Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 9 Mar 2026, 13:49 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

T166 - Design, Installation, Commissioning & Maintenance of a Sludge Logging System

Authority: NORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITED (Central government)

ServicesUtilities
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 29 May 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 7 yrsends 6 Apr 2034 · starts 7 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This market engagement exercise is a general market enquiry to identify and engage with suppliers who have the potential to design, install, commission and maintain a sludge logging system. NI Water are seeking to assess the interest, capacity and capability of the market in providing this type of service. NI Water are also interested in receiving feedback from the market on the different experiences, approaches and models used in other sectors / utilities for the provision of this service or a similar service.

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NI Water also plan to hold one-to-one supplier engagement meetings in April 2026 and an expression of interest for attending a meeting can be made by completing and returning the “Supplier Questionnaire” provided in the “Information Pack”. Further details about the meetings will be issued in due course.

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The "Information Pack" contains additional information about NI Water’s requirements for this service. Suppliers can request a copy of the "Information Pack" via email at [email protected] FAO Lisa Lindsay. The "Supplier Questionnaire" is to be completed and returned no later than 5pm on Friday 20th March 2026.

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Please note that all suppliers wishing to attend a one-to-one supplier engagement meeting must complete and return the "Supplier Questionnaire".

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Public utilities · Repair and maintenance services · Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services · Software package and information systems

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How NORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITED buys Software package and information systems (CPV 48), and who usually turns up

NORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITED’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Software package and information systems (CPV 48) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerNORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITED · all categories
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 14 of 53 known-size awards · market: division 48 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=16
26%31%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
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 registered in Northern Ireland (authority’s region).

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 21 of 65 known-location awards · market: division 48 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=15
32%27%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Northern Ireland.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 26 decided notices · market: division 48 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=5
60 days29 days

Half of these awards were announced within 60 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 9 of 33 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 48 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=22
27%45%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer58 lots with bid counts · all categories
48% had one bid
The market379 lots with bid counts · division 48 · UK-wide
15% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid48% / 15%
Buyer: 28 of 58 lots with published bid counts. Market: 58 of 379 lots with published bid counts.
2–340% / 31%
Buyer: 23 of 58 lots with published bid counts. Market: 118 of 379 lots with published bid counts.
4–69% / 32%
Buyer: 5 of 58 lots with published bid counts. Market: 120 of 379 lots with published bid counts.
7+3% / 22%
Buyer: 2 of 58 lots with published bid counts. Market: 83 of 379 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer27 lots with estimate and award · all categories
22% below estimate
The market230 lots with estimate and award · division 48 · UK-wide
55% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate22% / 55%
Buyer: 6 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 126 of 230 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%37% / 25%
Buyer: 10 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 57 of 230 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate41% / 20%
Buyer: 11 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 47 of 230 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #184 monthsEstimate not published
Expected competition
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 379 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet15% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 379 similar lots
1 bid15%
58 of 379 similar past lots received 1 bid (15%).
2–331%
118 of 379 similar past lots received 2–3 (31%).
4–632%
120 of 379 similar past lots received 4–6 (32%).
7+22%
83 of 379 similar past lots received 7+ (22%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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.

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.

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
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
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
9 Mar 2026, 13:49 GMT
Last source update
9 Mar 2026, 13:49 GMT
Authority reference
T166
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-020910
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and supportPublic utilitiesRepair and maintenance servicesSewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental servicesSoftware package and information systems
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066567 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

9 Mar 2026 → 7 Apr 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published227 days ago
    9 Mar 2026, 13:49 GMT
  2. Market engagement216 days ago
    20 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    This market engagement exercise is a general market enquiry to identify and engage with suppliers who have the potential to design, install, commission and maintain a sludge logging system. NI Water are seeking to assess the interest, capacity and capability of the market in providing this type of service. NI Water are also interested in receiving feedback from the market on the different experiences, approaches and models used in other sectors / utilities for the provision of this service or a similar service.

    .

    NI Water also plan to hold one-to-one supplier engagement meetings in April 2026 and an expression of interest for attending a meeting can be made by completing and returning the “Supplier Questionnaire” provided in the “Information Pack”. Further details about the meetings will be issued in due course.

    .

    The "Information Pack" contains additional information about NI Water’s requirements for this service. Suppliers can request a copy of the "Information Pack" via email at [email protected] FAO Lisa Lindsay. The "Supplier Questionnaire" is to be completed and returned no later than 5pm on Friday 20th March 2026.

    .

    Please note that all suppliers wishing to attend a one-to-one supplier engagement meeting must complete and return the "Supplier Questionnaire".

  3. Tender notice expected146 days ago
    29 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 166 days
    7 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Mar 2026, 13:49 GMT
    UK2

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

Northern Ireland Water

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PCZH-7295-JJTZ Westland House, 40 Old Westland Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT14 6TEContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure