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Published 11 Nov 2026, 10:47 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

National Highways - Cost Estimating Framework (2028-2032)

Official notice
Competition analysis

Authority: National Highways Limited (Central government)

Framework agreementServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Architecture & Engineering (71) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline value£22,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 19 Apr 2027from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 2 yrsends 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2028
Notice summaryFrom the published notice

National Highways wishes to implement a new framework to provide cost estimating support to increase capacity and capability of our internal cost estimating team. Cost estimates are used to inform key decisions on billions of pounds of expenditure for projects in the Road Investment Strategy. Time charge support — Flexible resource to bolster in-house Cost Estimating capacity.

What is being bought

Published requirement description

National Highways wishes to implement a new framework to provide cost estimating support to increase capacity and capability of our internal cost estimating team. Cost estimates are used to inform key decisions on billions of pounds of expenditure for projects in the Road Investment Strategy.

Our current framework, on which there are four suppliers, expires March 2028, and delivers this via:

Options estimating — Early-stage cost ranges to support scheme option selection

Development estimating — Estimates as schemes progress through design development

Budget setting — Estimates underpinning programme budgets and funding approval

Time charge support — Flexible resource to bolster in-house Cost Estimating capacity

CPV: Calculation of costs, monitoring of costs · Project and design preparation, estimation of costs

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 1 Apr 2028

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrsSME
Contract period: 1 Apr 2028 – 31 Mar 2030 (2 yrs) · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Extension options published
71242000 Project and design preparation, estimation of costs71244000 Calculation of costs, monitoring of costs

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “National Highways - Cost Estimating Framework (2028-2032)” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

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

How National Highways Limited buys Architectural, engineering and planning services (CPV 7124), and who usually turns up

National Highways Limited’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Architectural, engineering and planning services (CPV 7124) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNational Highways Limited · division 71
The marketArchitectural, engineering and planning services (CPV 7124) · UK-wide
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Buyer: 1 of 3 known-size awards · market: CPV 7124 · UK-wide, n=6
1 of 3100%

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

How often do local suppliers win?
i

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.

Buyer: 0 of 0 known-location awards · market: division 71 · UK-wide, n=411
0 of 059%

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i
Buyer: no decision dates published · market: division 71 · UK-wide, n=150
—85 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 85 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i
Buyer: exactly 2 of 4 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7124 · UK-wide, n=6
2 of 450%

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
This buyerToo few to chart: 2 lots with bid counts, 5 needed · all categories
The market758 lots with bid counts · division 71 · UK-wide
2% had one bid
% of the market's 758 lots with a published bid count · select a colour for counts
1 bid2%
Market: 13 of 758 lots with published bid counts.
2–311%
Market: 80 of 758 lots with published bid counts.
4–623%
Market: 171 of 758 lots with published bid counts.
7+65%
Market: 494 of 758 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.

2

Assess each lot
i

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 712424 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£22m
Expected competition
i

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 758 past lots.

—No model forecast yet2% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 758 similar lots
1 bid2%
13 of 758 similar past lots received 1 bid (2%).
2–311%
80 of 758 similar past lots received 2–3 (11%).
4–623%
171 of 758 similar past lots received 4–6 (23%).
7+65%
494 of 758 similar past lots received 7+ (65%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 9 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Estimates, labelled. The price range, possible competitors and earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards, not published facts, win chances or price advice. The buyer’s own record and the wider market are shown apart, never mixed.
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0, updated through the day and rebuilt nightly. Not every figure uses both feeds, and each one shows how many records it rests on: see the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Coming up in this sector

Contracts ending within 12 months · Retender Radar, sector filter set

Contracts ending in Architecture & EngineeringRetender Radar, CPV 71: incumbents and end dates for the next 12 months

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
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
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
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
11 Nov 2026, 10:47 GMT
Last source update
12 Nov 2026, 09:50 GMT
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-107406
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Calculation of costs, monitoring of costsProject and design preparation, estimation of costs
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b951 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

11 Nov 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published3 days ago
    11 Nov 2026, 10:47 GMT
  2. Today
    14 Nov 2026
  3. Market engagementin 76 days
    29 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT

    National Highways wishes to implement a new framework to provide cost estimating support to increase capacity and capability of our internal cost estimating team. Cost estimates are used to inform key decisions on billions of pounds of expenditure for projects in the Road Investment Strategy.

    Our current framework, on which there are four suppliers, expires March 2028, and delivers this via:

    Options estimating — Early-stage cost ranges to support scheme option selection

    Development estimating — Estimates as schemes progress through design development

    Budget setting — Estimates underpinning programme budgets and funding approval

    Time charge support — Flexible resource to bolster in-house Cost Estimating capacity

    We will be holding a Preliminary Market Engagement Day on Monday 11th January 2027, 2:30 pm, to raise awareness of this upcoming tender opportunity and to provide details of our requirements and, where appropriate, gather insight into our proposed approach.

    Please note that this event is open to anyone who wishes to register. The event will be hold on-line.

    To register for this event, please send your expression of interest and contact details by completing the form on this link: forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ↗

    The form will need to be submitted by 12:00pm on Friday 8th January 2027. If you have any issues, please contact [email protected]

  4. Tender notice expectedin 156 days
    19 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
  5. Contract starts
    1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 11 Nov 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    11 Nov 2026, 10:47 GMT
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Nov 2026, 09:41 GMT
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Nov 2026, 09:50 GMT
    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

National Highways Limited

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PGMJ-3793-VBBN Three Snowhill, Snow Hill Queensway, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 6GAContact email, phone

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure