PRO005080– Purchase, Refurbishment, SMR of Specialist Vehicles

• How the procedure runs: United Utilities is undertaking a Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 to establish a multi-supplier framework for Specialist Vehicles. The framework is intended to support United Utilities’ operational fleet requirements through a structured route to market for the purchase, refurbishment, life extension, service, maintenance and repair of specialist vehicles, together with spares and hire / lease contingency support where required. The framework will be structured across two lots: Lot 1 – Combination Sewer Cleaning Units This lot covers Vacuum Tanker Jetters and Vactor Units. The scope includes new vehicle supply, refurbishment, life extension, maintenance of the current asset base, spares, technical support, and hire / lease contingency support where required. Lot 2 – High Vacuum Units This lot covers Vacuum Trucks. The scope includes new vehicle supply, refurbishment, life extension, maintenance of the current asset base, spares, technical support, and hire / lease contingency support where required. The procurement will be run as a Competitive Flexible Procedure. United Utilities does not intend to run a separate pre-qualification stage. Supplier suitability requirements, including financial standing, good standing, sustainability commitments, health and safety compliance, and other relevant pass / fail requirements, will be assessed as part of the Invitation to Negotiate. Following publication of the tender opportunity, suppliers will be invited to submit responses against the relevant lot or lots. Responses will be assessed against the published pass / fail requirements, technical evaluation criteria and commercial evaluation criteria. The technical evaluation will assess bidders’ ability to meet the required specialist vehicle specifications and support requirements, including delivery capability, mobilisation approach, refurbishment and life extension capability, maintenance arrangements, aftersales support, geographic coverage, operational resilience and ability to support lifecycle performance. The commercial evaluation will assess value for money on a whole-life cost basis. This may include vehicle pricing, refurbishment pricing, maintenance pricing for current and future vehicles, spares pricing, hire / lease contingency support rates, and other relevant cost elements set out in the procurement documents. United Utilities may use the flexibility available under the Competitive Flexible Procedure to clarify, refine, discuss or negotiate aspects of the tenders where this is considered appropriate. Any such engagement will be conducted in accordance with the procurement documents and in a manner that ensures transparency and equal treatment of suppliers. United Utilities reserves the right to proceed to award without negotiation or further dialogue where it determines that sufficient clarity and value has been achieved from the initial tenders. The framework is intended to appoint up to two suppliers per lot, subject to bidders meeting the required technical, commercial and maintenance requirements. Where only one supplier meets the required standard for a lot, United Utilities may appoint a single supplier for that lot. The initial Year 1 requirement may be awarded to the highest-ranked supplier in each lot, subject to confirmation of capacity, capability and delivery lead times. Where the highest-ranked supplier cannot meet the full requirement, United Utilities may allocate part or all of the requirement to the next highest-ranked appointed supplier in that lot, in accordance with the procurement documents. Future call-offs may be awarded through mini-competition between appointed suppliers in the relevant lot, based on the specific requirement at the point of call-off. Relevant call-off considerations may include price, whole-life cost, technical fit, delivery timescales, refurbishment viability, maintenance support, supplier capacity and previous framework performance. The objective of the procedure is to appoint supplier(s) capable of delivering reliable, compliant and cost-effective specialist vehicle solutions that support operational continuity, lifecycle optimisation, value for money and long-term fleet resilience.

CPV: Sewage tankers · Special-purpose motor vehicles · Specialist vehicles · Vehicles for refuse and sewage

Type

Closed framework

Call-offs

every call-off is a further competition among the appointed suppliers

Places

up to 4 suppliers

Framework period

4 yrs · up to 8 yrs from 21 Aug 2026

Procedure method

Competitive flexible procedure

Legal basis

UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023

Procurement category

Goods

Notice status

Closed

Procurement threshold

Above threshold (FTS publication)

Regulatory regime

Utilities

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

8 Jun 2026, 14:31 BST

Last source update

9 Jun 2026, 15:08 BST

Award evaluation window

Submission end – 18 Aug 2026

Authority reference

PRO005080

FTS notice number

2026/S 000-053837

Latest notice

Tender notice (UK4)

Classification (CPV)

Sewage tankersSpecial-purpose motor vehiclesSpecialist vehiclesVehicles for refuse and sewage

Delivery area

North West (UKD)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-06afe1 Find a Tender

How it runs

United Utilities is undertaking a Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 to establish a multi-supplier framework for Specialist Vehicles. The framework is intended to support United Utilities’ operational fleet requirements through a structured route to market for the purchase, refurbishment, life extension, service, maintenance and repair of specialist vehicles, together with spares and hire / lease contingency support where required. The framework will be structured across two lots: Lot 1 – Combination Sewer Cleaning Units This lot covers Vacuum Tanker Jetters and Vactor Units. The scope includes new vehicle supply, refurbishment, life extension, maintenance of the current asset base, spares, technical support, and hire / lease contingency support where required. Lot 2 – High Vacuum Units This lot covers Vacuum Trucks. The scope includes new vehicle supply, refurbishment, life extension, maintenance of the current asset base, spares, technical support, and hire / lease contingency support where required. The procurement will be run as a Competitive Flexible Procedure. United Utilities does not intend to run a separate pre-qualification stage. Supplier suitability requirements, including financial standing, good standing, sustainability commitments, health and safety compliance, and other relevant pass / fail requirements, will be assessed as part of the Invitation to Negotiate. Following publication of the tender opportunity, suppliers will be invited to submit responses against the relevant lot or lots. Responses will be assessed against the published pass / fail requirements, technical evaluation criteria and commercial evaluation criteria. The technical evaluation will assess bidders’ ability to meet the required specialist vehicle specifications and support requirements, including delivery capability, mobilisation approach, refurbishment and life extension capability, maintenance arrangements, aftersales support, geographic coverage, operational resilience and ability to support lifecycle performance. The commercial evaluation will assess value for money on a whole-life cost basis. This may include vehicle pricing, refurbishment pricing, maintenance pricing for current and future vehicles, spares pricing, hire / lease contingency support rates, and other relevant cost elements set out in the procurement documents. United Utilities may use the flexibility available under the Competitive Flexible Procedure to clarify, refine, discuss or negotiate aspects of the tenders where this is considered appropriate. Any such engagement will be conducted in accordance with the procurement documents and in a manner that ensures transparency and equal treatment of suppliers. United Utilities reserves the right to proceed to award without negotiation or further dialogue where it determines that sufficient clarity and value has been achieved from the initial tenders. The framework is intended to appoint up to two suppliers per lot, subject to bidders meeting the required technical, commercial and maintenance requirements. Where only one supplier meets the required standard for a lot, United Utilities may appoint a single supplier for that lot. The initial Year 1 requirement may be awarded to the highest-ranked supplier in each lot, subject to confirmation of capacity, capability and delivery lead times. Where the highest-ranked supplier cannot meet the full requirement, United Utilities may allocate part or all of the requirement to the next highest-ranked appointed supplier in that lot, in accordance with the procurement documents. Future call-offs may be awarded through mini-competition between appointed suppliers in the relevant lot, based on the specific requirement at the point of call-off. Relevant call-off considerations may include price, whole-life cost, technical fit, delivery timescales, refurbishment viability, maintenance support, supplier capacity and previous framework performance. The objective of the procedure is to appoint supplier(s) capable of delivering reliable, compliant and cost-effective specialist vehicle solutions that support operational continuity, lifecycle optimisation, value for money and long-term fleet resilience.

Appointment period ends

3 Jul 2026, 18:00 BST

Clarification deadline

26 Jun 2026, 18:00 BST

Submission channel

Official e-sourcing portal

Electronic submission

Allowed

Accepted languages

en