Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 26 May 2026, 09:46 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Market Engagement - Wastewater Sludge & Screenings Disposal Service

Authority: Northern Ireland Water (Public body)

ServicesBelow thresholdUtilities
Sectors: Construction & Civil Engineering (45)Cleaning & Environmental Services (90) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term Ends 1 Jan 2032starts 1 Jan 2032

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This market engagement exercise is a general market enquiry to identify and engage with suppliers who have the potential to receive and dispose of caked wastewater sludge by trailer. While the principal focus is the disposal of caked sludge, the enquiry is extended to include disposal of wastewater screenings (rags & grit) which would be received by skip. NI Water are seeking to assess the interest, capacity and capability of the market in providing this type of reception and disposal service. NI Water are also interested in receiving feedback from the market on the different experiences, approaches and models used in other sectors / utilities for the provision of this service.

Suppliers can participate in this market engagement by completing and returning the Supplier Questionnaire provided in the Information Pack. NI Water may subsequently engage with suppliers by invitation to in-person presentations of their respective proposals.

NI Water will seek to use the market intelligence gained through this engagement to select the best procurement strategy to deliver a future wastewater sludge and screenings disposal service. Should the in-person presentations proceed, further details will be issued in due course.

The Information Pack contains additional information about NI Water's requirements for this service. Suppliers can request a copy of the Information Pack via email at [email protected] FAO Lisa Lindsay. The Supplier Questionnaire should be completed and emailed to [email protected] FAO Lisa Lindsay, by 5pm on Friday 19th June 2026.

All suppliers wishing to attend any subsequent in-person supplier engagement MUST complete and return the Supplier Questionnaire.

CPV: Sludge disposal services · Sludge removal services · Sludge treatment services · Sludge-treatment works

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How NORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITED buys Refuse disposal and treatment (CPV 9051), and who usually turns up

NORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITED’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: Refuse disposal and treatment (CPV 9051) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITED · all categories
The marketRefuse disposal and treatment (CPV 9051) · Northern Ireland (authority’s region)
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: 14 of 52 known-size awards · market: CPV 9051 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=42
27%93%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

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.

Here, local means registered in Northern Ireland (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 21 of 65 known-location awards · market: CPV 9051 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=35
32%97%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Northern Ireland.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 27 decided notices · market: CPV 9051 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=7
62 days36 days

Half of these awards were announced within 62 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 9 of 33 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 9051 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=20
27%30%

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 buyer69 lots with bid counts · all categories
41% had one bid
The market42 lots with bid counts · CPV 9051 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region)
40% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid41% / 40%
Buyer: 28 of 69 lots with published bid counts. Market: 17 of 42 lots with published bid counts.
2–338% / 55%
Buyer: 26 of 69 lots with published bid counts. Market: 23 of 42 lots with published bid counts.
4–619% / 5%
Buyer: 13 of 69 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 42 lots with published bid counts.
7+3% / 0%
Buyer: 2 of 69 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 42 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 buyer27 lots with estimate and award · all categories
22% below estimate
The market30 lots with estimate and award · CPV 9051 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region)
40% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate22% / 40%
Buyer: 6 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 12 of 30 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%37% / 23%
Buyer: 10 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 7 of 30 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate41% / 37%
Buyer: 11 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 30 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 9051Estimate 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 42 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet40% single-bid risk
Past bids on 42 similar lots
1 bid40%
17 of 42 similar past lots received 1 bid (40%).
2–355%
23 of 42 similar past lots received 2–3 (55%).
4–65%
2 of 42 similar past lots received 4–6 (5%).
7+0%
0 of 42 similar past lots received 7+ (0%).
Check who supplied similar work and whether the route limits bidders.
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
Below threshold
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
26 May 2026, 09:46 BST
Last source update
26 May 2026, 09:46 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-048450
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Sludge disposal servicesSludge removal servicesSludge treatment servicesSludge-treatment works
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a2bb Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

26 May 2026 → 1 Jan 2032 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published148 days ago
    26 May 2026, 09:46 BST
  2. Market engagement123 days ago
    19 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    This market engagement exercise is a general market enquiry to identify and engage with suppliers who have the potential to receive and dispose of caked wastewater sludge by trailer. While the principal focus is the disposal of caked sludge, the enquiry is extended to include disposal of wastewater screenings (rags & grit) which would be received by skip. NI Water are seeking to assess the interest, capacity and capability of the market in providing this type of reception and disposal service. NI Water are also interested in receiving feedback from the market on the different experiences, approaches and models used in other sectors / utilities for the provision of this service.

    Suppliers can participate in this market engagement by completing and returning the Supplier Questionnaire provided in the Information Pack. NI Water may subsequently engage with suppliers by invitation to in-person presentations of their respective proposals.

    NI Water will seek to use the market intelligence gained through this engagement to select the best procurement strategy to deliver a future wastewater sludge and screenings disposal service. Should the in-person presentations proceed, further details will be issued in due course.

    The Information Pack contains additional information about NI Water's requirements for this service. Suppliers can request a copy of the Information Pack via email at [email protected] FAO Lisa Lindsay. The Supplier Questionnaire should be completed and emailed to [email protected] FAO Lisa Lindsay, by 5pm on Friday 19th June 2026.

    All suppliers wishing to attend any subsequent in-person supplier engagement MUST complete and return the Supplier Questionnaire.

  3. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  4. Contract starts
    1 Jan 2032

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    26 May 2026, 09:46 BST
    UK2

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

Northern Ireland Water

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentNorthern Irish devolved regulations apply GB-PPON: PCZH-7295-JJTZ Westland House, 40 Old Westland Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT14 6TEContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure