Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Legal Services - Framework - Commercial Dispute Resolution Solicitors
Authority: Northern Ireland Housing Executive (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of this procurement exercise was to establish a two member Framework, covering the whole of Northern Ireland, to meet all of the requirements of the Housing Executive for external solicitors in connection with construction, works and services
related commercial contracts ("the Services" as defined and particularised in the Specification of Requirements).
Since this will be a Framework, the Housing Executive will not be obliged to procure its legal services exclusively from it and will be free to either use its own in-house legal service provision, or to procure legal services outside this Framework.
Also, the Contract Value stated in this notice is the value estimated to be incurred on the solicitor professional fees during the Framework Period.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 8 Feb 2030, 23:59 GMT.
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 2 suppliers · 8 bids received (4.0 per place) · 2 appointed (full)
- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 5 May 2026
Published description of the framework
The Contract Price(s) have been determined via the tendering process.
The Housing Executive has awarded two places onto this Framework, ranked as per the outcome of the tendering process, i.e. Contractors have been ranked in places 1-2. 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. The next Retainer will be offered to the Contractor in second place on the Framework. This procedure of rotation will be carried out throughout the duration of the Framework. However, this procedure may change at the absolute discretion of the Client.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£970,000
- Technical & professional ability
Please see the Tender Documentation for details, namely the document entitled 'P0552 -
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).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Award Criteria - Quality: 50%
- Award Criteria - Cost: 50%
Published award criteria (2)
- Award Criteria - Quality: Please see the document entitled 'P0552 - Invitation to Tender (ITT)' and the folder entitled 'P0552 - Quality Questionnaire' for full details. There are four quality questions contained within the Quality Questionnaire.
- Award Criteria - Cost: Please see the document entitled 'P0552 - Invitation to Tender (ITT) for full details.
- Technical & professional ability
Please see the Tender Documentation for details, namely the document entitled 'P0552 -
Conditions of Participation Questionnaire'.
- Price carries 50 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 5 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “Provision of Legal Services - Framework - Commercial Dispute…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 2 suppliers, not a single contract, and call-offs are awarded directly: getting appointed is the whole game.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 8 Feb 2030
- First published
- 9 Feb 2026, 12:04 GMT
- Last source update
- 8 May 2026, 15:13 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 8 Apr 2026
- Authority reference
P0552- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-011331- Accelerated
- Light touch contract
- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-064b01Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Please see the documents entitled 'P0552 - Public Sector Standard Conditions of Contract' and 'P0552 - Commercial Conditions of Contract' for details.
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 6 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 26 Feb 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders may only be submitted via the etendersni.gov.uk/epps/home.do ↗ portal
Timeline
9 Feb 2026 → 8 May 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published259 days ago9 Feb 2026, 12:04 GMT
- Clarification questions by242 days ago26 Feb 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period ends234 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown6 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by200 days ago8 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent188 days ago21 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends177 days ago1 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts174 days ago5 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published171 days ago8 May 2026, 15:13 BST
Notice history
7 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 9 Feb 2026- Tender notice published9 Feb 2026, 12:04 GMTUK4
- Tender notice published27 Feb 2026, 14:28 GMTUK4
- Deadline moved to 6 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT27 Feb 2026, 14:28 GMT+3 days · was 3 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Contract award notice published21 Apr 2026, 14:45 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete21 Apr 2026, 14:45 BST
- Contract signature expected5 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published8 May 2026, 15:13 BSTUK7
Published amendments (1)
The deadline for submission of tenders is now 3pm on Friday 6th March 2026 (previous deadline was 3pm on Tuesday 3rd March 2026).
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-02: 1 release · 9 Feb 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Cox Northern IrelandSME, Cleaver Fulton RankinSME5 May 2026 – 4 May 2030 | £1,144,871 | 21 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Arthur Cox Northern IrelandSME, Cleaver Fulton RankinSME
- Signed
- 5 May 2026
- Value
- £1,144,871
- Period
- 5 May 2026 – 4 May 2030
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8final-stage tenders | 5 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
2 commercial parties on the notice- Arthur Cox Northern IrelandFramework contractor
- CLEAVER FULTON RANKIN LIMITEDFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (4)
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
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender