Find a TenderClosedTender notice
Published 16 Apr 2026, 11:02 BST

Official UK procurement notice

T117 Digital Services Platform Support Maintenance and Enhancement

Official notice

Authority: Northern Ireland Water (Public body)

ServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdUtilitiesSME suitable
Published estimate£8,000,000≈ £2.0m / year · £9,600,000 inc. VAT
Submissions closed 19 Jun 2026
Next notice expected 11 May 2026
Contract term 4 yrsends 22 Nov 2030 · up to 22 Nov 2033 with extensions · starts 23 Nov 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Contract scope covers:

1 Business-as-usual support and maintenance for the live Digital Services platform

2 An initial defined enhancement phase (Digital Version 2)

3 The potential for further governance-approved enhancements over the contract term. Support and Maintenance Services

The Contract includes the provision of support and maintenance services for the Digital Services platform across the contract term. This includes application support for customer facing and staff facing services, incident, problem, and defect management, ongoing maintenance of platform components and integrations, routine release support, minor service requests necessary to keep the platform safe, stable and effective in operation and knowledge retention appropriate to a live business-critical environment.

NI Water’s operational teams perform first-line support, identifying and triaging incoming incidents, supported by established monitoring and documented runbooks. Suppliers should understand that support and maintenance activity will need to operate within NI Water’s established service management processes and involve collaboration with NI Water teams through diagnosis, resolution and controlled release of fixes.

Specific service levels and service management arrangements will be defined at ITT stage.

4.2 Enhancement Delivery

The Contract includes an initial defined enhancement phase (Digital Version 2) together with the potential for further governance-approved enhancement activity over the contract term.

NI Water maintains a prioritised list of potential enhancements for the Digital Services platform. Items on this list have undergone varying degrees of assessment and categorisation and some have progressed through discovery and design.

As part of this procurement, a prioritised set of enhancements referred to as Digital Version 2 will be included as a defined programme of work under the Contract. Digital Version 2 comprises the highest-priority items currently selected from NI Water’s enhancement list. NI Water will issue the relevant design and delivery artefacts to shortlisted Suppliers at ITT stage to inform pricing.

Further enhancement activity may be commissioned under the Contract over time, subject to governance, business case approval, prioritisation, and funding decisions. No commitment is given that any such additional enhancement activity will be commissioned. Any such work will be commissioned under the Contract through governance-approved Statements of Work.

  • How the procedure runs: This PSQ is being issued with the objective of shortlisting 5 suppliers to invite to Stage 2 of the process, ITT

CPV: Computer audit and testing services · Computer network services · Computer support and consultancy services · Computer-related services · Data services · Hardware consultancy services · IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Software programming and consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Renewal 4 yrsSMEPublished value£8,000,000
Contract period: 23 Nov 2026 – 22 Nov 2030 (4 yrs) · up to 22 Nov 2033 with extensionsValue: £8,000,000 exc. VAT · £9,600,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: Northern IrelandEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: I Extension of 2 years followed by a further extension of 1 year

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids were scored
Quality: 100%
Published sub-criteria (1)
  • Previous Experience: 100%
Published award criteria (1)
  • Previous Experience

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Closed
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Utilities
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
16 Apr 2026, 11:02 BST
Last source update
21 May 2026, 13:05 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 23 Nov 2026
Authority reference
T117
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-047067
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Computer audit and testing servicesComputer network servicesComputer support and consultancy servicesComputer-related servicesData servicesHardware consultancy servicesIT services: consulting, software development, Internet and supportSoftware programming and consultancy services
Delivery area
Northern Ireland (UKN)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0683e3 Find a Tender
How it runs

This PSQ is being issued with the objective of shortlisting 5 suppliers to invite to Stage 2 of the process, ITT

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: eTendersNI · Who buys & how to bid on eTendersNI
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free Northern Ireland registration
Submission deadline
19 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
Clarification deadline
10 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

16 Apr 2026 → 23 Nov 2026 · 8 dates
  1. Planning notice published193 days ago
    16 Apr 2026, 11:02 BST
  2. Market engagement171 days ago
    8 May 2026, 23:59 BST

    Prior to the publication of the Participation Stage Questionnaire (PSQ), NI Water intends to undertake pre market engagement to:

    • provide suppliers with a high level overview of the requirement and procurement approach;
    • outline anticipated scope, constraints and timelines; and
    • offer an opportunity for clarification at a non binding, pre procurement stage.

    This engagement will take the form of confidential supplier information sessions.

    Supplier Information Sessions

    NI Water expects to offer a limited number of individual supplier sessions, each of approximately one hour and fifteen minutes, to be held between:

    Monday 27 April and Friday 8 May 2026

    Key points:

    • Sessions will be allocated on a first come, first served basis
    • Sessions will be held in-person at NI Water headquarters, 40 Old Westland Road, Belfast, BT14 6TE
    • Attendance is limited to a maximum of two delegates per organisation
    • Sessions will be structured and consistent to maintain equal treatment

    How to Register Interest

    Suppliers wishing to register interest in attending a session should email: [email protected]

    Requests must be received no later than Thursday 23rd April 2026.

    Important Information

    • Participation in pre market engagement is optional and will not confer any advantage in any subsequent procurement process.
    • This notice does not constitute a call for competition or a commitment to proceed with any procurement.
    • NI Water reserves the right to amend, suspend or cancel its proposed approach.
    • Any future procurement will be conducted in accordance with applicable UK procurement legislation, the Procurement Act 2023, and will be advertised via the appropriate procurement portals.
  3. Next notice expected168 days ago
    11 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Tender notice published158 days ago
    21 May 2026, 13:05 BST
  5. Clarification questions by138 days ago
    10 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
  6. Submission deadline129 days ago
    19 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
  7. Today
    26 Oct 2026
  8. Contract startsin 27 days
    23 Nov 2026
  9. Award decision expected byin 28 days
    23 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT

Notice history

5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 16 Apr 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    16 Apr 2026, 11:02 BST
    UK2
  2. Tender notice published
    21 May 2026, 13:05 BST
    UK4
  3. Status changed to active
    21 May 2026, 13:05 BST
  4. Procurement method changed
    21 May 2026, 13:05 BST
  5. Deadline published: 19 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
    21 May 2026, 13:05 BST

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Northern Ireland Water Ltd

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentNorthern Irish devolved regulations apply GB-PPON: PCZH-7295-JJTZ Old Westland Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT14 6TEContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure