Official UK procurement notice
One Demountable Water Bowser (Market Engagement)
Authority: West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority (Police & fire)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionWest Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority are looking to procure a demountable water bowser which can be mounted onto an existing prime mover. This would diversify firefighting provision increasing operational flexibility and resilience, providing a supplementary water supply in areas where hydrant coverage is limited, compromised, or unavailable, such as rural locations, large industrial sites, wildland environments, and during major incidents. The provision should support prolonged firefighting operations, reducing reliance on fixed infrastructure, enhancing water provision without the need for additional appliances.
The statement of requirements documentation and a questionnaire regarding this pre market engagement can be found here in-tendhost.co.uk/wmfs/aspx/ProjectMan… ↗
CPV: Bowsers
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority buys Trailers, semi-trailers and mobile containers (CPV 3422), and who usually turns up
West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority’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: Trailers, semi-trailers and mobile containers (CPV 3422) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside West Midlands.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 29 days of the bid deadline.
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.
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.
1 bid0% / 21%
2–319% / 47%
4–60% / 32%
7+81% / 0%
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.
Below estimate71% / 80%
Within ±2%14% / 0%
Above estimate14% / 20%
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.
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 3422Published estimate£36k
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 19 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid21%
2–347%
4–632%
7+0%
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.
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.
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.
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
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- 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
- 7 Aug 2026, 15:49 BST
- Last source update
- 20 Aug 2026, 16:38 BST
- Authority reference
C6076- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-079647- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06df64Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 Aug 2026 → 15 Sept 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published75 days ago7 Aug 2026, 15:49 BST
- Latest notice published62 days ago20 Aug 2026, 16:38 BST
- Market engagement49 days ago1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
The Authority is aware of two suppliers in the market who can manufacture demountable water bowsers to fit existing prime movers in the fire sector. This exercise is designed to find other potential bidders to allow the Authority to engage further and select an appropriate procurement route to market.
More information and questions will be available on the Intend Portal via this link....in-tendhost.co.uk/wmfs/aspx/ProjectMan… ↗
- Contract starts36 days ago15 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Aug 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 Aug 2026, 15:49 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 Aug 2026, 16:38 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
The engagement deadline is to be extended to the 1st September 2026.
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
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender