Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Legal Services - Framework Agreement - Procurement Solicitors 2026
Authority: Northern Ireland Housing Executive (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Housing Executive have awarded a three member Framework Agreement, covering the whole of Northern Ireland, to meet all of the requirements of the Housing Executive for external solicitors in connection with public procurement matters and disputes ("the Services" as defined and particularised in the Specification of Requirements document).
CPV: Legal advisory and representation services · Legal services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
- Places
- up to 3 suppliers · 3 bids received (1.0 per place) · 3 appointed (full)
- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 1 Mar 2026
- Supplier levy on call-offs (max %)
1% of call-off value · N/A - Please note there will be no percentage fee charged to suppliers. There is currently a technical issue with Tender Notices and the system has required a figure of 1 to be input in the section above. Please note no fee will be charged to suppliers via this Framework Agreement.
Published description of the framework
The Housing Executive have awarded up to three places onto this Framework Agreement, ranked as per the outcome of the tendering process, i.e. Contractors will be ranked in places 1-3. The award of Retainers will be done in rotation with the Contractor in first place being offered the first requirement for Services that will be issued via the Framework Agreement. The next Retainer will be offered to the Contractor in second place on the Framework Agreement with the third Retainer being offered to the Contractor in third position. This procedure of rotation will be carried out throughout the duration of the Framework Agreement. Please see the document entitled 'P0557 - Framework Management Document' which was published with the Tender Documentation for full details on how this Framework Agreement will be managed..
Prices are set as per the tender submission of each successful tenderer.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£384,000
- Condition of participation
Please see the Tender Documentation for details, namely the document entitled 'P0557 - Conditions of Participation Questionnaire'.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Lot awarding rule: Please the Tender Documentation for full details on the Award Criteria. The Award Criteria will be based on an evaluation model of Quality 40% and Cost 60%.
- Condition of participation
Please see the Tender Documentation for details, namely the document entitled 'P0557 - Conditions of Participation Questionnaire'.
- “Provision of Legal Services - Framework Agreement - Procurement…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 3 suppliers, not a single contract, and call-offs are awarded directly: getting appointed is the whole game.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Below threshold - open competition
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- 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
- 5 Nov 2025, 09:05 GMT
- Last source update
- 11 Feb 2026, 14:18 GMT
- Authority reference
P0557- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-071095- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05da88Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 27 Nov 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 24 Nov 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Supplier levy on call-offs (max %)
call-off levy · 1% of call-off value · N/A - Please note there will be no percentage fee charged to suppliers. There is currently a technical issue with Tender Notices and the system has required a figure of 1 to be input in the section above. Please note no fee will be charged to suppliers via this Framework Agreement.
Tenders may only be submitted via the etendersni.gov.uk/epps/home.do ↗ portal.
Timeline
5 Nov 2025 → 1 Mar 2026 · 5 dates- Tender notice published349 days ago5 Nov 2025, 09:05 GMT
- Clarification questions by330 days ago24 Nov 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period ends327 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown27 Nov 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Latest notice published251 days ago11 Feb 2026, 14:18 GMT
- Contract starts234 days ago1 Mar 2026
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 5 Nov 2025- Tender notice published5 Nov 2025, 09:05 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published29 Jan 2026, 14:18 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete29 Jan 2026, 14:18 GMT
- Contract details notice published11 Feb 2026, 14:18 GMTUK7
- Contract signature expected11 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Cox Northern IrelandSME, Carson McDowell LLPSME, Cleaver Fulton RankinSME1 Mar 2026 – 28 Feb 2030 | £495,604 | 29 Jan 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Arthur Cox Northern IrelandSME, Carson McDowell LLPSME, Cleaver Fulton RankinSME
- Signed
- 11 Feb 2026
- Value
- £495,604
- Period
- 1 Mar 2026 – 28 Feb 2030
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 3 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
3 commercial parties on the notice- Arthur CoxFramework contractor
- CARSON MCDOWELL LLPFramework contractor
- CLEAVER FULTON RANKIN LIMITEDFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender