Official UK procurement notice
Victoria Tower Fabric Safety Works 2025
Authority: Corporate Officer of the House of Commons (Central government)·Consortium: 4 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionVictoria Tower, as part of the Palace of Westminster, is a world-renowned heritage asset. Acknowledged by its Grade I listed designation and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Victoria Tower is 325 ft tall and is sited above Sovereign's Gate at the south-west end of the Palace site. The Tower was originally designed as a royal entrance and a repository for the records of Parliament and is currently home to the Parliamentary Archives although these are in the process of being moved elsewhere.<br/>Significant repairs were last undertaken to Victoria Tower in the early 1990s. The building fabric has deteriorated in the intervening period, and it is now necessary to undertake repairs to the external envelope of Victoria Tower via a full-height scaffold. Parliament is exercising their duty of care to prevent future deterioration of the building fabric as custodians of this Grade I Listed asset and to maintain a safe and secure environment in and around the Palace of Westminster.<br/>This notice relates to the Contracting Authority's (acting jointly with the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords) appointment of a contractor under NEC4 ECC Option B contract (with secondary clauses and amendments), to deliver temporary works, and subsequent conservation and repair work, to the Victoria Tower.
CPV: Construction work
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Contracting Authority, acting jointly with the Corporate Officer of the House of…Awarded
The Contracting Authority, acting jointly with the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords, previously invited suppliers to participate in an open tender process for provision of works in relation to the Victoria Tower Fabric Safety Project (Contract Notice ref: 2024/S 000-019847). No suitable tenders were submitted under that open procedure and the contracting authority has now awarded a contract to Wates Construction Limited under the negotiated procedure without prior publication. The contract is a NEC4 ECC Option B contract, to deliver temporary works and subsequent conservation and repair work, to the Victoria Tower.<br/>The temporary works includes design, site logistics, site set up, hoardings, temporary electrics, piling, groundworks, enabling works, crash deck scaffolding removal, primary steel support trusses and towers, full scaffolding / protection, and stone cleaning.<br/>The subsequent conservation and repair scope of works includes: stone repairs, decorating, gilding and other miscellaneous works, roof (cast iron tiles and supporting structure, skylight, fall arrest system), windows refurbishment, metalwork restoration, fire stopping, MEP and adaptions to existing MEP equipment, waterproofing to balconies, guttering, rainwater pipes & leadwork, pigeon netting, flagpole repair works, temporary flagpole, removal of scaffolding and site reinstatement. Additional information:
- 45111290 - Primary works for services<br/>
- 45111291 - Site-development work<br/>
- 45111300 - Dismantling works<br/>
- 45212300 - Construction work for art and cultural buildings<br/>
- 45212350 - Buildings of particular historical or architectural interest<br/>
- 45212353 - Palace construction work<br/>
- 45223210 - Structural steelworks
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Works
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 4 Apr 2025, 11:33 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Jun 2025, 10:52 BST
- Authority reference
C1858- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-030845- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04fd30Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
Negotiated without a prior call for competition <br/>No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to open procedure. <br/>Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority <br/>Explanation: <br/>The Contracting Authority, acting jointly with the Corporate Officers of the House of Lords, previously invited suppliers to participate in an open tender process for provision of works in relation to the Victoria Tower Fabric Safety Project (Contract Notice ref: 2024/S 000-019847). No suitable tenders were submitted under that open procedure. As a result, the contracting authority now intends to award a contract to Wates Construction Limited under the negotiated procedure without prior publication. It is considered that the award of <br/>the contract without prior publication of a contract notice is lawful in accordance with: <br/>a. Regulation 32(2)(a) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 because no suitable tenders have been submitted in response to an open procedure and the contracting authority is using <br/>the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice on the basis that the initial conditions of contract are not substantially altered; and/or <br/>b. Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 because this is a safety critical project with constraints on access and working hours which require works to <br/>commence urgently. Therefore, for reasons of extreme urgency the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied <br/>with. The receipt of no suitable tenders in response to the previous open procedure was unforeseeable by the contracting authority.
Notice history
1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender- Buyer details updated9 Jun 2025, 10:52 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wates Construction Limited | £110,600,000 †same award published again · counted once | — | Awarded |
| Wates Construction LimitedSubcontracting: Groundworks 5%<br/>Steelworks 7%<br/>Stone repairs 14%<br/>Scaffold 21%<br/>Cast Iron repairs, Flagpole 13%<br/>Window repairs, gilding 3% | £110,600,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 030845-2025-1 · Wates Construction Limited
- Signed
- 22 May 2025
- Value
- £110,600,000
- Status
- active
Contract 013034-2025-1 · Wates Construction Limited
- Signed
- 3 Apr 2025
- Value
- £110,600,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Corporate Officer of the House of LordsContracting authority
- Corporate Officers of the House of CommonsContracting authorityBody governed by public lawGeneral public services
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The High Court of England and WalesReview body
- The High Court of JusticeReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- WATES CONSTRUCTION LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- Wates Construction LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.