Official UK procurement notice
PME for Live Fire Training Facility
Authority: Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority (Police & fire)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDevon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (the Service), welcomes engagement from the market in support of informing the Service's procurement and delivery strategy for the construction of a new Live Fire Training Facility.
Our existing structure is approaching the end of its operational life and will require decommissioning and removal prior to the construction of a replacement facility. The replacement facility is intended to provide a long-term, resilient live fire training capability that supports operational firefighter training requirements while reflecting modern expectations relating to safety, durability, environmental performance and whole-life value. The facility will be required to support realistic compartment fire behaviour training within a controlled environment and should balance operational functionality with maintainability and long-term asset performance.
The Service anticipates that the new facility is likely to comprise a reinforced concrete structure incorporating refractory tile protection to areas exposed to repeated thermal loading. The design is expected to include temperature monitoring systems for both burn environments and the primary structural frame. A smoke emission treatment system will also form a significant element of the project.
The facility is likely to be located at our Training Academy, situated within the perimeter of Exeter International Airport, located on land with a historical military use, therefore considerations relating to ground conditions, contamination and the potential presence of unexploded ordnance is anticipated.
The project is currently at RIBA stage 0. The anticipated project value is currently estimated to be between £5million and £10million, although further development work is required to establish the final scope and budget. The new facility needs to be completed, commissioned, and operational by April 2030.
A preferred procurement route, contract strategy, contractor engagement model, pre-construction approach or form of contract have not been decided upon. The Service is deliberately retaining an open position on these matters and is seeking informed market feedback to help determine the most appropriate delivery strategy.
CPV: Fire station construction work
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority buys Building construction work (CPV 4521), and who usually turns up
Devon and Somerset 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: Building construction work (CPV 4521) →
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 registered in South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South West England.
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 32 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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid16%
2–329%
4–629%
7+26%
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 estimate38%
Within ±2%24%
Above estimate38%
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 4521Estimate not published
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 38 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid16%
2–329%
4–629%
7+26%
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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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KENEX ENGINEERING LTDEarlier contract | Urgent Repairs at Live Fire Training facilityended Mar 2026 | — | £120k | Matched as the earlier contract |
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.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
52% title match.
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.
52% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (52% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Urgent Repairs at Live Fire Training facility — held by KENEX ENGINEERING LTD; the published contract ends 27 Mar 2026.
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
- Unspecified in notice
- 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
- 23 Apr 2026, 16:34 BST
- Last source update
- 2 Sept 2026, 13:49 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-083070- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-068a08Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
23 Apr 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 5 dates- Planning notice published182 days ago23 Apr 2026, 16:34 BST
- Latest notice published50 days ago2 Sept 2026, 13:49 BST
- Market engagement22 days ago30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
To participate in the preliminary market engagement, please express an interest via email to [email protected] , with the subject 'Live Fire PME - FAO Aimee Lee'.
The Authority will respond, providing a copy of its consultation document which contains information regarding the project and a number of questions for interested suppliers to respond to.
We ask that participants respond ASAP and not wait until the engagement deadline, to enable the Authority to consider the responses and continue forming its strategy during this period.
Engagement responses should be submitted back via email ASAP to [email protected] , with the subject 'Live Fire PME response - FAO Aimee Lee' .
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 335 days22 Sept 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Apr 2026- Pipeline notice published23 Apr 2026, 16:34 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published2 Sept 2026, 13:49 BSTUK2
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
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender