Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 4 Aug 2026, 14:46 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Multiple Responsive Repairs · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Cambridge City Council (Local council)

WorksAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£38,400,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 5 yrsends 14 Jan 2032 · up to 13 Jan 2035 with extensions · starts 15 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

MARKET ENGAGEMENT EVENT for Multiple Responsive Repairs Contracts

The Council has an ongoing 'Business as Usual' need to provide responsive repairs to its housing and commercial estate in support of the DLO and Property Services.

This is a relaunch of the project first advertised in September 2025

The Council will still be letting a long-term contract divided into two 2 separate Lots. The duration is expected to be between five (5) and up to eight (8) years. It is currently anticipated there will be one main contract for each of the two lots. The specification for both Lots are the same, they are differentiated geographically. These contracts are complex in nature and this will be fully explained in the tender documents.

The main element of work will be responsive requirements, and this means there will be no opportunity to batch work. Some of the work will be mechanical and electrical repairs, minor alterations and structural improvement works that may require planning and are of a small project in nature.

Work will be allocated on an as it arrives basis and will carry various levels of urgency which will require significant demonstration of the ability to manage a contract of this kind and volume.

Both Lots will be General Building Contracts - covering responsive repairs across a number of general and specialist requirements, reactive maintenance including, but not limited to glazing, roofing repairs, brickwork and masonry work plastering, fencing, gates and scaffolding and general rubbish / garden clearance and removal of small sheds/lean-to's and similar temporary buildings. In addition, there may be a level of supplementary support required, during busy periods, for the in-house Direct Labour Organisation (DLO). This will be on an as required basis and may include painting and decorating, repairs to kitchens and bathrooms, plumbing, carpentry and electrical.

Furthermore, there will be additional commercial properties as well as Council run facilities, such as Community Centres on a responsive included on an as required basis.

There will be a requirement for service provision for both out-of-hours and emergency call-outs. This will be another of the workstreams in both Lot1 and Lot2 of this contract.

Another of the workstreams (in both Lots) will be Void Property works this covers the refurbishment of any vacated Council owned housing in support of the DLO on an as required basis covering the requirements above and readying the property to be let to new tenants. It will also cover, commercial properties to a lesser extent.

Small alterations and structural works such as wall reinforcement and underpinning projects may also be included as a workstream.

Lots One and Two will be treated as separate and distinct contracts. It is the councils intent to award two separate contractors - one for each lot. The geographical split of the two main contracts will be approximately equal in the numbers of properties and there is an expectation that this will be a three way partnership with both contractors and the Council delivering an increasingly efficient service to the residents of Cambridge City.

The overall value of these contracts is currently estimated as approximately £32.0m for both contracts. The timetables for the letting of all of these contracts is extremely tight and they must all be let, awarded and mobilised no later than end of April 2027.

We are excited to continue on the procurement of this challenging process and aim to release full tenders by no later than end-October 2026 with Contract awards by mid-January 2027 giving approximately six weeks to mobilise and be ready for work to be allocated by mid- April 2027.

CPV: Construction work · Repair and maintenance services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 5 yrsSME
Contract period: 15 Jan 2027 – 14 Jan 2032 (5 yrs) · up to 13 Jan 2035 with extensions
Delivery: East of EnglandEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Cambridge City Council buys Construction work (CPV 45), and who usually turns up

Cambridge City Council’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: Construction work (CPV 45) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerCambridge City Council · all categories
The marketConstruction work (CPV 45) · East of England
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: 16 of 20 known-size awards · market: division 45 · East of England, n=685
80%75%

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 East of England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 13 of 32 known-location awards · market: division 45 · East of England, n=1,111
41%34%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside East of England.

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: 23 decided notices · market: division 45 · East of England, n=199
27 days43 days

Half of these awards were announced within 27 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.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 10 of 33 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 45 · East of England, n=1,113
30%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 buyer26 lots with bid counts · all categories
4% had one bid
The market262 lots with bid counts · division 45 · East of England
11% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid4% / 11%
Buyer: 1 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 28 of 262 lots with published bid counts.
2–323% / 24%
Buyer: 6 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 63 of 262 lots with published bid counts.
4–627% / 31%
Buyer: 7 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 82 of 262 lots with published bid counts.
7+46% / 34%
Buyer: 12 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 89 of 262 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 buyer12 lots with estimate and award · all categories
17% below estimate
The market218 lots with estimate and award · division 45 · East of England
42% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate17% / 42%
Buyer: 2 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 92 of 218 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%67% / 29%
Buyer: 8 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 63 of 218 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate17% / 29%
Buyer: 2 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 63 of 218 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 #160 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£38m
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 262 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet11% single-bid risk
Past bids on 262 similar lots
1 bid11%
28 of 262 similar past lots received 1 bid (11%).
2–324%
63 of 262 similar past lots received 2–3 (24%).
4–631%
82 of 262 similar past lots received 4–6 (31%).
7+34%
89 of 262 similar past lots received 7+ (34%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £38m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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
Works
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
4 Aug 2026, 14:46 BST
Last source update
17 Aug 2026, 15:34 BST
Authority reference
DN789345
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-078216
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Construction workRepair and maintenance services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH12)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06db72 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 Aug 2026 → 15 Jan 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published77 days ago
    4 Aug 2026, 14:46 BST
  2. Market engagement67 days ago
    13 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    CHANGED TO TEAMS - NOT IN PERSON

    Cambridge City Council is pleased to invite interested suppliers to a Market Engagement Event for its upcoming Multiple Responsive Repairs Contracts.

    Date: 18 August 2026

    Time: 10:30am to 12:00pm

    If you would like to attend, please email [email protected] with:

    Your company name

    The name of your attendee

    The email address of your attendee

    Please note that attendance is limited to a maximum of one representative per organisation.

    Due to the limited availability of parking at the venue, attendees are strongly encouraged to use the Park & Ride service where possible.

    We look forward to welcoming you and discussing the opportunity with you.

  3. Latest notice published64 days ago
    17 Aug 2026, 15:34 BST
  4. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  5. Tender notice expectedin 11 days
    30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 87 days
    15 Jan 2027

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Aug 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    4 Aug 2026, 14:46 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Aug 2026, 15:34 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

This PME session has now been changed to an online TEAMS session, as below: Tuesday 18 August 2026 1030 - 1200 If you were due to attend to the original in-person session, then you should automatically receive an invitation. If you do not receive one and would like to attend the online session, please contact: [email protected]

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

Cambridge City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PCBT-6819-NDPJ The Guildhall, Cambridge, East of England, CB2 1BYContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure