainability (10.00%) 2.8.1 Skills & Education – 100.00%
- Commerical Envelope: Pricing
- Economic & financial standing
Detailed conditions of participation will be set out in the Instructions to Participants document, which is issued alongside the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and made available via the Network Rail Sourcing Platform (Bravo).
Candidates must confirm they have the legal capacity to perform the contract under the laws of England and Wales, are registered on the Central Digital Platform (CDP), and are not subject to mandatory exclusion grounds or listed on the debarment list.
All entities who are relied upon to meet the criteria are required to provide their own up-to-date core information on the Central Digital Platform (CDP).
Candidates must demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to perform the contract by meeting the following minimum requirements:
- Completion of the Network Rail Financial and Economic Standing Model and achieving a pass score in accordance with the model's criteria.
- Confirm ability to obtain required insurances.
- Confirm ability to meet other conditions of participation related but not limited to legal capacity, GDPR, environmental management, and tackling modern slavery.
Please refer to the Instructions to Participants for full details.
- Technical & professional ability
Detailed conditions of participation will be set out in the Instructions to Participants document, which is issued alongside the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and made available via the Network Rail Sourcing Platform (Bravo).
Candidates must demonstrate the following technical capabilities to participate in this procurement in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 including, but not limited to:
- Relevant Experience and Competence
- Technical Capability
- Health & Safety
- Information Security
- Social Value
Please refer to the Instructions to Participants for full details.
- Condition of participationshortlisting
(1) Network Rail is using a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) which sets out its conditions of participation for this Procurement. Participants must satisfy the conditions of participation in order to progress to the next stage of this Procurement.
(2) The PSQ will be available via the Bravo Portal. The PSQ has been divided into two envelopes qualification and technical.
(3) The assessment and shortlisting Process (PSQ) will involve an evaluation and a moderation process resulting in an agreed score which will be weighted according to the designated weight of the question.
(4) Participants who have successfully achieved a pass for all pass/fail questions, will have their PSQ responses ranked by reference to their total weighted score identified through the assessment process, with the highest ranked PSQ response being ranked in first place.
(5) It is Network Rail’s intention to progress Participants to the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage provided they:
- Pass all mandatory requirements set out in the Qualification Envelope, as defined in Appendix B – Conditions of Participation Criteria; and
- Achieve a minimum score of 60.00% across the scored technical questions within the Technical Envelope;and
- Satisfy all certification and accreditation requirements, as detailed in Technical & Professional Ability – Certification/Accreditation under Appendix B – Conditions of Participation Criteria, which are assessed as mandatory pass/fail criteria within the Technical Envelop…
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Managed Stations Fire Safety Systems Maintenance” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- 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, CPTPP)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 26 Sept 2033
- First published
- 3 Apr 2025, 16:08 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Sept 2025, 15:51 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 May 2026
- Authority reference
project_42542- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-054751- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04fcf2Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Please refer to the Procurement Documents for full details.
- How it runs
Network Rail is procuring a single-supplier contract for fire safety systems and Voice Alarm/Public Address (VAPA) system maintenance, reactive repairs, and installation services across 16 managed stations, using the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023.
The scope covers planned preventative maintenance, reactive fault resolution, and project works, ensuring compliance with the Fire Safety Regulatory Reform Order (2005) and safeguarding the health and safety of passengers, staff, and the public.
The process is structured in three stages:
- Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ):
All interested suppliers complete a PSQ to demonstrate compliance, capability, and suitability. This includes mandatory pass/fail criteria and scored technical questions. Only those meeting all mandatory requirements and achieving the minimum technical score will progress to the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage.
- Invitation to Tender (ITT):
Shortlisted suppliers are invited to submit a full tender, including technical and commercial proposals. Tenders are evaluated using a combined quality (70%) and price (30%) model. Only fully compliant tenders meeting the minimum technical threshold will be considered for the next stage, Best and Final Offer (BaFO) stage.
- Best and Final Offer (BaFO):
The three highest-ranked tenderers (by technical score) are invited to submit a revised commercial proposal. Technical scores remain fixed from the ITT stage; only commercial submissions are updated. The contract is awarded to the tenderer with the highest combined technical and commercial score.
The contract will be governed by the NEC4 Term Service Short Contract (TSSC) with Network Rail amendments, and will run for an initial five-year term, with options to extend annually for up to three years, subject to performance.
All communication and submissions are managed via the Bravo Portal, ensuring transparency and auditability.
- Risks
Standards, regulatory & policy change
Changes in statutory or regulatory requirements (e.g., fire safety legislation, standards for system certification), Changes to railway, safety, data protection or environmental standards, ORR/Group Standards, NR Security Assurance Framework/Vetting, or Procurement transparency requirements could impose material new obligations affecting cost/scope/timescales.
Transition to Great British Railways (GBR)
Changes in governance, reporting lines, or contract management as responsibilities shift to GBR. Potential changes to standards, policies, or priorities as GBR establishes new frameworks. Possible need for contract modification or novation to align with GBR requirements.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 6 Oct 2025, 16:00 BST
- Appointment period ends
- 6 Oct 2025, 16:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 1 Oct 2025, 16:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
3 Apr 2025 → 26 Sept 2026 · 8 dates- Planning notice published3 Apr 2025, 16:08 BST
- Market engagement22 Apr 2025, 23:59 BST
The Market Engagement for the "Managed Stations Fire Safety Systems Maintenance Framework" will be conducted through the completion of a questionnaire.
This questionnaire must be returned by 22nd April 2025.
To access the Market Engagement submission document, please follow these steps:
- Visit our Bravo site using the link provided below.
Link to Bravo: networkrail.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html ↗
- On the Bravo login page, locate and select the "View Current Opportunities" option at the bottom left of the page. Find and select the link for "Managed Stations Fire Safety Systems Maintenance Framework" to access the documents available for the market engagement exercise.
There is no need to log in to Bravo to access the opportunity. You can view and download the necessary documents without logging in.
The instructions for returning the market engagement information are detailed within the Market Engagement document titled "Fire Systems Market Engagement v2". Please ensure you follow these instructions carefully to submit your information correctly.
- Next notice expected11 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published8 Sept 2025, 15:51 BST
- Clarification questions by390 days ago1 Oct 2025, 16:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period ends385 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown6 Oct 2025, 16:00 BST
- Award decision expected by178 days ago1 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts31 days ago26 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 3 Apr 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published3 Apr 2025, 16:08 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published8 Sept 2025, 15:51 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £18,780,0008 Sept 2025, 15:51 BSTwas £14,000,000
- Status changed to active8 Sept 2025, 15:51 BST
- Procurement method changed8 Sept 2025, 15:51 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: All new documents and updates will be published via Bravo throughout the event. Where a stage is in progress, a message shall be sent to all particpants within the stage to inform them. The documents that will may be issued as part of the Tender stage to the successful participants may be either confidential in nature or be determined by Tenderers responses: • Updated Instruction to Participants • Tender Stage Technical Questions Detailed Scoring Guidance • Pricing Document • ITT - Technical Envelope Brief • Information relating to TUPE
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender