Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus
Authority: NI Fire and Rescue Service (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Preliminary Market Engagement is being for the purposes of informing and engaging with potential service providers regarding the upcoming public competition for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (referred to as BA) and associated equipment including BA Cylinders to be procured for Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) (the Buyer). NIFRS are seeking to replace their BA apparatus across all locations include their Learning and Development College. The current provision includes circa 650 BA Sets and circa 2100 BA Cylinders along with associated equipment. An initial estimate of 5 million pounds has been attribute to refreshing the equipment and support arrangements.
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Any Suppliers who are interested in taking part in the PME please contact Dawn Bradley (Procurement and Contracts Manager) on [email protected] to express interest. EoI will close on Friday 21st November at 5pm (GMT)
CPV: Breathing apparatus · Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment
How this dynamic market works
From the published notice- Type
- Dynamic market
- Market period
- 10 yrs · up to 15 yrs from 1 Apr 2028
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat 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).
- “Provision of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus” is a dynamic market: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
Competition for Tanks, reservoirs, containers and pressure vessels (CPV 4461), and who usually turns up
NI Fire and Rescue Service has too little published record in this market to describe on its own. Published market evidence for the same work stands beside whatever it has. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Tanks, reservoirs, containers and pressure vessels (CPV 4461) →
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.
Across this market, small firms won 100% of awards with a known supplier size.
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.
Across this market, 27% of winners were registered in the delivery region.
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 82 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.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Across this market, at least 13% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.
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 bid15%
2–338%
4–615%
7+31%
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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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 4461Published estimate£5.0m
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 13 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid15%
2–338%
4–615%
7+31%
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
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Dynamic market
- Who may use this agreement
- Any qualifying supplier may apply while the market is open
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 14 Nov 2025, 15:18 GMT
- Last source update
- 14 Nov 2025, 15:18 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-074084- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e1beFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Admission period ends
- —
Timeline
14 Nov 2025 → 1 Apr 2028 · 3 dates- Planning notice published340 days ago14 Nov 2025, 15:18 GMT
- Market engagement270 days ago22 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
PME is due to take place in Jan 2026
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Contract starts1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published14 Nov 2025, 15:18 GMTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender